Misreading the marshes: past and present perceptions of the East Anglian Fens, UK

Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate the arbitrariness of the structural opposition between wet and dryland landscapes and people. This opposition, and an accompanying negative attitude to wetlands, is often held by ‘outsiders’, those who do not regularly interact with wetland environments. The outsider view of wetlands can be traced throughout history and is problematic as it often unwittingly influences our own understanding of past wetland(er)s. To address this issue, an alternative, ‘insiders’ perception of wetlands should be considered. This paper will do so by re-evaluating historical accounts written by outsiders and integrating these with information from the rich archaeological record of the East Anglian Fens. Doing so reveals several modes of human-wetland interaction in the (pre)historic Fens which reflect the different ways in which this wetland was perceived by various people through time. Considering multiple voices and integrating various categories of evidence from both within and outside wetlands provides us with a more accurate understanding of the dynamics of past life in and around these landscapes and thus helps us break down modern dichotomies which create artificial boundaries between wet and dryland(er)s.