Alston Moor Miner-Farmer Landscape: Palaeoenvironmental Assessment
Author(s): J P Huntley
A literature search produced over 100 pollen sites lying within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty although only 10 had absolute dates. Of the total only three lay within the core Alston miner-farmer project area with a further three in the old Alston Manor. Many of the previous palaeoenvironmental investigations were designed to answer questions about broad-scale vegetational changes through the Holocene and, as a result, are largely unsuitable to address details concerning farming or mining activity in relation to any one mine. Although the broad conclusion is that almost any pollen work within the project’s core area could produce useful information it is suggested that effort be concentrated in a few areas. One is at Valley Bog where there is already a reasonable amount of understanding of the sedimentary sequences and effort could quickly ‘home-in’ on key depths. Others are in relation to the Mounthooly and Nenthead mines, while a fourth site with potential is Whitley Castle. Work in the former three areas should attempt to find several small basins/mires in order to investigate spatial, as well as temporal, patterns. Given the history of mining in the area it is also recommended that associated geochemical analyses are undertaken.
- Report Number:
- 71/2011
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 18
- Keywords:
- Landscape Park Pollen Survey
