Mesolithic (9500 - 4000 BC) – Neolithic (4000 - 2200 BC)
The former Royal Forest has a rich history of interactions between people, landscapes and changing environments over time. These relationships can be seen throughout the landscape, from the earliest hunter gatherers living within a wooded Exmoor during the Mesolithic (9500 - 4000 BC), to the building of stone alignments in the Neolithic (4000 - 2200 BC) by societies who are associated with the earliest farming elements. It is at this time that the earliest peat is recorded (so far) on Exmoor.
