Flintshire Memories: Earth sample shows history of Clwydian Range

By Flintshire Chronicle on Jun 19, 09 10:05 AM in Before 1500

ANALYSIS of a sample of earth extracted from the Clwydian Range has pieced together the timeline of human activity on the hills dating back almost 10,000 years.

The sample was taken from Moel Llys y Coed near Cilcain, to provide a picture of the change in the landscape over the years to become the heather moorland seen today.

Techniques used included analysis of the pollen present in the sample and radio carbon dating.

Evidence of burning in the Mesolithic period (8000-4000BC) implies use of the uplands for hunting.

Burning woodland would create clearings to attract grazing herds, making them easier to hunt.

Burning would also have encouraged the growth of hazel, providing nuts as a valuable addition to a poor diet.

There is evidence of using the uplands for animal grazing in the earlier Neolithic (the New Stone Age 4000-2200BC) period and evidence of the cultivation of cereals.

The first signs of heather are seen in the Bronze Age (2200-750BC).

Grazing and cultivation was still happening, but there was more clearance of the area at around 2,600 BC - this could be linked to the building of the hillforts which tower above the valleys.

The results show increased grazing and an expansion of the grasslands during the Iron Age (750BC-43AD), when the hillforts are thought to have been in use.

The dramatic expansion of the heather dominating the uplands began in the Medieval period at around 660-810AD. Evidence of burning throughout history shows management of the heather moorland using fire- a practice which is still used today as a technique to rejuvenate the heather for agriculture, wildfire prevention and biodiversity reasons.

Today, the heather moorland on the Clwydian Range is internationally important.

For more information visit heatherandhillforts.co.uk.

Traditional management techniques such as burning, cutting and grazing by sheep is still carried out by Denbighshire Countryside Service, local landowners and graziers.
The analysis was funded by the Royal Commission on the Archaeological Historical Monuments of Wales as part of the Uplands Archaeology Initiative.

The three year Heather and Hillforts Project is developing a Â£2.3 million initiative for upland conservation work and has received a grant of Â£1.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information please visit heatherandhillforts.co.uk.

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