Archaeologists have uncovered a prehistoric woodland “time capsule” buried in Exmoor’s ancient peatlands. The finding, filled with beetles and plant fragments, gives a time-frozen snapshot of the creatures that lived there – and could help restore the area to the richly boggy, carbon-sequestering, tree-filled landscape it once was.
The discovery was made during a peatland restoration project at the Holnicote Estate in England’s West Somerset.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The finding, filled with beetles and plant fragments, gives a time-frozen snapshot of the creatures that lived there – and could help restore the area to the richly boggy, carbon-sequestering, tree-filled landscape it once was.
“The most stunning bit [of the discovery] is how perfectly preserved everything is and that we now know there were trees in what is [now] a treeless environment,” said Basil Stow, a National Trust ranger working with the project.
“The fact we found tree species in such good condition is especially important because it will help us find out how peatland habitats formed in the first place, many thousands of years ago.” That means, he said, “we can kickstart those processes again to capture more carbon and restore the landscape”.
“We are not trying to recreate the bronze age landscape,” he added, “but we are using the knowledge we have gained about the natural processes that first formed the habitat” to inform how the area is managed in the future.
Restoration techniques include slowing drainage, to create a stable water table that keeps the peat wet, helping reduce carbon emissions and protecting archaeological remains.
As well as the carbon storage and nature benefits, Stow said the restoration works will help mitigate flooding risks which affect downstream villages like Porlock and Allerford.
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