The evolution of the Holocene wetland landscape of the Humberhead Levels from a fossil insect perspective. Nicola Jane Whitehouse Volume 1 of 2 “The Earth is not a mere fragment o f dead history, stratum upon stratum like the leaves o f a book, to be studied by geologists and antiquaries chiefly, but living poetry, like the leaves o f a tree, which precedes flowers andfruit - not a fossil earth, but a living earth... ” (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Spring, in Homan 1991, 109) Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Archaeology and Prehistory at the University of Sheffield December 1998 Frontpiece: Temnochila caerulea (painting by Peter Skidmore), found as a fossil in deposits dating to c. > 3350-3100 cal BC (c. > 4500 BP) from Thome Moors. This thesis is dedicated to all those people who have tirelessly campaigned to save Thorne and Hatfield Moors. The evolution of the Holocene wetland landscape of the Humberhead Levels from a fossil insect perspective. Nicola Jane Whitehouse Abstract Palaeoentomological investigations have been carried out on a series of profiles and contexts in the Humberhead Levels (eastern England), principally from the raised mires of Thome and Hatfield Moors, and from floodplains of the rivers Tome and Idle at Rossington, near Doncaster, and Misterton Carr, Nottinghamshire. Research has attempted to elucidate the effect of peatland development on the composition of the insect fauna, with particular emphasis on Hatfield Moors, as well as investigate the transition from Quercus-Pinus forest to mire and the faunal characteristics of those forests. The study of the fossil insects, together with other palaeoecological evidence, has enabled the genesis and development of these mires to be reconstructed in some detail. However, the palaeoenvironmental record from Thome and Hatfield Moors indicate significant differences in initiation, development and rate of growth between the two sites. The research highlights the valuable palaeoecological record of the peat deposits on Hatfield Moors, which have long been ignored in favour of Thome Moors. In particular, research highlights the importance of Pirns woodland and wet heath, components reflected in the invertebrates today. The study of the floodplain deposits have enabled the research from the Moors to be placed within a regional context. Faunal successions highlight the transition from Urwald (undisturbed woodland), c. 4000 cal BC, to a largely cleared landscape by the late Roman period (c. 400 cal AD). The research has highlighted the nature and diversity of Holocene Urwald and illustrates the important habitat provided by abundant dead wood within these systems. The fossil record emphasises the contraction in range of many elements of the British Coleopterous fauna, both at a regional and national level. A total of eleven extirpated Coleóptera have been recovered, including two species of beetle previously unknown in the British Isles. The significance of these and other Urwaldrelikt species is discussed in relation to the human fragmentation of forest habitats and the decline of Pirns sylvestris L. The importance of fire as a natural agent within the landscape, within coniferous woodland and Pinus-mire and heath systems is highlighted. The dependence of some pinicolous taxa on fire habitats suggests that the decline of this habitat has had a detrimental impact on the biogeography of some species. The role of climate as a limiting factor in distribution of thermophilous species is also discussed. List of contents - Volume 1 Acknowledgements 1 INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND TO THE HUMBERHEAD LEVELS 1.1 The Humberhead Levels 6 1.2 The Humberhead Peatlands 6 1.3 Location and Topography of Thome and Hatfield Moors 7 1.4 Floodplains of the Humberhead Levels 8 1.5 Geology and Geomorphology 9 1.6 Human alterations to the landscape: drainage and reclamation 12 1.7 Human alterations to the landscape: mineral extraction. 14 1.8 The nature of the raised mires of Thome and Hatfield Moors 15 1.9 Modem flora and fauna 17 1.10 Invertebrates of the Moors 19 CHAPTER II: PREVIOUS PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH IN THE HUMBERHEAD LEVELS 2.1 Early palaeoenvironmental research 21 2.2 The Bronze Age Thome Moors trackway 22 2.3 Recent work 22 2.4 Palaeoenvironmental work and archaeological synthesis 24 2.4.1 HLF/1: Pinus-Betula-Salix zone; c. 6000-5500 cal BC (c. 8000 BP) 24 2.4.2 HLF/2a: Alnus-Ulmus-Tilia zone; c. 5320-4000 cal BC (c. 6300-5200 BP) 24 2.4.3 HLF 2a/b boundary and 2b: Ulmus decline and Alnus-Quercus-Corylus zone; c. 4000 - 2900 cal BC (c. 5100- 4300 BP ). 26 2.4.4 HHL/A: Quercus-Corylus-Pinus zone; c. 2900 - 1930 cal BC (c. 4300-3600 BP) 26 2.4.5 HHL/B: Quercus-Corylus-Alnus zone; c. 1930-480 cal BC (c. 3600-2300 BP) 28 2.4.6 HHL/C: Poaceae-Plantago-Pteridium Zone; c. 480 cal BC - cal AD 440 (c. 2335 - 1445 BP) 30 2.4.7 HHL/D: Quercus-Corylus-Betula zone; c. 440-1000 cal AD (c. 1445-860 BP). 32 2.4.8 HHL/E: Poaceae-Cannabis-Secale zone; c. cal AD 1000 onwards (c. 900 B.P.) 32 2.5 Bog Bodies 34 CHAPTER III: PALAEOENTOMOLICAL APPROACHES AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 Quaternary palaeoentomology: a review 35 3.2 Fossil insect studies of Holocene "natural" sequences 41 3.3 Sampling and identification procedures 42 l CHAPTER IV: FIELD SURVEY PROGRAMME AND SAMPLING 4.1 Survey work on Hatfield Moors 43 4.2 Main field survey results 44 4.2.1 The pre-peat landscape (non-woodland) 44 4.2.2 The "palaeowoodland" 44 4.2.3 Evidence for fire and human activities 46 4.2.4 Evidence for mire genesis and development 47 4.3 Sampling strategy 47 4.4 Sample collection 49 4.5 Site data 49 4.6 Hatfield Moors, Kilham West, (HAT 3). NGR: SE 700 075. 49 4.7 Hatfield Moors, Packards south, (HAT 4). NGR: SE 691 050. 49 4.8 Lindholme Bank Road, Hatfield Moors. 50 4.8.1 Lindholme A, Hatfield Moors (LIND A); NGR: SE 693 069 50 4.8.2 Lindholme B, Hatfield Moors (LIND B); NGR: SE 698 068 50 4.9 Tyrham Hall Quarry, Hatfield Moors, (TYRHAM); NGR:SE 689 062 50 4.9.1 Sample contexts 51 4.10 Goole Moors (Thome Moors), Blackwater Dyke, (GOOLE, Q/P): NGR: SE 728 173. 51 4.11 Hayfield Lodge Farm, Rossington. NGR: SK 634 998. 51 4.12 Misterton Carr. NGR: SK 728 950 52 4.13 Success of the sampling strategy 52 CHAPTER V: ANALYSIS OF THE FOSSIL INSECT MATERIAL, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON A NEW METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH 5.1 Processing for palaeoentomological remains 53 5.2 Preservation of the fossil insect material 53 5.3 Identification of Palaeoentomological material 54 5.4 Taphonomic problems 55 5.5 Analytical methods 56 5.6 The ecological classification system 56 5.6.1 Classification systems: problems and potential 56 5.6.2 The classification system 58 5.6.3 The categories 60 5.6.4 Analysis 60 5.6.5 Presentation of the palaeoentomological data 61 5.7 Diversity indices 62 5.8 Jaccard’s coefficient 63 5.9 Correspondence analysis 64 5.10 Radiocarbon dating of samples 66 5.11 Selection of material suitable for radiocarbon-dating 67 CHAPTER VI: PALAEOENTOMOLOGICAL RESULTS FROM HATFIELD MOORS 6.1 Introduction 68 6.2 Hatfield Moors, Kilham West, (HAT 3). 68 6.2.1 Introduction 68 6.2.2 Age of the deposit 68 11 6.2.3 Results 69 6.2.4 Environmental reconstruction 69 6.2.4.1 The woodland community 69 6.2.4.2 The woodland/heath and heath community 70 6.2.4.3 The acid and non-acid component 70 6.2.4.4 The aquatic community 71 6.2.5 Diversity indices 71 6.2.6 Environmental interpretation 71 6.3 Hatfield Moors, Packards south, Site 2 (HAT 4). 72 6.3.1 Introduction 72 6.3.2 Age of the deposit 72 6.3.3 Results 74 6.3.4 Environmental reconstruction 75 6.3.4.1 Fossil insect zone 1, (samples 29-24) c. 1520-1390 cal BC to c. 1300 cal BC 75 6.3.4.1.1 The basal sample 75 6.3.4.1.2 The woodland community 77 6.3.4.1.3 The heath communities 78 6.3.4.1.4 The aquatic communities 79 6.3.4.1.5 The decay community 79 6.3.4.2 Fossil insect zone 2, (samples 23-18), c. 1320-1030 cal BC. to c. 1,000 cal BC 80 6.3.4.2.1 The woodland community 80 6.3.4.2.2 The heath and grassland community 81 6.3.4.2.3 The non-acidic and acidic communities 82 6.3.4.2.4 The aquatic communities 83 6.3.4.2.5 The hygrophilous communities 84 6.3.4.2.6 The decay community 84 6.3.4.3 Fossil insect zone 3, c. 1,000 cal BC to c. 700 AD 85 6.3.4.4 Fossil insect zone 3a (samples 16-12) 85 6.3.4.4.1 Woodland communities 85 6.3.4.4.2 Heath and grassland communities 86 6.3.4.4.3 Peatland communities 86 6.3.4.4.4 Aquatic communities 86 6.3.4.5 Fossil insect zone 3b (samples 10-1) 87 6.3.4.5.1 The heath communities 87 6.3.4.5.2 The peatland communities 87 6.3.4.5.3 The aquatic community 87 6.3.5 Diversity indices 88 6.3.6 Environmental interpretation 88 6.4 Lindholme A, Hatfield Moors (LIND A) 89 6.4.1 Introduction 89 6.4.2 Age of the deposits 89 6.4.3 Results 90 6.4.4 Environmental reconstruction 90 6.4.4.1 The woodland community 90 6.4.4.2 Heath and grassland communities 91 6.4.4.3 The acid and non-acid communities 91 6.4.4.4 Aquatic communities 91 6.4.4.5 The hygrophilous communities 92 6.4.5 Diversity indices 93 iii 6.4.6 Environmental interpretation 93 6.5 Lindholme B, Hatfield Moors (LIND B) 93 6.5.1 Introduction 93 6.5.2 Age of the deposit.