- Rural Life and Farming -
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Figure 11.1 Rock carving from Krokholmen in the region of Bohuslan, Sweden, showing a
double team of cattle pulling an ard. (Copyright: Peter Reynolds.)
Unfortunately, the agrochemical revolution of the past forty years has seen great
swathes of these fields destroyed by the plough. Many can still be seen outlined by soil
marks where once the lynchets stood but even these are disappearing at a depressing
rate. Ironically, the prehistoric fields had survived on the poor light soils particularly
in Wessex and Yorkshire, and without chemical boosting of these soils they would
survive still. The fact that iron age farmers were cultivating the poor soils themselves
raises a question about the extent of land under cultivation at that time. The distri-
bution of iron age sites across all soil types in all regions clearly denies that the fields
which survive as monuments were the only areas cultivated. Undoubtedly the whole
landscape was under intensive and necessarily diverse use. Because these fields have
survived on the poor soils rather implies that during the Iron Age pressure on
cultivable ground was greater than at any other time until the present century.
The fields themselves tend to be square rather than rectangular in shape, and given
the ard marks described above, were probably cross-ploughed as a rule. Certainly a
better tilth is gained by cross-ploughing, the clods of earth being attacked from two
directions. Also because the organic content in the soil is high, the roots and plant
material tend to be streamed in the direction of the plough. Turning at right angles to
the stream does break the material down more successfully and in addition brings
persistent root masses to the surface, allowing them to be pulled out more easily. One
of the greatest enemies to the farmer, a great colonizer of cereal fields is couch grass
(Agropyron repens), which needs continuous rooting out if the cereals are to thrive.
The field sizes range in extent from 0. 16 to 0.25 hectares and broadly represent an
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