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The Function of Open Fields • Kristofer Jupiter

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The Function of Open Fields • Kristofer Jupiter !CTA5NIVERSITATIS!GRICULTURAE3UECIAE Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae • 2020:45 No. Thesis Doctoral Doctoral Thesis No. 2020:45 This thesis examines open fields, which was the dominating system in large part of Doctoral Thesis No. 2020:45 Europe for nearly a millennium. Why peasants scattered their holdings in open fields Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences have been the subject of numerous studies. This thesis studies open fields from a functional perspective and examine the spatiality and temporality of open field farming in early modern agriculture in Sweden, using large-scale maps from 17th function of open fields The The function of open fields and 18th century for detailed spatial and statistical analysis of farms and villages. Agriculture in early modern Sweden Kristofer Jupiter holds a Degree of Master of Social Science with a major in Human Geography at the Department of Human Geography, SU. He received his Kristofer Jupiter graduate education at the Department of Urban and Rural Development, Division of Agrarian History, SLU. • Kristofer Jupiter • Kristofer Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae presents doctoral theses from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). SLU generates knowledge for the sustainable use of biological natural resources. Research, education, extension, as well as environmental monitoring and assessment are used to achieve this goal. Online publication of thesis summary: http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/ ISSN 1652-6880 ISBN (print version) 978-91-7760-608-6 ISBN (electronic version) 978-91-7760-609-3 The function of open fields Agriculture in early modern Sweden Kristofer Jupiter Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences Department of Urban and Rural Development Uppsala Doctoral Thesis Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala 2020 Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae 2020:45 Cover: Digitised and rectified map of Kleva village 1749. (Kristofer Jupiter) ISSN 1652-6880 ISBN (print version) 978-91-7760-608-6 ISBN (electronic version) 978-91-7760-609-3 © 2020 Kristofer Jupiter, Uppsala Print: SLU Service/Repro, Uppsala 2020 The function of open fields - Agriculture in early modern Sweden Abstract This thesis examines the spatial arrangement of holdings and villages in early modern open fields, the dominating system in large parts of Europe for nearly a millennium. Open fields is characterised by the spatial division of holdings, scattered and intermingled in one or more fields. The thesis examines the practical aspects of open field farming and the function of scattered holdings, and the aim is to study how scattered holdings were integrated into farming practice and the larger institutional and communal arrangement of open fields the mixed farming system. Open fields in southwest Sweden are analysed empirically on farm, village and inter-village level using historical maps. Methodologically, maps are combined with written sources for spatial and temporal analysis and estimates of time consumption in cultivation and transportation. Furthermore, it analyses the distribution of plots in two different field systems and discusses the efficiency of small-scale production and area-productivity in open fields, and cooperation between villages and reconstructions and analysis of fence-organisations. This thesis shows that scattered and intermingled holdings facilitated an efficient management of time, work and space. The open fields allowed for spatial and temporal sequence of work and diversification crops. What ultimately defines an open field is both the openness of a physical landscape, fence or unfenced and, more so, the requirement of the cooperation between its participants and synchronisation of key activities of farming. Keywords: Open field, Historical geography, Time-geography, Agriculture, Spatial analysis, GIS, Agrarian History Author’s address: Kristofer Jupiter, SLU, Department of Urban and Rural Development, Division of Agrarian History, P.O. Box 7012, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. The function of open fields - Agriculture in early modern Sweden Abstract Denna avhandling undersöker den rumsliga organisationen av gårdar och byar i det tidigmoderna open fields systemet som dominerande stora delar av Europa i nästan ett millenium. Open fields kännetecknas av tegskiftad jord, med ägoblandning i ett eller flera gärden. Avhandlingen undersöker tegskiftet utifrån ett praktiskt och funktionellt perspektiv. Det övergripande syfte är att undersöka på vilket sätt tegskiftet var integrerat i det praktiska arbetet och i den institutionella och den gemensamma organisationen? Tegskiftet analyseras på olika skalnivåer, från den enskilda gården till bynivån och slutligen mellan byarna i form av hägnadslag. Empiriskt analyseras det Västsvenska tegskiftet utifrån historiska kartor som kombineras med andra källor för rumsliga och tidsliga analyser av transporter och åkerbruket. Undersökningen analyserar tegskiftet i två olika trädessystem och behandlar frågan om effektivitet och area-produktivitet i småskaligt åkerbruk. Vidare undersöks hägnadernas roll i det tidigmoderna jordbruket och genom rekonstruktioner av hägnadslag analyseras samverkan mellan byar rumsligt och funktionellt. Avhandlingen visar hur den rumsliga organisationen integrerades i det praktiska arbetet och möjliggjorde för en rumslig och tidslig sekvens av arbetet samt för ett diversifierat utsäde. Tegskiftets rumsliga organisation medgav för en effektiv hantering av tid, rum och arbete. Vad som slutligen definierar open fields är både öppenheten i ett fysiskt landskapsutsnitt, hägnat eller ohägnat, men huvudsakligen, kravet på samarbete mellan dess deltagare och synkronisering av jordbrukets olika sysslor. Keywords: Open fields, tegskifte, historisk geografi, tidsgeografi, jordbruk, rumsliga analyser, GIS, Agrarhistoria Author’s address: Kristofer Jupiter, SLU, Department of Urban and Rural Development, Division of Agrarian History, P.O. Box 7012, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. Preface In 2008, after I had defended my master’s degree essay, I was asked whether I had ever considered doctoral studies. Until then, the idea of a Ph.D. had not really crossed my mind. Later that year Anders Wästfelt, my current supervisor asked me if I was interested in a job for three months. Even though the sales pitch was less than convincing, that three months of this type of monotonous work would be a stretch. The job was to register historical maps in GIS in the project Nationalutgåvan av de Äldre Geometriska Kartorna (2004–2010) at the National Archives. I was offered the job and before I knew it, the three months turned into nearly 10 years after continued work in subsequent projects, Yngre Geometriska Kartor (2011–2014) and TORA (2015–2019). Obviously I was familiar with historical maps from my undergraduate education in human geography, but working this close to the sources was something else. During the years that I worked on these projects, I studied thousands of maps in detail to set coordinates for settlements by identifying locations of villages, farmsteads, mills, bridges and churches, among others. Working with these sources for a long time and examining each map closely was, on the one hand, painstaking and repetitive work – enough to make you go insane. At the same time intriguing and a unique opportunity to gain both general and detailed knowledge of historical maps and Sweden’s early modern agricultural landscape. To the best of my knowledge, I do not believe that I have gone insane. The work in map projects really inspired me and the idea of a Ph.D. seemed less farfetched. The monotonous work suited me quite well after all, and led me to studying the open fields. The large scale maps of unsystematic open fields of Västergötland and Falbygden caught my interest. The meticulous surveys showing the division of individual holding in open fields in great detail offered an opportunity to add another piece to the puzzle of the open fields. The initial idea to compare various types of open fields and spatial organisations of holdings throughout Sweden was abandoned relatively quickly, and the question of why holdings were scattered and intermingled steered the examination towards the spatial organisation and practical and functional aspects of open field farming. Regardless of my experiences and acquired knowledge, without funding, this thesis would not have been possible. I am very grateful to Handelsbankens Research Foundation and Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Stiftelser for financing this doctoral project. Furthermore, I would also like to thank The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond for financing the Rumsliga kartanalyser project, that was as part of the TORA-project at the National Archives. I am also grateful to Brandförsäkringsverkets stiftelse för bebyggelsehistorisk forsking, from which I received a stipend. There are a number of people that I want to thank and that in various degree and ways have been important during these last five years. First I want thank my head supervisor Anders Wästfelt for your commitment, positivity and curiosity. You were my supervisor when wrote my candidate essay and in a way you never quit that job. The fact is that you are the one that really got me interested in research and made me believe that it was possible. So thank you for inspiring me to start and continue asking questions. To my assistant supervisors Jesper Larsson and Johanna Widenberg, thank you both for your valuable insights, good advice and
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