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Palynological data from three radiocarbon dated peat profiles at Rishworth Moor in the Pennine hills of northern England provide a record of vegetation change and human impacts in the Late Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. All three cultures have archaeological sites present in the vicinity, with Late Mesolithic sites by far the most abundant, comprising mainly very late assemblages dominated by 'rod'-shaped microliths. Pollen evidence of vegetation disturbance occurs during all three archaeological periods, and is attributed to the results of human activity. Microscopic charcoal and non-pollen palynomorph analyses support the pollen evidence. Sites at Cat Stones 2 and Cat Stones 3 record evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age date only. Cat Stones 1 extends into the Late Mesolithic period, and fine-resolution pollen analyses have been applied in this profile to the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition leading up to the mid-Holocene Elm (Ulmus) Decline, which starts here at c. 4940 14C BP (5670 cal. BP), a typical date for it in the central Pennines. Bayesian age-depth modelling provides precise ages for the vegetation changes and their spatial correlation. The plateau was dominated by scrub and grassy Calluna heath from the Late Mesolithic onwards. Elevated microscopic charcoal levels and ruderal herb pollen record phases of fire disturbance below the Elm Decline, including a grain of Hordeum cereal-type. Whether this grain represents early cultivation requires further research. Bronze Age impacts are of greater intensity, but disturbances of all three cultural periods are low scale, agreeing with the results of previous research in the Pennines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollen grains of primitive varieties of Hordeum vulgare collected by the Gene Bank of the Crop Research Institute, Prague, are compared to pollen of native Glyceria species of the United Kingdom with a view to establishing separation criteria. It is found that a separation of Hordeum vulgare from both Glyceria maxima and Glyceria fluitans is possible according to annular characteristics in combination with grain size as dependent variables. These findings have implications for the identification of cereal-type pollen grains that could be evidence for early cultivation in the Terminal Mesolithic of north-west Europe, and for the use of palynology as a reliable source of palaeobotanical data, particularly in its inland areas. A phase of vegetation disturbance from the pollen site of Dog Hill in the southern Pennine uplands of the UK, an area with a high density of 'rod' microlith flint sites, is introduced as a case example using the above protocol. Here, multiple Hordeum-type grains are encountered alongside prominent pollen indicators of disturbance, but also including non-pollen palynomorphs and microcharcoal data, at a date well before the mid-Holocene decline in Ulmus pollen frequencies that is often regarded as marking the beginning of the Neolithic. Confident identification of cereal-type pollen will greatly assist the understanding of the introduction of cultivation and the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in north-west Europe. The objective of this study is to show the utility of this palynology with respect to defining the ecology of early cultivation in UK uplands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relative sea-level (RSL) change is reconstructed for central Cumbria, UK, based on litho- and biostratigraphical analysis from the Lateglacial to the late Holocene. The RSL curve is constrained using ten new radiocarbon-dated sea-level index points in addition to published data. The sea-level curve identifies a clear Lateglacial sea-level highstand approximately 2.3 m OD at c. 15-17 k cal a BP followed by rapid RSL fall to below −5 m OD. RSL then rose rapidly during the early Holocene culminating in a mid-Holocene highstand of approximately 1 m OD at c. 6 k cal a BP followed by gradual fall to the present level. These new data provide an important test for the RSL predictions from glacial isostatic adjustment models, particularly for the Lateglacial where there are very little data from the UK. The new RSL curve shows similar broad-scale trends in RSL movement predicted by the models. However, the more recent models fail to predict the Lateglacial sea level highstand above present reconstructed by the new data presented here. Future updates to the models are needed to reduce this mismatch. This study highlights the importance for further RSL data to constrain Lateglacial sea level from sites in northern Britain. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]