ABSTRACT
As already outlined in the previous chapter, the first clearances of wood and scrub in Britain probably occurred in the Neolithic period with a turn from hunter-gathering to the more settled existence of agriculture and pastoralism. A gradual increase in the population would follow, which, in turn, would lead to a greater demand for more food and hence to more extensive clearances. By the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, the population had reached considerable numbers, with the concomitant rise in areas under cultivation, and in the growth in number and size of settlements.
