The ‘Natural’ Vegetation of the British Isles: 14 000 to 5000 Years Ago and Its Survival Today

Abstract

In studying more recent times the landscape itself bears the smudged print of the past. Land forms record periods of erosion and deposition. The formation of ice has left its fingerprint on the land. There are moraines, dumped material, marking the limits of glaciers. There are eroded valleys, U-shaped and scoured by ice. Detailed features of soils and rocks, their mineralogy, particle size distribution and chemical composition, record the conditions in which they were produced. Sea-level changes have left raised beaches or rock platforms, or eroded and deposited new coastlines. River terraces, each cutting through the previous strata, can be markers to particular ages. The landscape is a three-dimensional record, layer upon layer, print on print. It is an engraving which has been worked and reworked many times. The picture may be faded, blurred or smudged, but it is extraordinary how much of the past history can be revealed by the skilled expert.