It isn’t just Africans who appear to have shunned hierarchies and lived in peace thousands of years ago (Report, 21 August). The same seems to have been true of Devon. Dartmoor National Park must be one of the largest archaeologically unspoilt regions in the UK, with around 5,000 bronze age dwellings still visible (it emptied around 3,000 years ago after what seems to have been an episode of severe climate deterioration, and hence still has remains which haven’t been recycled by subsequent generations). Of these, the majority are not in settlements, suggesting that they did not need to be defended; their sizes do not vary by very much, suggesting that there wasn’t a rich elite. Although there are enclosed settlements (such as Grimspound and Rider’s Rings) and miles-long boundary works (locally called reaves), neither of these look as though they can have had any military purpose. Maybe war and rich elites are connected.
Jeremy Cushing
Exeter
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