ABSTRACT
The first clearances of natural vegetation for agricultural purposes must have been laborious affairs, with only the most primitive tools, even after fire had done its work. Land which has been accidentally burned, or deliberately swaled, rapidly regenerates and within two or three years it is often hard to see where the burning took place; seeds which escaped the flames soon germinate in the newly enriched soil, while others come in from the surroundings on the wind or in bird droppings. Consequently, it must have been a continuous fight to prevent crops from being swamped by this new growth, and it can be done only by repeated hoeing or manual weeding. Clearance of woodland increased the problem with tree roots to be dug out. Nowadays, fearsome machines with giant, wide-bladed circular saws soon reduce even the most stubborn tree stumps to chips, but before they were invented, only axes and mattocks could be used in a tedious and time-consuming job; admittedly, animal power could be employed to drag the stumps out of the ground once the main roots had been severed. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that it is usually assumed that widespread forest clearance did not begin until the Iron Age, when iron tools were introduced. This process was rapidly accelerated during the Roman period, not because the Roman implements were much better in quality, but tempering of the forged iron produced improved cutting edges, and there were simply far more of them.
