Archaeologists working at Under Whittle at Longnor in the Peak District have found that the site was occupied several centuries earlier than had been thought. On the evidence of pollen found in peat the first known occupants were ninth century Anglo-Saxons rather than later farmers moving into new areas in response to rising population in the twelfth or thirteenth centuries.
It is a reminder, or further proof, that the history of the landscape is rich and deep, far more complex than a superficial glance or unquestioning acceptance of what we see now as being what it has always been. It is another reason to be grateful for the work and insight of W.G.Hoskins and his classic The Making of the English Landscape.
The excavation is reported upon by the Buxton Advertiser in 'This is really exciting news' - Discoveries made at a Peak District archeologist site are of national importance
I am left wondering if any or some of my Derbyshire ancestors may have been there before moving into neighbouring Peakland valleys. It is, so far as I can tell,bod course completely unknowable.
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