17/6/2009

Hunters and farmers were using the Clwydian Hills in North Wales 10,000 years ago, new research has revealed,

Analysis of a sample of earth extracted from the Clwydian Range has pieced together the timeline of human activity on the hills dating back almost 10,000 years.

The sample was taken from Moel Llys y Coed near Cilcain, to provide a picture for the change in the landscape over the years to become the heather moorland seen today.

The  analysis was funded by the Royal Commission on the Archaeological Historical Monuments of Wales as part of the Uplands Archaeology Initiative. The three year Heather and Hillforts Project is developing a £2.3 million initiative for upland conservation work and has received a grant of £1.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Techniques used included analysis of the pollen present in the sample and radio carbon dating.

Evidence of burning in the Mesolithic period (8000-4000BC) implies use of the uplands for hunting. Burning woodland would create clearings to attract wild grazing herds, making them easier to hunt in the open. Burning would also have encouraged the growth of hazel, providing nuts as a valuable addition to people’s diet.

There is evidence of using the uplands for animal grazing in the earlier Neolithic (the New Stone Age 4000-2200BC) period and there is evidence that people were beginning to cultivate cereals. In the later Neolithic we see an increase in the upland grassland- ideal for grazing stock.

The first signs of heather are seen in the Bronze Age (2200-750BC). Grazing and cultivation is still happening, but we see more clearance of the area at around 2,600 BC- this could be linked to the building of the magnificent hillforts which tower above the neighbouring valleys.

The results show increased grazing and an expansion of the grasslands during the Iron Age (750BC-43AD), when the hillforts are thought to have been occupied. The results also show that growing cereals was also taking place, showing that farming was common place.

The dramatic expansion of the heather dominating the uplands begins in the Medieval period at around 660-810AD. Evidence of burning throughout history shows management of the heather moorland using fire- a practice which is still used today as a technique to rejuvenate the heather for agriculture, wildfire prevention and biodiversity reasons.

Today the heather moorland on the Clwydian Range is internationally important. About half of the world’s remaining heather moorland is located in the United Kingdom, so management of the plant is essential to prevent its further decline.

Traditional management techniques such as burning, cutting and grazing by sheep is still carried out by Denbighshire Countryside Service, local landowners and graziers.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £190million of grants in Wales across more than 1,700 projects since 1995.