Editing Dartmoor (section)

===Pre-history===
The majority of the [[prehistoric]] remains on Dartmoor date back to the late [[Neolithic]] and early [[Bronze Age]]. Indeed, Dartmoor contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom, which suggests that this was when a larger population moved onto the hills of Dartmoor. The large systems of Bronze Age fields, divided by [[reave]]s, cover an area of over {{convert|10000|ha|mi2}} of the lower moors.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/index/lookingafter/laf-culturalheritage/laf-archaeology/laf-prehistoricdartmoor.htm
|title=Prehistoric Dartmoor
|publisher=Dartmoor National Park Authority
|access-date=2 September 2009
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201085932/http://www.dartmoor-npa.gov.uk/index/lookingafter/laf-culturalheritage/laf-archaeology/laf-prehistoricdartmoor.htm
|archive-date=1 December 2009}}</ref>

The climate at the time was warmer than today, and much of today's moorland was covered with trees. The prehistoric settlers began clearing the forest, and established the first farming communities. Fire was the main method of clearing land, creating [[pasture]] and [[swidden]] types of fire-fallow farmland. Areas less suited for farming tended to be burned for livestock grazing. Over the centuries these Neolithic practices greatly expanded the upland moors, and contributed to the acidification of the soil and the accumulation of [[peat]] and [[bog]]s.<ref>Role of anthropogenic fire and in creating moors, and moor-burning in sustaining them, described in Pyne, Stephen J. (1997) ''Vestal Fire: an Environmental History, Told through Fire, of Europe and Europe's Encounter with the World''. University of Washington Press, Seattle, pp. 348–369. {{ISBN|0-295-97596-2}}</ref>

After a few thousand years, the mild climate deteriorated. This left these areas uninhabited, and, consequently, relatively undisturbed to the present day. The highly acidic soil has ensured that no organic remains have survived, but the durability of the granite has meant that the remains of buildings, enclosures and monuments have survived well, as have flint tools. A number of remains were "restored" by enthusiastic [[Victorian era|Victorians]] and, in some cases, they have placed their own interpretation on how an area may have looked.