- Chapter Eleven -
Figure 11.3 General view of Butser Ancient Farm, nr Chalton, Hampshire.
(Copyright: Peter Reynolds.)Conditions for the accidental carbonization of vegetables are seemingly more rare.
The presence of these leguminous crops, well attested, of course, in subsequent
periods, rather complicates the treatment options open to the prehistoric farmer.
Crop rotation must be regarded as a likely treatment, with the legume crop fixing
nitrogen in the soil to the advantage of any following cereal crop. Results from this
treatment at the Ancient Farm suggest a regular cereal return year on year of 2.6
tonnes per hectare. A third option is also not unlikely: the growing of beans in
particular inter-rowed with the cereal. The major benefit from this is not only
the simultaneous deposit and utilization of nitrogen after the first year but also the
stouter stalks of the bean plants literally holding up the cereals in bad weather
conditions and preventing lodging. This symbiosis of crops can be extended to
include both vetch (V. sativa) and tufted vetch (V. cracca), though if the growth
of the vetch is excessive it can actually cause lodging. Traditionally rye (Secale
cereale) and vetch (V. sativa) have been grown together but in recent times primarily
as a fodder crop for livestock.
Besides the major food crops, evidence abounds for the growing of flax (Linum
usitatissimum). Whether this was specifically for the stem fibres to manufacture into
linen or for the oil which was obtained by crushing the seeds is difficult to assess,
since there is virtually no surviving evidence in Britain for the post-harvest process-
ing. In all probability flax was grown for both purposes. Another oil-producing
plant, gold-of-pleasure (Camelina sativa), is also found, though it may have been a
weed of the flax crop itself.