Agricultural and Pastoral Landscapes in Pre-Industrial Society by Retamero Fèlix;Schjellerup Inge;Davies Althea;

Author:Retamero, Fèlix;Schjellerup, Inge;Davies, Althea;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology
ISBN: 4501291
Publisher: Oxbow Books, Limited
Published: 2014-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Evidence on the Earliest Agriculture in Finland

It has been suggested that agriculture was first introduced into Finland by the Battle Axe culture (Äyräpää 1937, 116), which is dated to 3200–2300 BCE. Archaeological evidence confirming this hypothesis has not been found (Meinander 1984; see also Carpelan 1982; Siiriäinen 1981; Huurre 2003; Solantie 2005). Pollen data, however, indicates that cultivation began in southwestern Finland around 2500 cal BCE and in the inland areas ca. 2200 cal BCE (Vuorela 1999). In Karelia, pollen analytical investigations suggest that cultivation began during the 1st millennium BCE (Simola 2003). Later research has found more evidence of agriculture in Finland from the Stone Age (Mökkönen 2010). In contrast, the macrofossil data gives considerably younger dates for the earliest stages of crop cultivation. The oldest Hordeum vulgare grain, which was found in the cultural layer of a Late Stone Age dwelling in southwestern Finland, has been dated to 1467±211 cal BCE (Vuorela and Lempiäinen 1988). The second oldest Hordeum vulgare, which dates to 1230±96 cal BCE, was found in the macrofossil analysis of soil samples taken from a Bronze Age dwelling site of Kitulansuo ca. 20 km south of Mikkeli (Lavento 1998, 50; Holmblad 2007).

In all likelihood, animal husbandry was adopted prior to the first experiments with crop cultivation. The first fragments of sheep bone were found in the cultural layers of a few Battle Axe culture dwelling sites. Cattle bones have been found at settlement sites of the Kiukainen-culture (ca. 2300–1500 cal BCE). In the coastal zone in the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, the role of domestic animals seems to have been more important than in inland areas (cf. Storå 2000).

It has been assumed that in the coastal zone during the Bronze Age, two separate cultivation techniques were employed: the small permanent fields were cultivated adjacent to the farms and the swidden plots were further off in the surrounding forests (e.g. Lavento 2005). In the coastal zone, this method of cultivation would have continued throughout the Bronze Age until the end of the Iron Age. In eastern Finland’s inland areas, the first sporadic traces of agriculture vanish from the pollen dataset at the beginning of the Iron Age, before resuming around 600 cal CE (Vuorela and Hicks 1996; Vuorela 1979; 1999; Alenius and Lavento 2007; Alenius 2007).

During the Middle and Late Iron Age in southern and southwestern Finland, crops were cultivated mainly in arable fields (Huurre 2003). The surplus of agricultural products resulted in increasing wealth and created a basis for more organised trade with connections around the Baltic. Iron Age society has been seen as highly hierarchical (Pihlman 1990). The wealthiest farmers were able to obtain luxury artefacts, which were restricted to the nobility in Scandinavia and central Europe (Schauman-Lönnqvist 1996, 134). However, very little is known about the sizes or internal organisation of the farms (Uino 1986; Núñez and Uino 1997). Iron Age villages or towns are not known (cf. however Schulz and Schulz 1993; Taavitsainen 2005).

The importance of agriculture during the late Iron Age is emphasised by the amount of agricultural tools found.

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