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Palaeolithic
and Mesolithic Periods
To most people, the first human development
in the landscapes of Eryri began with the retreat of the last
Ice Age, the Devensian. This is not the case, in fact there were
people present in Wales well before the Ice Age and indeed during
it. Unfortunately, almost all evidence of earlier remnants of
human activity would have been ground away by the tremendous erosive
powers the ice sheets of the Devensian period. However a human
tooth was found at the Pontnewydd cave near Llanelwy (St Asaph),
it is the most north-westerly site of its period in Europe, and
the only lower Palaeolithic site yet discovered in Wales.
Although warm spells gone intermittent
respite from Devensian ice age e.g. about 62,000 and 27,000 years
ago and allowed some human habitation in the South of Wales parts
of the North remained gripped in the clutches of the ice, with
only a few frost shattered islands of rock protruding out of frozen
sea.
Flynnon Beuno and Cae Gwyn caves, near Tremeirchion
both show evidence of human activity from the upper Palaeolithic. Flint implements-scrapers,
blades and chisels the particular point of interest of these is that they
were much more delicate than before in their use was specialised between 25,000years
and 15,000 years B.C. Most of Wales was under ice, as the Deviation went into
its most serve climatic period, it is probable that there was no human habitation
even in the South of Wales until the Lake Glacial period 12,000 years to 8,000years
B.C. a period when the ice was slowly retreating. It is from this period onward
that unbroken human habitation begins.
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The initial settlement of Britain was probably
across the land bridge that spanned what in now the straits of
Dover. The climate of the period would have been of Tundra with
typically Boreal animals and plants in abundance, animals such
as reindeer and bison would have roamed the valley and the slopes
to the north. Stone tools were used in this period and their complexity
and appearance was enhanced gradually.
It would have been quite a bit later that
the first re-habitation of the land took place in this area. Furthermore,
people's presence in the area at this time is debatable, due to
the harshness of the climate.
Rapid climatic improvement and the coming
of trees took place from about 7,000 to 4,500 B.C.; temperatures
were about 2°C to 3°C higher than today. This epoch is known as
the Boreal Period and in this period of rapid improvement of the
climate some tremendous changes took place. A Pine/hazel/birch
forest replaced the Birch and Pine forests; this forest itself
gave way to Pine/hazel woodland, then at a later stage this was
replaced by an Oak/alder forest. Just as plant succession was
altered, there were also changes in the fauna; herds of wild oxen,
red deer, wild boar and a scattering of hares replaced the vast
herds of reindeer and bison.
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Mesolithic Peoples 10,000 years to 6,500
years
Most Mesolithic sites are to be found
along today's coastline; however, it is probable that a number
of sites on what would have been low-lying areas have been submerged
with the rise in sea levels. Why did development mainly take place
on these coastal sites. It was probably a combination of factors.
One main reason was climate; just as today the population of this
era realised that the weather was better on the coast. Secondly,
there was tremendous difficulty of movement in heavily wooded
areas. Apart from being difficult to negotiate the woods and forests
were full of dangerous beasts. Pollen analysis shows that trees
were being cleared during the Mesolithic as the results of fire.
It is probable that the first use of fire for clearing was to
farm open glades in the forest around settlements and that later
large-scale systematic clearances of the uplands took place.
However, the mountains of Eryri were to
suffer increased levels of rainfall later on in the Mesolithic
Period. This heavier rainfall coupled with the modified landscape
of treeless hill slopes led to severe water logging and the start
of rapid peat accumulation. Many of the woodlands in Eryri can
be traced back to this period in prehistory; they are not a natural
landscape.
These peoples were hunters gatherers,
their 'way of life' contained to develop albeit slowly until about
6,500 yrs B.P. It was about then that farming groups-in search
of ever more land arrived in Britain. These people could grow
crops and looked after trained animals, more people could be fed
in thin way then by hunting and gathering. Therefore, their population
growth was rapid and they quickly took over form the dispersed
Mesolithic hunters.
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