Rural Development and Land Use

Ecosystem Health and Sustainable 3 Agriculture Rural Development and Land Use Editor: Ingrid Karlsson and Lars Rydén CSDCentre for sustainable development Uppsala. The Rural Society From Traditional to Modern Rural Society 7 Diana Mincyte New York University, New York, USA Baltic Pre-history attracting wildlife and people. Archaeological, linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the peoples arrived The First Settlers first from the south-west and north-east. These peoples People have inhabited the Baltic Sea watershed area for lived nomadic lives and depended on hunting, fishing and almost 100,000 years, but it was only after the melting collecting roots, herbs, berries, seeds and mushrooms. of the inland ice during the last glacial period (ca 70,000 During the 6th millennium BC, the climate was warm BC to ca 12,000 BC) that agriculture was introduced and enough to cover southern parts of the region, with forests permanent settlements were built. Traces of the oldest of temperate broadleaved trees breeding deer and moose permanent human habitation in the southern part of the and providing a source of survival for the group of tribes region date back to around 12,000 BC, while the first belonging to the Kongemose culture living in the area. agricultural settlers moved in and significant agricultural They continued to develop fishing and seal hunting tech- production emerged around 4,000-3,500 BC. Starting niques they inherited from their predecessors. Culturally with this period, agriculture has played a central role in and socially, these tribes lived the same lifestyle as others the social, political and economic life of the region with in northern areas of the globe, including Northern Eurasia the notable exception of its most northerly regions, where and America. Archaeological data suggest that these so- indigenous populations continue a semi-nomadic life- cieties were patriarchal, but not as strict and gender dis- style up to this day. There are four major stages in the de- criminatory as they became in settler groups. Numerous velopment of rural societies in the Baltic basin: 1) Early imported objects found in the graves testify to connec- history, 2) Feudalism and mediaeval state formation, 3) tions with the European mainland. Industrialisation, and 4) Modern rural societies. The first settlements emerged in areas constituting today’s Denmark, Northern Germany, Poland and Southern Neolithic Times to Bronze Age Sweden. The process of settling first started with the During pre-historic times, the geography of the region establishment of fishing settlements near the water and looked very different, as most of the region was covered then spread to include inland agricultural communities. with ice and water and the Baltic Sea formed an enclosed These cultures included not only groups with advanced freshwater lake. As the ice drew back, during the late agricultural culture, but also those using primitive tools. Palaeolithic period, reindeer-hunting camps started to ap- Archeological sources show that they built fortified set- pear at the edge of the ice. There was a little forest with tlements and started making copper tools, jewelry, and occasional arctic white birch and rowan patches, but as the arms. The processes of settling and the advancement of climate became warmer the area became covered by taiga, agricultural technologies in the Baltic region also led to 91 The Rural Society the development of politically much more centralised and hierarchical social systems in villages. With the surplus production of food that was enabled by farming and animal husbandry, during the 4th millennium BC local socio-economic systems were slowly trans- formed into broader trading economies, and labour was diversified. The sedentary lifestyle and food surpluses also led to an increase in population density and much later, in the first millennium AD, to the first major urban settlements in the region. Life in the Neolithic and Bronze age villages meant being constant- ly preoccupied with food procure- ment. At that time food preserva- tion techniques were limited and households, which included ex- Figure 7.1. Iron age village at Lejre in Denmark with log canoes and a thatch roof building. This is one of several reconstructed villages to be found in the Baltic Sea region, such as Eketorp in Öland tended family members, subsisted in southern Sweden and Hedeby in northern Germany. Photo: Kristian Mollenborg. on growing domesticated plants and animals and on the collection of wild plant foods and hunting. The groups living along hausted of nutrients and allowed to be re-taken by brush. the coastline and inland in today’s Denmark learned to use Using crude plows and stone sickles to cultivate grains, domesticated dogs, goats, swine, and oxen. It is impor- and with the development of milling techniques, their di- tant to note that all the domesticated animals came from ets were enriched with wheat, barley, and millet. They the Middle East and Asia with the exception of reindeer, stored their grain in pots and made it into heavy bread which were domesticated by the Sami people. Animals baked without yeast. lived in the same built structures as humans. During the In these early times people dressed mostly in skins, but Neolithic period people learned to milk goats and cows, they also slowly acquired skills in handling textiles and and milk played an important part in rural economies. started using woven fabrics made out of flax. Their fish- Milk was used as a protein source for drinking, but also as ing nets were also made of flax. sour curd that resembled the present day cottage cheese. The Neolithic houses were very simple. Most of the Since people did not keep hens, their diets did not include dwellings at that time continued to be built using wood, eggs. In addition to domesticated food sources, they also bone, fur, leaves, grasses, and only later brick. Made of hunted deer, bison and wild boar. Cats were not domesti- these materials, the huts had clay floors. There is no ar- cated, but mice and rats had not yet adapted themselves chaeological evidence of stools or tables or beds. In their to live in human habitats. households they used pots and woven baskets for keep- The agricultural tools were wooden and weak, making ing grains, dairy, and other foodstuff and often kept them it difficult to work the land. The early farmers practised hanging by the ropes from the ceiling. The children and slash-and-burn cultivation, which required them to move young adults took the cows and goats out to graze, and around often after the plots they had cultivated were ex- brought them in at night. 92 The Rural Society The most common settlements in the region consisted that agriculture became the primary occupation and the of 20-30 relatively independent, self-sustaining house- key source of their food. At first, the land was cultivat- holds with approximately several hundred inhabitants. ed collectively by clearing brush and forests. By the 5th Collections of these settlements later led to the forma- Century, the Baltic, Slavic and Ugro-Finn tribes started tion of more hierarchical social systems known as tribes. using metal tools and draft animals, and the customs of Villages, integrated units that were based on cultural inheritance were formed. bonds and economic interdependence, were not estab- During the Iron Age, around 4th to the 1st Century BC, lished until the Iron Age. The household was the centre people in the south-western part of the region began ex- of social organisation and agricultural production. Within tracting iron from the ore and peat-bogs. At that time the the household, labour was distributed according to age climate in the region became significantly cooler and and gender. It was arguably during this period that the di- wetter, limiting agriculture and leading to southward mi- vision between the public and the private spheres was es- grations and a significant decline in local cultures that tablished, separating the feminine-domestic domain from lasted at least until 500 BC. Starting from the 2nd Century the public life that involved males. However, Neolithic BC, the Roman Empire exerted its influence on local cul- societies worshipped goddesses and were involved in tures and lifestyles, especially among the elite. While its cults celebrating female gods. borders encompassed only the most south-westerly parts In these Neolithic societies there was little occupa- of the Baltic basin, peoples living in this territory main- tional specialisation, meaning that every household pro- tained active trade routes and relations with the Romans, duced tools and procured food using their own resources as attested by finds of Roman coins and records showing and skills. Only later, with the improving technologies that some of the Danish warrior aristocracy served in the and increasing agricultural surplus, did specialisations Roman Army. such as pottery making or metalwork start to take shape. Through their interactions with the Roman Empire Simultaneously, complex systems of proprietorship and and in response to increasing competition for land and inheritance emerged, laying the foundations for more in- resources, the tribes living in the Baltic areas started tegrated systems of exchange and trading, as well as the forming more coherent and larger political entities that emergence of slavery. encompassed several tribes and that later emerged as me- It should be noted that the so-called Neolithisation of diaeval states. the region was neither linear nor homogeneous. For in- stance, the people of contemporary Sweden’s northern parts retained an essentially Mesolithic lifestyle into the 1st millennium BC. Furthermore, due to major population migrations during the Neolithic period, groups of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds and vastly different lifestyles lived next to each other. For example, the proto-Sami groups continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, while the groups that were descendants of Indo-European migrants settled down and practised agriculture.

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