The Ecology of Expansion and Abandonment: Medieval and Post-Medieval Agriculture and Settlement in a Landscape Perspective

This book tells the story of society and landscape change in a marginal upland area of southern Sweden during the last millennium. The study reveals a fascinating interplay between periods of colonization and expansion on the one hand and periods of decline and abandonment on the other. By using palaeoecological analyses in combination with archaeological data and written records, the author places the local society in a larger context. From a landscape/ecological perspective, he discusses the medieval settlement expansion, the Black Death, iron production, the Little Ice Age, heathland formation, and the introduction of silviculture - topics that are relevant to large areas of northern Europe and beyond.