ABSTRACT
A ‘natural’ disaster involves an interaction between an extreme natural event and a human population, in which the severity of the episode depends on the conditions of the people experiencing adversity, and on the ability of society to relieve suffering and restore normality. Both archaeological and documentary evidence have been used to suggest that the desertion of villages can in part be attributed to climatic factors. It was once argued that Hound Tor, Devon and, by extension, other Dartmoor settlements, found it more difficult to cultivate moorland soils at high altitude during the climatic instability of the early 14th century. Self-help as a remedy in times of disaster deserves attention in the context of the occupation and use of land. Ecological problems were once associated in the minds of historians with famines and bad harvests, as it was believed that settlement extended over poor land on moorlands and heaths, leading to the cultivation of infertile land and reductions in yields.
