Charcoals from Maiden Castle and their Significance in Relation to the Vegetation and Climatic Conditions in Prehistoric Times

The general character of the material calls for some comment. Not only did the excavations provide a very large number of separate samples of charcoal, but in many of these it was possible to recognize fragments from a number of distinct stems so that the total number of specimens examined was exceptionally large. Indeed, so numerous were the specimens of hazel (Corylus avellana) and, in a lesser degree, of oak (Quercus sp.?) also, that it has been possible to obtain statistical data to which, as the sequel will show, some importance is attached. The character of the specimens has considerable significance. Most of the charcoal stems are of comparatively small diameter and indeed, except for a few of the fragments of oak, were certainly in the nature of mere sticks or twigs. We can from this reasonably infer that the material was collected locally and probably in the immediate vicinity of the site, as it is evident that the sticks from which the charcoals are derived were often too small to have been worth carrying a distance. Had the wood been collected more than a short distance away it is reasonable to assume that the average diameter would have been larger and the proportion of very small twigs would have been small. If this contention be granted it follows that the charcoals are representatives of the vegetation of the chalk down itself and, as the identifications of the species will show, their nature is entirely consistent with this interpretation.