Project Consultant Christine Shaw
This is the longest running of the Butser programmes and has International equivalents run by the Farm. Whilst the following still applies as a generality, over the last two seasons, because of the resources demanded to build the Roman Villa, no extensive work has been carried out. The main effort in 2004 was a small scale experiment designed specifically to teach a student the relevant techniques and approaches.
The programme involves cropping trials using the following prehistoric cereal genotypes: Emmer (Tritium dicoccum): Spelt (Tr. spelta) : Einkorn (Tr. monococcum) : Club Wheat (Tr. aestivocompactum) and Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
A range of crop management practices is incorporated in the study. The practices include, at different times and different sites, according to the design plan: autumn and/or spring sowing : manuring or non-manuring : weeding or non-weeding : crop rotation such as cereal/legume - cereal/alternating crop and fallow. The impact of adventitious input variables such as weather (Weather Station) and of arable weed populations (type and quantity) is also incorporated in the data gathering.
Over the years, results for a number of sites have been obtained and studies are on-going at several. Standard measures of crop performance are adopted and include, as well as gross yields per hectare, such measures as stand height, size of ear, number and weight of grains per ear. Results have been published in earlier Year Books (currently out of print) published by Butser Ancient Farm, in lectures and, for the Spanish site, early data (which can only be indicative but shows the principles involved) has been published in Monografies D'Arqueilogia Medieval I Postmedieval No 3, University of Barcelona 1998.
Similar programmes are current outside the UK. One conducted by Butser staff is in co-operation with Fundacio de Recerca (University of Barcelona), L'Esquerda, Roda de Ter, Catalonia, Spain. Another has been running since 1995, following the original guidlines provided by Dr Peter Reynolds, at the Matrica Museum, Szazhalombotta (just SW of Budapest), Hungary.
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Created 01 August 2001 - Updated 17 May 2007