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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Eline Van AsperenORCiD, Damian Rudge, Professor Lisa-Marie ShillitoORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Long-term vegetation recordscan inform woodland creation and mire management. We present two dated pollen recordsfrom Alston Moor, UK, to investigate long-term vegetation change and itsrelationship with human activity. Core AM2 provides a predominantly extra-localpollen signal, core AM3 contains a regional signal. During the Neolithic andBronze Age, the area was largely wooded. Short-term, small-scale reductions intree cover may be anthropogenic or climate-induced. Clearance starts in theLate Iron Age and intensifies in the Roman period, with pollen and dung fungalspores indicating significant impact from animal husbandry, and evidence forcereal cultivation. Woodland regeneration took place from the late fifth untilthe fifteenth century, with evidence for continued human impact on thevegetation from pastoral agriculture. The area was cleared in the Modernperiod. The treeline remained above 405 m AOD for most of the area’s history.Although heather was long established on the highest part of the moor, theincreased importance of grasses goes back only a few centuries, creating anovel landscape appearance. Most of the vegetation history of the region wascharacterised by more extensive tree cover, especially on the lower slopes.Tree planting initiatives could contribute to the restoration of ecologicalcomplexity
Author(s): Van Asperen EN, Rudge DW, Shillito L-M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environmental Archaeology
Year: 2025
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 23/10/2025
Acceptance date: 14/10/2025
Date deposited: 14/10/2025
ISSN (print): 1461-4103
ISSN (electronic): 1749-6314
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2025.2576947
DOI: 10.1080/14614103.2025.2576947
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/zq80-4n49
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