- Rural Life and Farming -
The finds argue for wheat and barley as the predominant crops. Their presence and
diversity, however, give no insight into how they were actually cultivated, nor is
there any documentary evidence. Britain has a climate distinctly different even from
that of the near Continent and undoubtedly this would have been exploited to the
full. Caesar describes our winters as less severe (remissioribus frigoribus) (v.12) and
the humid temperate climate, driven as it always has been by low pressure from the
Atlantic, provided ideal conditions for cereal production. The principle of autumn
sowing is traditional in the Mediterranean zones and presumably with the arrival of
the first farmers to Britain in the Neolithic this practice was continued. However,
because the winter here tends to be over by early March and summer is considerably
less severe and barely arrives until late June or even July, spring sowing of cereals is
a positive option. The advantages of two sowing seasons are not inconsiderable since
the harvesting time is staggered, the winter-sown crops being ready before the spring
ones; the work load similarly is spread and - of economic interest - the yield from
autumn-sown crops (because of winter frosts checking growth and subsequently
increased tillering by the plants) is greater. In addition some cereals, like millet, are
frost-sensitive and cart be sown only in the spring. Specifically, it allows for greater
areas of land to be cultivated and therefore for greater returns.
The evidence of the seed-drill ard discussed above suggests that seed potential
was maximized but it gives no real indication of seed input. The fundamental
assumption must be that an adequate seeding rate had evolved in the sense of
minimum expedient input to perceived maximum output. Research into prehistoric
crop yields at Butser Ancient Farm (Figure 11.3) spanning more than twenty years
has been based upon this premise. The minimum input assumed in the research
programme is a mere 50 kilos per hectare, approximately a quarter of the modern
sowing rate. The other issue of paramount interest with regard to crop yields is
whether fields were manured or not. The general assumption is that manuring was
practised from the Bronze Age onwards, based upon abraded sherds of pottery
being recovered from field areas. Tantalizingly, however, very little evidence has been
found for the presence of middens or manure heaps within enclosures, though
present research into the trace evidence of lipids may alter this in the future. The
difficulty lies in the very organic nature of the material and its rapid dissolution and
disappearance. In consequence the Ancient Farm research programme has examined
a range of treatments including manuring and non-manuring practice. The results
averaged across two decades suggest surprisingly good yields of both emmer and
spelt for manured fields of 3.5 tonnes per hectare and non-manured fields of 1.7
tonnes per hectare for autumn-sown fields and slightly less for spring-sown fields.
These figures correlate favourably with modern yields prior to the introduction of
chemicals. All of which suggests that surplus production was well within the grasp
of the Celtic farmer, especially as the results quoted are gained from a worst option,
since the trials were conducted on the poorest of soils, a friable rendzina over middle
chalk on a north-facing hill slope. Given a good soil in a protected river valley, the
results would have been commensurately improved. In addition to the cereals,
the evidence from carbonized seed indicates the presence of several legumes in the
Late Iron Age. Primarily the Celtic or tic bean (Vicia faba minor) is represented
along with vetch (V sativa) and with the very occasional pea (Pisum sativum).