Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "Dan Davis History" channel.

Yes they were changing the environment. Star Carr is interesting because it looks like at one point in the past the reeds were being burnt back in mid summer and this was possibly done by the people living there. There are several reasons why this was done. The reeds would have time to grow back again and because the primary shoot had gone the secondary shoots, five in total, would start growing to replace the primary shoot. Because there was now five shoots growing instead of the original one it meant the reeds were much denser making a very good thatch for any shelter the people would use over winter. The new shoots now had an increased sugar content the smell of which would attract game to the lake. You get the same effect with grass which when new mown grass smells sweet. The native populations of Australia and America would also burn back grass to attract animals. This is why there are so few trees on the American prairies. The reeds are edible by humans as well so would have been a good source of sugar. Roasting Hazelnuts would preserve them and they would last for six months. While studying archaeology I noticed that the hazelnut tree was the most widespread of all trees which had me think that this could have been done deliberately by the people living there. People would naturally become lactose intolerant at the age of two when the stopped being feed by their mothers. But the keeping of cows changed that as they would drink the milk and became more tolerant of the lactose. But this did not happen in all the places where they kept cows. This is why the people of southern Italy will only drink one milky coffee a day while those of northern Italy can drink more. The first recipe for bread was probably similar to what we now know today as Poolish. This is a simple recipe of flour and water which would be mixed together and baked on one of the hot stones which was next to the fire. You have to wonder how long it was before someone crushed a few hazelnuts and added them to the bread, or maybe a few berries. Good for carrying during the day when you are busy and needed something to eat. I recently read an article about hunter gatherers which pointed out that they only needed to work 15 hours a week to get all that they needed. You can see why ancient peoples regretted becoming farmers.
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@martinondrus6344 Well there are some exceptions as I am sure you'll agree.
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For a long time it was said the the people who built the pyramids of Egypt also built Stonehenge, despite there being no obvious connection. Well it turns out there was a connection but not in the way it was thought. The method of measuring used in both was the same but it was used at Stonehenge before it reached Egypt. In fact this method originated at Skara Brae in the Orkneys before being taken south and then on to Egypt, probably using the same trade routes the Scandinavians were using.
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Firstly, we no longer use BC as this means Before Christ. Instead we use BCE, Before Common Era. The date stays the same but is now CE, Common Era. The siting of these burial mounds near the top of a hill was to make them easier to see as placing them at the very top could obscure them from anywhere but at a distance. They would do the same with the round burial mounds of the Bronze Age. The man who had four wives can easily be explained by the fact that they had a much shorter life expectancy. So when a wife died, such as during childbirth, he would take another wife. While reading about the English Civil War I came across a reference to a man who at that point in time was living with his sixth wife and as divorce was almost impossible at that time this would mean that his five previous wives had died. Interesting you mention plague as recent evidence has revealed that some 4,000 years ago most if not all of the people here at that time died out through the Black Death. The Bronze Age starts some 4,000 years ago which is when the round barrows start to appear. This find is doubly interesting as until recently they evidence for the Black Death being in Britain goes back 1,500 years. At a time when the first Anglo Saxons arrived.
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