Forest and Moorland in the South Pennine Uplands in the Mid-Flandrian Period: I. Macrofossil Evidence of the Former Forest Cover

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Abstract
A survey of the occurrence of buried tree remains in blanket pets of a 400-km2 area of the southern Pennine uplands is presented. Tree remains were detected at 53 localities; pine and birch were the commonest species, but willow and oak were also frequent. Tree remains were recorded in the mineral soil below the peat, at the peat-soil interface, embedded 10-30 cm above the peat base, or embedded half-way up the peat prolife. At several sites, 2 or 3 superposed layers of different tree species occurred. Most tree remains occurred in the shallower marginal peats, and below 520 m altitude. Sparse remains were recorded at altitudes up to 610 m (willow), and at the base of peat deposits up to 4.1 m deep. Radiocarbon datings of 14 representative samples of tree remains showed 3 groups of dates within the period 7675-3995 yr B.P. (earlier than 7000 yr B.P., 5410-4495 yr B.P. and 4340-3995 yr B.P.) and a single date of 1350 yr B.P. The general distribution pattern of dates was similar to that for published dates of tree remains in other British upland peats. Preservation of treee remains is dependent upon rapid envelopment of the dead tree by peat. Absence of tree remains in peat may merely indicate absence of suitable conditions for preservation and not absence of tree growth at the site. Tree remains, when they occur, may also represent a sample of the upland forest biased towards those species capable of colonizing and growing on thin blanket peat. The complex sequence of environmental changes necessary to explain the complex stratigraphical relationships shown by buried tree remains in the southern Pennines is emphasized.

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