Abstract
Infield systems originated during the early Iron Age and existed until the 19th century, although passing many transitions and changes. The core features of infield systems were enclosed infields with hay-meadows and crop fields, and unenclosed outland mainly used for livestock grazing. We examine the transitions and changes of domesticated landscapes with infield systems using the framework of human niche construction, focusing on reciprocal causation affecting change in both culture and environment. A first major transition occurred during the early Middle Ages, as a combined effect of a growing elite society and an increased availability of iron promoted expansion of villages with partly communal infields. A second major transition occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries, due to a then recognized inefficiency of agricultural production, leading to land reforms. In outlands, there was a continuous expansion of management throughout the whole period. Even though external factors had significant impacts as well, human niche construction affected a range of cultural and environmental features regarding the management and structure of domesticated landscapes with infield systems. Thus, niche construction theory is a useful framework for understanding the historical ecology of infield systems.
Highlights
Research in historical ecology is cross-disciplinary, as the core objectives are to understand how interactions between societies and environments develop through time, and how these interactions have formed cultures and landscapes, e.g., [1,2,3,4]
The overarching aim of this paper is to examine this suggestion, applied to the historical ecology of Scandinavian domesticated landscapes based on infield systems
Based on a synthesis of various evidence [18], it was concluded that a key to the origin of infield systems was the introduction of generally available iron tools necessary for efficient hay-meadow management
Summary
Research in historical ecology is cross-disciplinary, as the core objectives are to understand how interactions between societies and environments develop through time, and how these interactions have formed cultures and landscapes, e.g., [1,2,3,4]. In present-day landscapes, there are plenty of legacies from historical infield systems, for example wood pastures [13] and semi-natural grasslands [14] These remnant habitats are often species-rich, and are a concern for conservation biology. Several previous studies have dealt with different aspects of the remains of old cultural landscapes in Scandinavia, for example the origin of infield systems, e.g., [16,17], the origin of meadow management [18], land-use changes during the last century [19], and historical perspectives on species-pools and species richness in semi-natural grasslands, e.g., [14,20,21,22,23,24,25,26]. A brief introduction to niche construction theory is useful before we present the specific objectives and questions
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