DOI article:
Lang, Valter: Prehistoric and medieval field systems in Estonia
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49004#0081
TOOLS & TILLAGE VII 2-3 1993-1994
69
Fig. 3. Clearance cairn No. 1 of Tougu after removal of turf cover (photo by Valter Lang). □ Lesestein-
haufen Nr. 1 von Tougu nach Abheben der Grassodenschicht (Foto Valter Lang).
remains of vegetation burnt just before the
erection of the clearance cairn, i.e. before the
cultivation started, and was dated by the ra-
diocarbon method to 1180T97 BP (Tln-1851,
uncalibr.). This date proves that the practice
of clearance cairn fields was still in use in the
second half of the first millennium AD, and
as we shall see below, even much later.
2. Medieval forest fields
During the Middle Ages, different field sys-
tems were practised in Estonia, such as, e.g.,
block-shaped fields and strip fields, which
will be discussed later. These two systems
mentioned were in use as permanent fields
situated close to villages and cultivated inten-
sively. At the same time it is known from
written sources that farmers also had some
pieces of land far from villages, known as for-
est (or brushwood) fields, cultivated from
time to time in a slash-and-burn technique
and not included in the regular crop rota-
tion.2 But even in such a case, if dealing with
stony areas, the farmers were forced to clear
the land of stones and we have recently found
some remains of the forest fields in different
parts of the country.
One example of the forest fields is Jalase
(Fig. 1.7). The localities with such fields are
situated in a forest c. 1-1.5 km from the village
centre where a thick cultural layer from the
Late Iron Age and Middle Ages and some
prehistoric stone graves are known. The
modern (and evidently also historical) fields
69
Fig. 3. Clearance cairn No. 1 of Tougu after removal of turf cover (photo by Valter Lang). □ Lesestein-
haufen Nr. 1 von Tougu nach Abheben der Grassodenschicht (Foto Valter Lang).
remains of vegetation burnt just before the
erection of the clearance cairn, i.e. before the
cultivation started, and was dated by the ra-
diocarbon method to 1180T97 BP (Tln-1851,
uncalibr.). This date proves that the practice
of clearance cairn fields was still in use in the
second half of the first millennium AD, and
as we shall see below, even much later.
2. Medieval forest fields
During the Middle Ages, different field sys-
tems were practised in Estonia, such as, e.g.,
block-shaped fields and strip fields, which
will be discussed later. These two systems
mentioned were in use as permanent fields
situated close to villages and cultivated inten-
sively. At the same time it is known from
written sources that farmers also had some
pieces of land far from villages, known as for-
est (or brushwood) fields, cultivated from
time to time in a slash-and-burn technique
and not included in the regular crop rota-
tion.2 But even in such a case, if dealing with
stony areas, the farmers were forced to clear
the land of stones and we have recently found
some remains of the forest fields in different
parts of the country.
One example of the forest fields is Jalase
(Fig. 1.7). The localities with such fields are
situated in a forest c. 1-1.5 km from the village
centre where a thick cultural layer from the
Late Iron Age and Middle Ages and some
prehistoric stone graves are known. The
modern (and evidently also historical) fields