Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

By using pollen analysis and 14C-dating, the history of vegetation and land use at the old shieling place (Sw: fäbodställe) Öjingsvallen in Ängersjö parish, central Sweden, was studied. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions:

1) When was Öjingsvallen established as a shieling place?
2) What was the land use at Öjingsvallen?
3) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the agricultural crisis in the 14th and 15th centuries?
4) Is there any relation between the establishment and land use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place and the historically known increase in the number of shieling sites known to have taken place in the 16th and 17th centuries?
5) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the iron production in the area?

According to the study, Öjingsvallen was probably established as a shieling place during the period A.D. 300-700. The main land use at this time was forest grazing. Apart from grazing, there are indications of cereal cultivation, both rye and barley, beginning approximately A.D. 900-1200. There are no indications of any major effects from the late Medieval agricultural crisis affecting the land-use at Öjingsvallen.

In the period beginning approximately A.D. 1500-1700, the effects of both grazing and cereal cultivation, mainly rye, increased, suggesting an intensified agricultural land use in the area of Öjingsvallen. This coincides with a general expansion of shieling sites in Sweden, and a period of time when cattle breeding is considered an important part of the economy of Ängersjo.

Due to the fact that it is hard to separate vegetation changes caused by agricultural activities from changes caused by resource utilisation related to iron production, no absolute conclusions can be made whether or not the iron production in the area affected the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place. There seems, however, to be a continuous use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place during the period A.D. 1400 - 1600 when the iron production is considered important in Ängersjo.