Monument record 15748 - Post glacial to Late Bronze Age Peat deposits from Ince Marshes.

<1> RSK ENSR Environment Ltd, 2012, Ince Resource Recovery Park, Cheshire: Pollen and Plant Macrofossils, Analysis of Peat deposits from Ince Marshes (Client Report). SCH6917.

Ince Marshes are located in the Mersey Estuary; a low-lying wetland area with islands of drier ground that have produced evidence of human activity dating back to the Bronze Age. A Roman Fortlet and Medieval manorial remains attest to the strategic importance of the area in the past. The deep peat deposits that have accumulated in the estuary since the last Ice Age were thought likely to contain records of changes to the surrounding environment brought about by human activities over the centuries.

Peat levels dating for early post-glacial period (cal BC 10050 to 11610 and cal BC 9570 to 9550 (Beta-297299).

A radiocarbon date of 8730 to 8460 cal BC (Beta-297298) confirmed that peat continued to accumulate through the Mesolithic as sea levels continued to rise and warming of the climate progressed. However, no obvious marine influences were noted at this stage.

Silt deposition occurred at the end of the Mesolithic period, with accumulation of the upper peat beginning around 4840 to 4690 cal BC (Beta-297296).

A radiocarbon date of 7520 to 7300 cal BC (Beta-297297) was obtained from this level, confirming that the lower peat accumulated throughout the Mesolithic period as a result of climatic warming.

A radiocarbon date of 4840 to 4690 cal BC (Beta-297296) was obtained from this level, demonstrating that the upper peat started to accumulate in the Early Neolithic period. By this time the climate had warmed to the extent that lime, alder and ash had spread to the area

A radiocarbon date of 2870 to 2610 and 2600 to 2590 cal BC (Beta-297294) was obtained, placing this level in the Late Neolithic period/Early Bronze Age.

Inundation and burial of the peat by silt occurred after 1000 to 840 cal BC (Beta- 297293) according to the radiocarbon date from the top of the peat, making the accumulation of peat end in the Late Bronze Age.

A classic sequence of succession was found to be present in the lower peat deposits, from the early Holocene fairly open reedswamp with willow, birch and juniper, to gradual colonisation of the area by pine. Following an increase in hazel, mixed deciduous woodland became established on the drier ground, with oak, elm and later, lime moving into the area. Pollen from the upper peat showed that there was a remarkable persistence of deciduous woodland through time, although alder carr probably dominated the area close to the sampling point for most of the time that the upper peat
was accumulating.

The plant macrofossils demonstrated that at times drier heathland was the dominant vegetation type in the immediate area (upper peat only), whilst at other times wetter sphagnum bog, Phragmites reedswamp or sedge-fen were present. Evidence for small-scale burning was common, being recorded in eleven of the twenty plant macrofossil samples. Although large fragments of charcoal were only common in two samples, 16 and 18 in the lower peat, it is clear that coastal areas of the Liverpool basin were being heavily exploited by humans in the Mesolithic (Cowell and Innes 1994, 173). It is often difficult to recognise small-scale clearances in pollen diagrams of this period, particularly when the woodland was probably located some distance from the site on drier, higher ground. However, the fact that willow/poplar charcoal was identified on the site suggests that deliberate burning rather than natural fires had been taking place at Ince. As notes above, these very sappy woods do not easily catch fire in a wetland location, so it is likely that fires from transient camps were represented in the samples or some sort of deliberate clearance and burning.