A recent visit to Ireland drew my attention to the Co-axial(parallel) field system near Ballycastle, now buried in peat. The Irish consider this site important enough to have created a visitor centre for it.
They claim that it is the oldest dated field system in the world. Buried tree trunks which can be dated suggest that this system is Neolithic.
Similar systems occur along the west coast of Ireland and the Hebrides which are still in use today.
The irregular pattern of English fields is not the norm on a world scale. Co-axial systems can be found in many countries and suggest that the fields were allotted by a central controlling authority.
The design of these systems required considerable expertise in surveying, drainage and land management.
I have identified co-axial systems in Mexico, Peru, Long Island USA, China North of the Yellow River where Chinese agriculture may have begun, Indonesia, Australia, Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia, the list is endless.
On Dartmoor in Devon England Coaxial systems appear to be associated with the Bronze Age quest for tin. Dartmoor had more near the surface (Alluvial) tin than anywhere else in Europe. Once again suggesting allotment by a ruling or teaching authority.
G,H, in his book "Magicians Of The Gods" suggests that ordinary people all over the world were being educated by an elite race with great technical expertise. Is it not probable that the first thing needed by the ordinary people would be the ability to grow crops and feed themselves when hunter-gathering became less reliable due to climate change and perhaps population pressure.
It was interesting to read that there are myths about probing the ground with a gold rod to ascertain where to settle. The depth of the soil would have been a factor in choosing a site.
Co axial field systems seem to be the earliest form of land allotment which is still practised today in many countries all over the world.
Did the system arise naturally and independently in all these places, or was it a taught and controlled by an international elite?
They claim that it is the oldest dated field system in the world. Buried tree trunks which can be dated suggest that this system is Neolithic.
Similar systems occur along the west coast of Ireland and the Hebrides which are still in use today.
The irregular pattern of English fields is not the norm on a world scale. Co-axial systems can be found in many countries and suggest that the fields were allotted by a central controlling authority.
The design of these systems required considerable expertise in surveying, drainage and land management.
I have identified co-axial systems in Mexico, Peru, Long Island USA, China North of the Yellow River where Chinese agriculture may have begun, Indonesia, Australia, Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia, the list is endless.
On Dartmoor in Devon England Coaxial systems appear to be associated with the Bronze Age quest for tin. Dartmoor had more near the surface (Alluvial) tin than anywhere else in Europe. Once again suggesting allotment by a ruling or teaching authority.
G,H, in his book "Magicians Of The Gods" suggests that ordinary people all over the world were being educated by an elite race with great technical expertise. Is it not probable that the first thing needed by the ordinary people would be the ability to grow crops and feed themselves when hunter-gathering became less reliable due to climate change and perhaps population pressure.
It was interesting to read that there are myths about probing the ground with a gold rod to ascertain where to settle. The depth of the soil would have been a factor in choosing a site.
Co axial field systems seem to be the earliest form of land allotment which is still practised today in many countries all over the world.
Did the system arise naturally and independently in all these places, or was it a taught and controlled by an international elite?