Farmers in Prehistoric Britain

by Francis Pryor

Francis Pryor – regular contributor on Channel 4’s Time Team and the man behind the Britain BC and Britain AD television series – maintains that early farming in Britain has been largely misunderstood, due to a loss of contact with the countryside and failure to understand prehistoric farming methods.To redress this problem, this book reconstructs the lives of prehistoric farmers, with the author drawing on his academic research and practical experience, as a professional farmer, to provide details on crop cultivation and flock management.Pryor also shows how, in the millennium leading up to about 700 BC, certain areas of lowland England developed an intensive style of livestock rearing. The success of these prehistoric ‘agri-businesses’ made many communities extremely prosperous – so prosperous that they were able to bequeath fabulously valuable objects of bronze, iron or even gold to the world of their ancestors. This they did by carefully placing their wealth within rivers, lakes and meres.

Genres: Archaeology, Prehistory

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Francis Manning Marlborough Pryor MBE (born 13 January 1945) is a British archaeologist who is famous for his role in the discovery of Flag Fen, a Bronze Age archaeological site near Peterborough, and for his frequent appearances on the Channel 4 television series Time Team.

He has now retired from full-time field archaeology, but still appears on television and writes books as well as being a working farmer. His specialities are in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

His first novel, Lifers’ Club, is due to be published in 2014.

Reviews

[Lukerik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks like a textbook but isn’t. Francis (I think we’re all on first name terms here) wants to have a chat with you about prehistoric Fenland farmers. Probably over tea and a Garibaldi biscuit, though it’ll be tea from a flask because I think he wants you to put your wellies on and go out into the field with him.

Consistently interesting and nothing too technical. Would appeal to farmers and naturalists as much as historians, I suspect. Badly proof-read, well illustrated. Good analysis of the archaeological discoveries. Who knows if he’s right, but his suggestions are sensible and engaging. Helps that he farms the area as it gives him an insight that others might lack.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps it should be called sheep farmers in prehistoric Britain - although he does deal with other animals and to a small extent with arable farming or gardening, the main focus is on sheep. Within that, this is a useful and practically-minded book which draws together archaeological evidence and experience of farming today in the same landscapes to shed light on ancient practices.

[Aithne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book simply for the fact that it exists. Have you ever seen anyone write about prehistorical farmers? In Britain? Well, I'm not sure if that's a normal reaction but I was mindblown when I discovered it - and of course, bought it on the spot.

'Prehistory' is a broad term and, unfortunately for me, it turned out this book is way more prehistorical than my interests. I kind of suspected it won't venture as far as British protohistory, which is my current area of, ekhm... research? But I still didn't expect it to dedicate only some two pages to the Iron Age at all. It's 1/3 Neolithic era, 2/3 the Bronze Age, folks. Mostly about the Fens. And Fengate. And Fen Flag. And 'farming' means 'animal husbandry' here, as the author is convinced that was the main mode of farming up until the Iron Age - when the climate changed and all those shepherds & co. were forced to retrain. (He admits in the foreword to the 2nd edition that the title can be quite misleading, but says he decided against changing it, to not give his readers an impression that it's some completely new book. Which... Props to him, I guess. He could've made an extra buck or two had he done just that).

On one of the first pages the author informs you that 'this is not a textbook'. And oh boy, it is not. It's the only book by Francis Pryor I've read so far; does he always write like that??? Personally I loved it. It was a breath of fresh air amidst all the usual scientific 'one would not be considered shitted' style. It reads more or less like:

In year X me and my folks were doing excavations and dug up some ditches. I thought it was Y, but luckily never said it publicly. Then we dug up more ditches, and I was looking at the arrangement of the ditches, and then it dawned on me what the ditches must've been. So, here is what I think. Here's some proof of the things which could be proven, but other than that it's based just on my farming experience and common sense. I'm convinced I cracked it. Whether you believe me or not is up to you - and honestly, I don't really give a damn.

(The abundance of the word 'ditches' in that pseudo-quote is no accident. There's a lot of 'ditches' in this book, my friends. A LOT).

No, but seriously, I loved it. No kidding. We're talking of a prehistorical period here, so of course all we can hope for are some faint echoes of the past which we might manage to interpret the right way. If you want to paint a bigger picture, you need to make some far-fetched assumptions. I didn't buy all of them, but that perfectly fine. It's a very personal book and the author makes it clear that it's his own vision, his interpretation, and that he has no hard proof for most (any?) of it. But who expects hard proofs from prehistory?

I wish it dealt more with cereals (and even more veggies - come on, they must've been eating something more than just meat, dairy and barley!), but even though the book turned out to be only very partially connected to my current interests, I still enjoyed it tremendously. It's informative. It's imaginative. It's fun. I'd like to read more from Francis Pryor; he really got me hooked on the whole Fengate topic.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is underrated by archaeologists. It's the only book on prehistoric farming written by someone who is both an archaeologist and a farmer, providing valuable insights into what works and what doesn't. It's also very easy to read and written with a little humour.