Ridge-and-Furrow Agriculture around Lake Mikri Prespa, Greece, in a European perspective | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
Volume 2, Issue 2
  • E-ISSN: 2452-1051

Abstract

Abstract

Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges and troughs used in Europe, frequently associated with communal open-field farming and strip cultivation. Strip farming spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages but appears to have only slightly penetrated southern Europe. In Greece, no areas under a ridge-and-furrow system were previously known. Working on 1945 aerial photos of Prespa, Greece, a border area around two lakes whose water levels fluctuate seasonally, we noted the presence of strip fields around the lakeshore, and subsequently identified them in the field as a ridge-and-furrow system. Using GIS, we measured the dimensions of all individual fields and collected oral histories from elderly locals. The area under strip farming was over 900 ha. Strips were straight, ca 200 m long and 10m wide, with a mean area of 2,160 m2. Wheat, rye, maize and beans were cultivated on the ridges, whilst grass in the furrows was mowed for hay. The construction and dimensions were almost identical to those seen in England. No information was found on either the origin of this system in Prespa, or connections with ‘zadruga’ or ‘chiftlik’ – other regional communal land management systems. A few adjacent areas with strip cultivations still in use were located in the two neighbouring countries sharing the lakes, and still fewer areas with ridge-and-furrow traces, particularly around lakes. By using ridge-and-furrow agriculture, local people had successfully coped with the perennial and seasonal inundation of their fields, a problem that remains unresolved and afflicts modern biodiversity conservation in the area.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/JEL.2021.2.64206
2021-05-01
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/24521051/2/2/JEL.2021.2.64206.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5117/JEL.2021.2.64206&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Alcántara, V., A.Don, R.Well and R.Nieder, “Legacy of medieval ridge and furrow cultivation on soil organic carbon distribution and stocks in forests”, CATENA154 (2017): 85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2017.02.013
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Aldcroft, D.H., Europe’s Third World: The European Periphery in the Interwar Years. London: Ashgate, 2006.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Antrop, M., “Why landscapes of the past are important for the future?”Landscape and Urban Planning70 (2005): 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.002
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Beresford, M.W., and J.K.S.St Joseph, Medieval England: an aerial survey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. BowdenM., and D.McOmish, “A British Tradition? Mapping the Archaeological Landscape”, Landscapes12, no. 2 (2011): 20–40. https://doi.org/10.1179/lan.2011.12.2.20
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Catsadorakis, G. and M.Malakou, “Conservation and management issues of Prespa National Park”. In Lake Prespa, northwestern Greece: a unique Balkan wetland, ed. A.J.Crivelli and G.Catsadorakis, 175–196. Developments in Hydrobiology 122. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5180-1_13
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Crivelli, A.J. and G.Catsadorakis (Eds), Lake Prespa, northwestern Greece: a unique Balkan wetland. Developments in Hydrobiology 122. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5180-1
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Darvill, T., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Denevan, W.M., Cultivated Landscapes of Native Amazonia and the Andes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Denevan, W.M., and B.L.Turner, “Forms, Functions, and Associations of Raised Fields in the Old World Tropics”. Journal of Tropical Geography39, (1974): 24–33. http://www.bibvirtual.ucb.edu.bo:8000/etnias/digital/106001670.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Durham, M.E., The burden of the Balkans. London: Nelson, 1905.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Erickson, C.L., “Raised field agriculture in the Lake Titicaca basin: Putting ancient agriculture back to work”. Expedition30, no. 1 (1988): 8–16. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=anthro_papers
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Erickson, C.L., “Prehistoric Landscape Management in the Andean Highlands: Raised Field Agriculture and its Environmental Impact”. Population and environment13, no. 4 (1992): 285–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01271028
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Erickson, C.L., “Raised Fields as a Sustainable Agricultural System from Amazonia”. In Recovery of Indigenous Technology and Resources in Bolivia, pp.1–13. 18th International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Atlanta, GA, March10–12, 1994. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/anthro_papers/14
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Erickson, C.L., “The Domesticated Landscapes of the Bolivian Amazon”. In Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology: Studies in the Neotropical Lowlands, ed. W.Balée, and C.L.Erickson, 235–278. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2006. https://doi.org/10.7312/bale13562-011
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Eyre, R., “The Curving Plough-strip and its Historical Implications”. Agricultural History Review3, no.2 (1955) 80–94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40272767
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Fehring, G.P., The Archaeology of Medieval Germany: an introduction (translated by R.Samson). Routledge Library Editions: Archaeology. London and New York: Routledge, 2015.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Gjiknuri, L., A.Miho, and S.Shumka (eds), Proceedings of the International Symposium ‘Towards Integrated Conservation and Sustainable Development of Trans-boundary Macro and Micro Prespa Lakes’, 24–26October1997, Korca, Albania, 1997.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Grove, A.T. and O.Rackham, The nature of Mediterranean Europe. An ecological history. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Hall, D., The origins of open-field agriculture – the archaeological fieldwork evidence. In The Origins of Open-field Agriculture, ed. T.Rowley, 22–38. London: Croom Helm, 1981. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429059230-2
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Hall, D., “Medieval fields in their many forms”. British Archaeology33 (1998): 6–7.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hammond, N.G.L., “Was some rock art in the southern Balkans due to Crusaders?”Journal of Medieval History22, no.1 (1996): 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4181(96)00005-X
    [Google Scholar]
  23. HaugerK., R.Riedinger, and B.Sittler, “Wölbäcker bei Rastatt – eine Dokumentation zur Analyse und Erhaltung überkommener Altackerkomplexe”. Kulturlandschaft – Zeitschrift für Angewandte Historische Geographie. Jg. 10, no.2 (2000): 113–118.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hellenic Statistical Authority, Demographic and social characteristics of the Resident Population of Greece according to the 2011 Population – Housing Census revision of 20-3-2014. Accessed 26January, 2020. http://www.statistics.gr/el/statistics/-/publication/SAM03/2011
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Hollis, G.E., and A.C.Stevenson, “The physical basis of the Lake Mikri Prespa systems: geology, climate, hydrology and water quality”. In Lake Prespa, Northwestern Greece : a unique Balkan Wetland, ed. A. J.Crivelli and G.Catsadorakis, 1–19, Developments in Hydrobiology 122. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5180-1_1
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Karavidas, K.D., “[Agrarian Issues. A comparative study]” (in Greek). Athens: National Printing Office, 1931.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Kavounis, G.I., “[The Prespa region and its current problems. An agro-economy study]” (in Greek). Internal Unpublished Report, Florina: Agricultural Bank of Greece, Florina Branch, 1949.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Kerridge, E., “Ridge-and-furrow and Agrarian History”. The Economic History Review, (New Series) 4, no.1 (1951): 14–36. https://doi.org/10.2307/2591655
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Kolata, A.L., and C.Ortloff, “Thermal Analysis of Tiwanaku Raised Field Systems in the Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia”. Journal of Archaeological Science16 (1989): 233–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(89)90004-6
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Korkuti, M., “[The pre-historic settlement of Treni]” (in Albanian). Illiria1 (1971): 31–48. https://doi.org/10.3406/iliri.1971.1129
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Langewitz, T., A.Fülling, M.Klamm, and K.Wiedner, “Historical classification of ridge and furrow cultivation at selected locations in Northern and central Germany using a multi-dating approach and historical sources”. Journal of Archaeological Science123 (2020): 105248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105248
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Lera, P., S.Oikonomidis, A.Papayiannis, and A.Tsonos, “The Greek–Albanian Archaeological Project on Maligrad: Shaping the Cultural Heritage in the Tri-National Zone of the Great Prespa Lake”. Conservation and management of archaeological sites15, no.1 (2013): 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1179/1350503313Z.00000000051
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Lewis, H.A., Micromorphological study of ridge-and-furrow remains at Watson’s Lane, Little Thetford, Cambridgeshire. Cambridge Archaeological Unit, Cambridge, UK, 1999. Accessed January26, 2020. https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/4534
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Lombardo, U., “Raised Fields of Northwestern Bolivia: A GIS Based Analysis”. Zeitschrift Für Archäologie Aussereuropäischer Kulturen3, no. 8 (2010): 127–49. https://boris.unibe.ch/6515/
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Millman, R., “The future of historic landscapes”. Landscape Research4, no. 3 (1979): 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397908705908
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Møller, P.G., “Ridge and furrow fields: field systems ca. 1000–1800 as a stabilizing factor in an agricultural society – a Danish example”. In Agricultural and Pastoral Landscapes in Pre-industrial Society: Choices, Stability and Change, eds. F.Retamero, I.Schjellerup and A.Davies, Vol. 3, 159–171. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvh1dswm.18
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Moutsopoulos, N., “[The Achillios Basilica at Lake Mikri Prespa]” (in Greek). Bulletin of the Christian Archaeological Society, D, (1966): 163–191 + figures 38–42.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Mutambikwa, A., A.P.Barton, J.Ellis-Jones, A.B.Mashingaidze, C.Riches and O.Chivinge, “Soil and water management options for seasonal wetlands (Vleis) in semi-arid areas of Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe”. In Integrated Approaches to Higher Maize Productivity in the New Millennium: 7th Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Maize Conference, pp. 274–280. Nairobi, Kenya: CIMMYT and KARI, 2004. https://repository.cimmyt.org/bitstream/handle/10883/781/79461.PDF?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Nitsiakos, V., Peklari; social economy in a Greek village. Münster: LIT Verlag, 2016. https://www.bookdepository.com/Peklari-Vassilis-Nitsiakos/9783643907837
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Papadopoulos, D.C., [Shaping the lake: experiencing and intermediation of landscape at Prespes] (in Greek). PhD diss. University of the Aegean, Lesvos, Greece, 2010. https://doi.org/10.12681/eadd/27214
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Petmezas, S., “[Agricultural economy]”. In A 20th c. History of Greece. Part 1, Vol. A’: The beginnings 1900–1922, (in Greek), ed. Ch.Hadziiosif, 54–86. Athens: Vivliorama2010.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Petroska, B., “[The structure, economy and head of the zadruga. Results of an empirical research]”. Sociologija I proctor11, no. 2–4, (1973) (in Serbo-Croatian with English summary): 40–42, 120–130. https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?id_clanak_jezik=176871&show=clanak
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Polyzopoulos, N.A., [Research on the soils of Prespa, Florina]. Internal Unpublished Report (in Greek). Soil Laboratory, Land Reclamation Service. Thessaloniki: Ministry of Agriculture, 1959.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Pyrovetsi, M., Ecodevelopment in Prespa National Park, Greece. PhD diss. Michigan State University, E. Lansing, Mich., USA, 1984.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Pyrovetsi, M., “Integrated Mediterranean programs and the Natural Environment: a case study in Greece”. The environmentalist9, no. 3 (1989): 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02240470
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Pyrovetsi, M. and M.Karteris, “Forty-year Land Cover/Use Changes in Prespa National Park, Greece”. Journal of Environmental Management23, no. 4 (1986): 173–183.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Rackham, O., “The physical setting”. In The Mediterranean in History, pp. 33–66, ed. D.Abulafia, London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. https://thamesandhudson.com/the-mediterranean-in-history-9780500292174
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Rackham, O., “Holocene history of Mediterranean Island Landscapes”. In Mediterranean Island Landscapes Natural and Cultural Approaches, pp. 36–60, ed. I. N.Vogiatzakis, G.Pungetti, and A. M.Mannion. Dordrecht: Springer, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5064-0
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Rackham, O., and J.Moody, The making of the Cretan landscape. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Renes, H., “Grainlands. The landscape of open fields in a European perspective”. Landscape History31, no. 2 (2010): 37–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/01433768.2010.10594621
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Riddle, J.M., A History of the Middle Ages 300–1500. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Rippon, S., Beyond the medieval village: The Diversification of Landscape Character in Southern Britain. (Medieval History and Archaeology). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203826.001.0001
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Rössler, M., “World Heritage Cultural Landscapes: A UNESCO Flagship Programme 1992 – 2006”. Landscape Research31, no. 4 (2006): 333–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426390601004210
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Sanders, I.T., The Balkan village. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 1949.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Sittler, B., “Revealing historical landscapes by using airborne laser scanning. A 3-D model of ridge and furrow in forests near Rastatt (Germany)”. International Archives of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences26 (2004): 258–261.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Sittler, B., R.Siwe, and M.Gütting, “Airborne Laser Scanning as a New Remote Sensing Tool for Assessing Historic Landscapes. Elevation model of Ridge-and-Furrow Fossilized under a Forest near Rastatt (Germany)”. In Aerial photography and Archaeology 2005: A century of Information, ed. J.Bourgeois and M.Meganck, 213-219. Ghent University, Archaeological Reports. Ghent: Academia Press, 2005.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Todorova, M., “Myth-Making in European Family History: the Zadruga reconsidered”. Eastern European Politics and Societies4, no. 1 (1990): 30–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325490004001003
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Turnock, D., Eastern Europe: An Historical Geography 1815–1945. London: Routledge, 1989. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203402672
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Twidale, C.R., ‘“Lands” or relict strip fields in south Australia’. Agricultural History Review20 (1972): 46–60.
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Uchendu, V.C., “The impact of changing agricultural technology on African land tenure”. The Journal of Developing Areas4, (1970) 477–486. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4189723
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Vafeiadis, L., [Prespa and its beauties] (in Greek). Athens: Author, 1940.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Velevski, M., B.Hallmann, B., Grubac, T.Lisičanec, E.Stoynov, E.Lisičanec, V.Avukatov, L., Božič, and B.Stumberger, “Important Bird Areas in Macedonia: Sites of Global and European Importance”. Acrocephalus31/147 (2010): 181–282. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10100-010-0009-2
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Vergopoulos, K., [The agrarian problem in Greece. The issue of the social incorporation of agriculture] (in Greek). Athens: Exantas, 1975.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Williams, R., “Aerial archaeology and the evidence for medieval farming in West Chesire”. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Chesire133 (1983): 1–23.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/JEL.2021.2.64206
Loading
/content/journals/10.5117/JEL.2021.2.64206
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error