Bronze Age Food & Farming
Bronze Age (2200 - 1400 BC)
By the middle of the Bronze Age (c. 2200-800 BC), much of the land had been cleared, and was now open grazing.
Mid Bronze Age (c. 2200 - 800 BC)
Now that large areas were open, ditched boundaries were dug, waterholes created and hedges grown. Much of this was for animals rather than cereals.
Wild cattle had died out, horses were introduced, and a hardier variety of wheat, spelt, which could be winter-sown was being grown.
Until about 1200 BC it was warmer and drier than today, and there was little flooding.
Late Bronze Age (C.1700 - 1400 BC)
In the late Bronze Age the climate became cooler and wetter which led to flooding of the land alongside the River Thames.
There was a shift in settlement and agriculture, and from now on into the Iron Age permanent villages and farms appeared, like the one in the lee of the hill fort at Castle Hill.
From the storage pits found below ground and post granaries above ground, we know that wheat and barley were grown in the late Bronze Age.
Sheep and cattle were the most common animal. As the population grew, specialist enclosed farms were created by the edge of the floodplain to exploit the rich summer grazing. Woodland was now carefully managed.
