‘The most advanced outpost of cultivation’: palynological evidence for cereal agriculture and population resilience in a marginal upland environment

ABSTRACT Upland farming in Europe is frequently assumed to have been limited and precarious, despite relict spade‐dug ridges providing firm evidence of past crop growing. Direct evidence for crop types in post‑Medieval to Modern (~since 1500 CE) uplands is rare; yet, in Ireland, relict spade‐dug ridges that date to this period are commonly interpreted as potato beds, generally assumed to have been abandoned during the Great Irish Famine of 1845–1852 CE. This assumption has seldom been tested and reinforces narratives of upland marginality and climatic vulnerability. Here, we apply palynology to cultivation ridge soils in three relict field systems associated with disused cottages in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland. We find that cereals—not potatoes—were grown in these upland fields, extending the history of cereal growing in the Mournes from the mid‐12th until the 20th century CE. These results show that permanent occupation persisted through a period when uplands were abandoned elsewhere in Ireland, demonstrating the resilience of upland populations in what is widely regarded as a marginal environment. Our findings challenge entrenched assumptions about historic upland agriculture and highlight the importance of empirically testing the nature of past land use.