Forest and Moorland in the South Pennine Uplands in the Mid-Flandrian Period.: III. The Spread of Moorland--Local, Regional and National

Abstract

(1) Pollen analyses from basal peat deposits at a range of sites in different topographic situations in the South Pennine uplands are compared with a long radiocarbondated pollen diagram from one of the sites, and used to reconstruct the patterns of blanket peat initiation on the moorlands. (2) Three distinct phases of peat initiation in water-collecting situations, followed by subsequent spread to water-shedding situations, are recognized: c. 9000 B.P., 7500-7000 B.P. and c. 5500 B.P.. The total timespan of peat spread in the South Pennines was nearly 5000 years. (3) Published pollen analyses and radiocarbon dates of basal peat deposits at other upland sites in England and Wales show a similar protracted period of peat initiation (from c. 9000-1000 B.P. overall). Peat began to form earlier in the two upland regions where Mesolithic activity has been clearly demonstrated (the southern Pennines and the Black Mountain of South Wales). (4) It is concluded that the replacement of the upland forest and scrub of the early Flandrian period by moorland vegetation occurred in response to a complex of environmental changes, including forest clearance, climatic change and soil deterioration, that varied in their balance and timing from region to region.