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Early Cultivation in Northumberland and The Borders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2014

Peter Topping ,
S. Halliday  and
A. Welfare
Peter Topping
Affiliation:
RCHME, Line Building, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
S. Halliday
Affiliation:
RCAHMS, 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HF
A. Welfare
Affiliation:
1 Church Road, Stannington, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 6HQ
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Abstract

Recent discoveries on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish Border have shown that it is now possible to identify the surface remains of prehistoric cultivation without recourse to excavation. Numerous sites of very narrow ridged cultivation, generally no more than 1.4 m between the centre of the furrows and now known as cord rig, are associated with prehistoric settlements of various types. When taken in conjunction with the many examples of demonstrably pre-Roman cultivation terraces, this has finally destroyed the concept of a predominantly pastoral economy believed to have been practised in much of the Tyne-Forth area. It is now apparent that arable regimes formed a significant part of the local economy and that the currency of the myth of the footloose Celtic cowboy is at an end. This paper concentrates upon Northumberland. A more complete description of the Scottish material will be produced by S. Halliday.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , 1989 , pp. 161 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1989

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