
Heatwave unveils ancient settlements in Wales - seanalltogether
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44746447
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freehunter
It is mindboggling to me that ancient humans could have had such an impact
that it's still seen today without concrete, stones, or any lasting structure.
Just digging a ditch, then forgetting about it for two thousand years, until
one day you can see dark lines in the grass.

Absolutely staggering. I wish they knew that they'd have made such a long-
lasting impression on the Earth.

~~~
madaxe_again
From my house, in North Wales, I can see a vast landscape shaped hugely by
ancient hands - Snowdonia. The hills were once heavily forested, and held
springs and glades in which Mesolithic, Celtic and Roman peoples lived and
farmed - but they are now all moorland, as the trees were felled thousands of
years ago, for construction and grazing.

Much of what we think of as natural landscape was made by man.

Even that which is patently unnatural passes without much consideration- the
neighbouring farm sits smack atop a Roman fort (situated on an inconvenient
hilltop between a known fort on the conwy river and a known fort atop a
mountain, which has a view to the sea on one side and our hill, but not the
river, on the other) - and my garden atop a Roman road - and nobody knows. The
dead giveaway was when we took the mouldering plaster (gypsum atop lime) off
the internal walls of the house, to find dressed masonry, and one slab with
part of a funerary inscription upon it - the cottage was built from spoilage
from the road and tombs that lined it - 400 years ago they would have just
been some handily squared off chunks of stone, ideal to build with.

~~~
corin_
I’m not a local or an expert in this area, but do spend a week or two at least
once a year in the mountains, either the Lake District or Wales, so have had a
few conversations about this in the past.

> _”as the trees were felled thousands of years ago”_

Might you have a source on this you could share? I was under the impression
that at least the majority of the deforestation happened in recent centuries
or even decades, rather than thousands of years.

I did a quick google and didn’t immediately find much detail, although this
[0] article from the Independant claims “ _half of its ancient woodland lost
since the 1930s_ ” talking about Britain as a whole.

Maybe it happened much earlier in North Wales?

Anyway, wherever the line is between natural and man-made, I still really love
Snowdonia - was there most recently two months ago (staying quite near you as
it happens, a few miles inland from Conwy), it’s such a nice place to get away
from city life for a little.

There’s a guy who has been campaigning / writing a lot about this subject (I
think specifically about the Lake District but might be wrong) pushing for
more tree planting, but I can’t think of the name right now... Edit: George
Monbiot. I don’t have time right now to revisit his writing but just remember
he’s interesting on the topic.

[0] [https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/worrying-
sl...](https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/worrying-slump-in-
tree-planting-prompts-fears-of-deforestation-1997344.html)

~~~
vincebowdren
It's true about the trees being felled thousands of yours ago; it's believed
to be the same in my local countryside, the Peak.

That claim about half of ancient woodland lost since the 1930s : that's true,
but it's referring to what ancient woodland still remained in the 1930s
compared to what remains now. Both are very small areas, compared to the
amount of land which became forested after the last ice age.

A quick reference I've found; wikipedia
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanket_bog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanket_bog))
has "In some areas of Europe, the spread of blanket bogs is traced to
deforestation by prehistoric cultures.", cited to an article in Nature: Moore,
P. D. (1973). The influence of prehistoric cultures upon the initiation and
spread of blanket bog in upland Wales. Nature, 241, 350–353.

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paganel
For those interested in aerial archeology I recommend the work of French
archeologist Roger Agache, who pioneered the domain in France in the '60s and
'70s and based on whose work tens if not hundreds of Roman-era villas have
been mapped in the plains located between the Loire valley and the Northern
area of Paris. Just a couple of links: [http://www.archeologie-
aerienne.culture.gouv.fr/en/discip5-p...](http://www.archeologie-
aerienne.culture.gouv.fr/en/discip5-pg1.htm) (presenting his work in English)
and especially this
[http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/memoire_fr?ACTION...](http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/memoire_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER_TITLE&FIELD_6=REF&VALUE_6=ARR22%2b&GRP=5&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=50&REQ=%28%28ARR22%2b%29%20%3aREF%20%29&DOM=Tous&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P)
(with actual aerial photos taken by Agache and his team).

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furyg3
Something similar is happening in Holland, where it's possible to see where
the historical fields were within current field divisions.

[https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/nederland-zo-droog-dat-zelfs-
hi...](https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/nederland-zo-droog-dat-zelfs-historische-
akkers-weer-zijn-te-zien~af7ac467/)

~~~
Freestyler_3
Though thats only from 50 years ago.

What is nice is that the article mentions the rain shortage, which is a nice
way to compare.

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throwaway5752
Not to be pedantic but does it really qualify as a heat wave? Essentially the
whole planet (with a few exceptions) is 2-3 F hotter than the last 100 year
avg and the 3-4 highest month ever measured. This is really just new normal
temperatures in a continuing upward trend.

~~~
andyjohnson0
I live in the UK, and the weather over the last six weeks has been
exceptionally dry and warm compared to our usual summer weather [1]. It might
not be a heatwave in some technical sense, but here on the ground that's how
people are describing it.

[1] _" Three fine days and a thunderstorm"_

~~~
jadavies
We haven't had a hosepipe ban around here yet so it's not a proper heatwave :)

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hayksaakian
I wonder if this explains crop circles in the USA

~~~
simonswords82
Interesting thought but crop circles are made by crops being pressed down in
to complex patterns, so probably not?

[https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=crop+circles&num=100&sourc...](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=crop+circles&num=100&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl9dzZ_ZPcAhUFTcAKHRZsCIYQ_AUICigB&biw=1440&bih=675)

