Description

Peter Fowler's essay on later prehistoric agriculture in the first volume of The Agrarian History of England and Wales was hailed by reviewers as a 'masterpiece of informed synthesis'. In The Farming of Prehistoric Britain Dr Fowler, a foremost authority on agrarian archaeology, has revised and updated his original work to provide an accessible and comprehensive survey of the evolution of British farming and its landscape during the last two millennia BC. Emphasizing past gains in knowledge from experimental, aerial and field archaeology, Dr Fowler demonstrates how the application of archaeological approaches to agrarian history has made the subject central to our understanding of the prehistoric period. Accompanied by a wealth of illustrations, he examines the composition, distribution and farming activities of the human population of the British Isles in the light of research into its environment, capabilities, settlements and field systems. He describes the evidence for, and the techniques and technology of, arable and pastoral farming, and concludes by discussing some cultural, social and economic achievements of the agrarian communities of later prehistoric Britain.