"Making the landscape": a palaeoecological and archaeological investigation of late prehistoric land uses in upland England

English uplands are valued ecosystems, presenting a mosaic of heathlands, grasslands, and peat formations. Due to their remote locations, lack of visible land uses, and wetter conditions, they are often considered "natural" landscapes only recently damaged by human activity. Yet, they have been shaped by millennia of human-environment interactions.

English uplands are well investigated palaeoecologically, with numerous sites analysed since the dawn of the discipline in the first half of the 20th century (see Fig.1). Research has hinted at the deforestation of English uplands from the late Mesolithic and Neolithic onwards (c.4500-4000 BC), often with the intensification of clearances in the Bronze Age or Iron Age (2000-800 BC/800 BC- AD 50) (e.g.

Hicks 1971; Bartley 1975; Ryan et al. 2010). However, it has remained unclear what types of land uses followed clearances: were they pastoral, arable, or mixed?

This research projects seeks to shed light on the potential diversity of land uses in upland northern England from the Neolithic (c.4000 BC) to the Iron Age/Romano-British period (AD 50) using palaeoecological and archaeological methods. Three research areas with contrasting archaeological evidence have been identified: the Dark Peak (Peak District), the Central Pennines, and the Yorkshire Dales