Location, Site and Setting
Dartmoor landscapes are located within England in south Devon under the protection of Dartmoor national park (DNP) that occupies an area of 954km2(“National Geographic” par. 3). The national park is being directed by the DNP Authority that secures the sites and operates the business and other activities. These activities are featured by the hotels, camping sites, archaeological attraction spots, water catchment, and historic preservations (“Dartmoor B” par. 2).
The area has some farming activities, especially in regard to sheep and cattle rearing. Furthermore, the location operates as a zone of shooting for military recruits within the region. The most common geographical feature of the landscape is the granite plateau that covers more than sixty-five per cent of the park’s area. It is the leading area among the other granite landscapes coalescing to form the Westcountry. Tors and bogs are also unique characteristics of Dartmoor, which are accompanied by many prehistoric attributes (Marchand par. 3).
Archaeological Work
There are various unique archaeological features associated with this region, which include farming during the Bronze Age (“Dartmoor” par. 1). It harbours preserved materials such as the clapper bridges and menhirs among other remains distributed within site. It is also apparent that the preservation of rail lines and other reservoirs used during the Victorian era was a vital aspect in the park. A recent archaeological discovery about the Whitehorse Hill burial with radiocarbon dating back to 1900-1500BC was determined after the support of archaeologist and funding from the national park as well as cooperation on the land community owning this land (“Home of Dartmoor National Park Authority” par. 3). The figure 1 shows a prehistoric excavation postulated to have been used by pastoralist for four hundred years after analyzing pollen.
Chronology
Dating of the landscapes attributes revealed various prehistoric aspects that led to the formulation of the following chronology (Jessie and Fyfe 751).
- During 3630 to 3370 cal BC, there was an implication of the Neolithic group in the initiation of heathland (Fyfe et al. 2259).
- Beginning of bronze age- decreased utilization of lands on the uplands.
- 1480 cal BC- pollen grains and spores of fungi avail the changes in grass used for animal farming. This activity was estimated to have taken 400 years (Fyfe et al. 2259).
- As the Iron Age commenced, there were decreased uses of the uplands (Knowling 122).
Current Interpretation
An assessment of the environmental cycles and pollen activities shows the activity of farming and a long enclosure period. It dictates that the changes in the landscape began within the Neolithic period leading to insignificant modifications when the Bronze Age was starting (Fleming 30). Through the Iron Age and Bronze Age, the coprophilous fungi reduced significantly implying that there was less stress attributed to livestock keeping (Fyfe et al. 2257). This state has remained intact until the year 2014.
Visitation Reasons
Visiting the sites not only has educational advantages attributed to the clear understanding of the site but also exemplifies the other historic sites and their archaeological vitality in internalizing the ancestral backgrounds. It has enlightened on the possibilities of making new discoveries that can allow identification of other features during or before the Neolithic period. Finally, it is a practical field course to see the region personally with little theoretical instructions. Therefore, it acted as a new pedagogical approach for the archaeology class.
Works Cited
Dartmoor B. Dartmoor Landscape, 2012. Web.
Dartmoor National Park. Dartmoor, 2012. Web.
Dartmoor. Dartmoor Archaeology, 2013. Web.
Fleming, Andrew. “The Crossing of Dartmoor.” Landscape History 32.1 (2011): 27-45. Print.
Fyfe, Ralph, Brack Joanna, Johnston Joanna, Lewis Helen, and Roland Wickstead. “Historical context and chronology of Bronze Age land enclosure on Dartmoor, UK.” Journal of Archaeological Science 35.8 (2008): 2250-2261. Print.
Fyfe, Ralph, and Jessie Woodbridge. “Differences in time and space in vegetation patterning: analysis of pollen data from Dartmoor, UK.” Landscape Ecology 27.5 (2012): 745-760. Print.
Home of Dartmoor National Park Authority. Whitehorse Hill burial, 2014. Web.
Knowling, Philip. Dartmoor follies: human eccentricity in the natural landscape. S.l.: Orchard Publications, 2002. Print.
Marchand, Jane. Dartmoor’s landscape continues to reveal its secrets. Dartmoor National Park Authority News Release, 2012. Web.
National Geographic. Dartmoor National Park, 2012. Web.