ORE Open Research Exeter TITLE Characterising the late prehistoric, ‘Romano-British’ and medieval landscape, and dating the emergence of a regionally distinct agricultural system in South West Britain AUTHORS Fyfe, Ralph; Brown, A.G; Rippon, Stephen JOURNAL Journal of Archaeological Science DEPOSITED IN ORE 06 June 2008 This version available at http://hdl.handle.net/10036/29634 COPYRIGHT AND REUSE Open Research Exeter makes this work available in accordance with publisher policies. A NOTE ON VERSIONS The version presented here may differ from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication Characterising the late prehistoric, “Romano-British” and medieval landscape, and dating the emergence of a regionally distinct agricultural system in South West Britain. Ralph M. Fyfe*, Anthony G. Brown and Stephen J. Rippon School of Geography, Archaeology, and Earth Resources, University of Exeter Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter. EX4 4RJ, UK Tel: 0044 1392 264395 Fax: 0044 1392 263342 e-mail:
[email protected] (*) corresponding author Abstract Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the character of lowland cultural landscapes during the last 2,500 years in Britain is poorly understood, owing to a combination of an over-reliance on data from upland sequences, and because lowland mires are typically located in positions marginal to areas of settlement and agriculture. This paper presents an attempt to derive environmental evidence for this time period from a lowland context in order to characterise the key periods of change and continuity in the lowlands. The study focuses on mid-Devon, in South West Britain, and uses small pollen sites which are embedded within the historic landscape.