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Britain's Agricultural Revolutions

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Britain's Agricultural Revolutions What effect did it have? The population of Britain grew. Now that people were settling rather than moving around, it was more practical for women to have babies more frequently. Also, with more predictable and reliable sources of food, people had a greater chance of survival. Soon the small hunter-gatherer groups developed into larger settlements and villages Technologies, such as food storage and irrigation were developed There was an increase in disease because as groups settled, people, waste and animals were in Britain’s Agricultural closer proximity to one another No longer spending all of their time searching for food, the Neolithic people had time to develop new Revolutions skills. For example the earliest pottery in Britain, For hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors (referred to as Grimston-Lyles Hill tradition) dates to were hunter-gatherers. They would rely on wild the early Neolithic. animals for meat, at first simply scavenging from British agriculture’s second revolution carcasses that they found and then learning to Farming in Britain underwent many changes after hunt for themselves. the Neolithic Revolution but there was no greater From foragers to period of change than during the British Agricultural farmers Revolution. This term describes a period of agricultural They would also development in Britain during the 18th and 19th collect wild plants, centuries. gathering edible nuts In 1750 the English population was about 5.7 million. and berries. In order Never before had the population surpassed this to stay close to their because of famine (agriculture just couldn’t cope with food sources, hunter- demand) and in the 14th century, the plague. However, gatherers had to be unexpectedly, the population kept growing after 1750 mobile. They set up and had reached 16.6 million by 1850 - agricultural temporary camps, output had to expand with it! lived there for a As the demand for food increased, people began to while, and moved on make improvements to the types of machines used when the food supply on farms. The seed drill and threshing machine were began to run out. amongst the first new inventions to help farmers. Artist’s impression of a Mesolithic hunter- The groups tended Inventions such as these, along with the enclosure gatherers’ camp © Alan Sorrell to be small, made up of fields and the introduction of a four-crop rotation of just a few families, but feeding everyone would still system, helped agriculture to develop rapidly. have been a struggle. Then, one of the most important Farmers also made new discoveries such as the changes in human history began; the introduction of importance of nitrogen in soil to produce healthy farming. crops (which led to the development of fertilisers) The change from a hunter-gatherer to a farming way of and the benefits of selective breeding (encouraging life marks the start of the Neolithic or New Stone Age two particularly good examples of an animal to and is sometimes known as the ‘Neolithic Revolution’. mate). In fact, such was the enthusiasm and need It was not a change that happened quickly; it is for making farming more efficient that ‘model farms’ estimated that it took around 2000 years for the idea of were established. A model farm was an experimental farming to spread across the whole of the British Isles! farm that was set up to allow the farmer to research In fact, the concept of farming that reached Britain new ideas and develop even more efficient ways of between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC had spread working. Everything was carefully considered including across Europe from origins in Syria and Iraq between the layout, techniques used and even the standards about 11000 BC and 9000 BC. of living for the farm workers. There is an excellent The ancestors of cattle, goats and sheep were farmed example in Wales called Leighton and wild boars were domesticated. Crops were Farm, you can see in the image Leighton Farm introduced as the new farmers, many of whom had just how carefully designed the Photographed by Ken Saito originated from the continent, brought with them the complex was. © CPAT first seed grains of wheat and barley. Once harvested They may seem very different the grain needed to but the developments in be stored and this, farming during both of Britain’s coupled with caring agricultural ‘revolutions’ were for their livestock, hugely important and completely encouraged people to changed Britain and the way its settle in one place. inhabitants lived. An example of later Neolithic ‘Meldon Bridge’ pottery © Tyne & WearMuseums 10 Iron Age Grainstore You will need: to a year, excavate the containers carefully n Plastic half pint or n Optional: Hay/straw to see if the grain has survived. Ideally it pint glasses (you (we used animal should look just as you left it – there should could also use small bedding) be no mould or sprouting. You can compare plastic bowls) n Optional: Twigs which grain has survived best. For example, n Air drying clay has being exposed to the elements (as real n Sticky labels (if you grainstores would have been) had an effect? n A variety of grains, fancy doing some Does packing your store with hay make a for example oats, experiments with this difference? buck-wheat and activity) bulgar-wheat Method How did 1. Begin by lining the containers that you it work? are using with a layer of clay about 2-3cm Archaeological thick. Make sure it is evidence pressed right up to the brought to life by experiments done container’s surface. Storage pits at Worlebury Hillfort. at Butser Ancient 1 Recent tree clearance of part of the 2. Leave your clay to dry. Farm have shown site has revealed some of the 93 that in the Iron 3. Now it’s time to fill your containers, this is storage pits first discovered in the where you can experiment! Try… Age, one of the most effective 1850s © Martin Bodman a. using a number of different grains to see ways of storing grain would have been using if some stored better than others pits in the ground. Our activity is inspired by the b. leaving some of the containers outside to method that we think people used. get wet, frosty etc. to see if this made a The pit would have been dug into the ground difference keeping the access hole as small as possible. As the pit was dug deeper it was widened out. c. different ways of sealing the grainstores Some pits were up to 6ft wide at the base and to see what effect this had (see below) 6-15ft deep. Grain was then poured in from the We labelled top. When the pit was full of grain, the hole at each container the top was sealed with a layer of clay. The clay to show would overlap onto the surrounding ground so what grain it that the pit was completely sealed. This stopped contained, how light, air, and water getting in. it had been After time, the grain that touched the internal treated and surface of the pit would start to absorb moisture how it had been from the ground. The grain that was moist would 3 sealed then try to germinate. To do this it needed oxygen but because the pit was sealed, there would have 4. Add the grain to the containers. You can either only been a limited amount available. As the grain fill the container to one centimetre below the started to grow it would produce carbon-dioxide. rim and put a clay ‘lid’ straight on top of the The result was that the oxygen was used up, the grain or leave a 2cm gap and cover the grain carbon-dioxide spread amongst the grain, and with a layer of straw or straw with twigs over the whole lot would go into hibernation mode. the top before adding the clay lid. These conditions are known as ‘anaerobic’. As a result, the grain didn’t rot because of the lack of 5. Label the 4 oxygen. In the spring when the grain was needed containers if for seed, the clay was removed and the grain necessary and was taken from storage and sown into the newly store wherever ploughed fields. you decide; inside, outside or both. 6. Now you have to be patient! Top Tip! After a period of n This activity is a great opportunity to have a go between 3 months at section drawings. Visit www.yac-uk.org to find out how. 11.
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