instead, an area similar to a park, kept up by wild herbivores eating the plants
and grass. Throughout earlier interglacial periods, this may also have been
the case in Britain, as creatures of the Palaeolithic era needed to roam large
areas of grassland to survive. A variety of grassland plants continued to live
there in the last interglacial, as according to pollen records. However, since
the last glaciation, the bison, elk and other large herbivores which persisted on
mainland Europe were extinct in Britain, so Vera’s theory may not apply so
well to Britain.
D.
Meanwhile, throughout the period since it’s spread northwards after the last
glaciation,the sustained growth of oak in Britain demonstrates that the
wildwood was not as continual as once believed. Oak is a pioneer species,
which requires vacant space to generate more of itself. Grazing animals are
also present to keep areas open, so Oak regenerates in the thorny brush as a
protective measure from their grazing.Archaeological evidence indicates that
red deer, who graze on grass as well as browse from trees, were essential to
the economy in Mesolithic Britain, with people utilizing them for meat, skins,
antlers and bones.
E.
As the Mesolithic (10,000-3000 BC) era ended, evidence of the beginnings
of agriculture emerges. Agricultural weeds, such as plantain and stinging
nettle, were also increasing in number. Nearly all the wildwood was cut down
as the population increased rapidly. However, the falling elm population
around 4,000 BC all across Europe has been attributed not to the clearing of
trees, but to what’s referred to as Elm disease.
F.
Throughout the Bronze Age (2400-750 BC), people were cutting down trees
more than ever before, until the prevalence of the practice “coppicing” peaked,
likely at some point during the early Iron Age. Oliver Rackham (1990)
theorizes that nearly 50% of land throughout England was no longer wildwood
by 500 BC. The regrowth from a stump grows more readily than the original
tree, and Neolithic man had discovered this practice, known as coppicing.
Much of the remaining woods were maintained by way of this method during
the Bronze Age.
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