[Stones] Peat growth and buried Neolithic material

[Gerald Ponting]

Well, having been dropped in it ... !

Yes, the main site at Callanish was enveloped in up to five feet of peat 
until the last remnants around the circle were cleared in Octoner 1857. (The 
rows had been gradually cleared up to that point by the locals cutting their 
fuel there.) The three nearby smaller circles were cleared at the 
instigation of Sir James Matheson (who owned the Isle of Lewis!) the 
following year.

On the nearby low-lying headland in Loch Roag, refered to by archaeologists 
as Leobag, excavations in the late 70s revealed the walls of an Iron Age 
farm beneath the peat there. Also, the stones of the Achmore circle were 
buried in peat. Another example is the wonderful stone axe, with its wooden 
handle preserved, which was found by peat cutters near Stornway in 1982.

So it's assumed that the sequence of < deterioration in the climate > soil 
waterlogging > not enough oxygen for dead plant material to decompose 
completely > accumulation of peat > began in the late Bronze / early Iron 
Age, and any Neolithic material in peaty areas will be buried - as will 
arable lands from that period.

I hope that's of some interest, but I don't know how relevant it is to 
Dartmoor.

Gerald


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Tweed" <chris at henge.org.uk>
To: "The Stones Mailing List" <stones at henge.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 11:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Stones] Ian Honeywood (Stonedowser)


>
> On 27 Mar 2007, at 23:26, Ric wrote:
>
>> what happened to Dartmoor - why did it become moorland - it was  once 
>> arable?
>
> I can only imagine the same reason that a lot of our peat moorland 
> developed - climate change to the best of my knowledge. I don't have  the 
> dates in my head right now, but there was a shift to a cooler,  wetter 
> climate which had a huge effect on the upland areas of the  British Isles.
>
> I'm sure that somebody like Gerald would be able to give a lot more 
> information on that subject due to his familiarity with Callanish and  the 
> depth of peat that built up around the stones there . Sorry, not  trying 
> to 'drop you in it' at all Gerald :^)
>
> Just back from Jethro Tull gig in Leicester tonight and trying to  catch 
> up with a few emails before bed, so I won't go to refer to my  library for 
> more information right now - but I would strongly suspect  that I'm on the 
> right track at least.
>
>
> Chris
>
> -- 
> Chris Tweed
> www.prehistoric.org.uk
> www.flickr.com/photos/ctweed
> squonkyblog.prehistoric.org.uk
>
>
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