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Low Hauxley: The Bronze Age Environment
In the Bronze Age at Low Hauxley, the groundwater level was fluctuating, peat was forming around the oak and alder
fen, and the coastline was moving ever closer. The people who lived here seem to have felled a number of trees and
this may also have affected the local water table.
Such deforestation can be seen in the pollen records obtained from archaeological sites. Throughout the country,
pollen from trees decreases in Bronze Age layers and in some cases is replaced with cereal pollen or with minerals
suggesting an increase in soil erosion. The climate at this time was a little warmer and drier than it is today.
During the Bronze Age, trees would have been felled for a number of reasons - timber was used to construct buildings
and monuments, and the cleared land provided fields for pasture or arable production.
You can watch a video clip of the changing climate at Low Hauxley, learn more about
Mesolithic environment, Archaeobotany,
Pollen Analysis and Peat, return to
climate or watch burial clip.
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