Smith, Helen (1994) Middening in the Outer Hebrides : an ethnoarchaeological investigation. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Abstract
This thesis comprises two complementary parts: an investigation, using interviews
and published accounts, of how and why nutrients are recycled in a 'traditional'
farming economy; and an ethnoarchaeological analysis of samples from an
abandoned farmstead to identify potential traces of recycling. The Uists and
Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides were selected for fieldwork because local conditions
favoured intensive recycling in the recent past, farmers with experience of such
practices are still available for interview, and surviving farmers can identify
functional areas on abandoned farmsteads.
Interviews and published sources emphasise the importance of recycling in
maintaining the fertility of cultivated blacklands and peatlands and in enhancing
the fertility, stability and water-retentiveness of cultivated machair. The use of
nutrients reflects their intrinsic properties, their availability and the characteristics
of different land types. For example, dung is preferentially applied to blackland and
staple grain crops, seaweed to machair and fodder crops. Dung and seaweed are
complementary in availability: dung from overwintering livestock is subject to the
same constraints as arable farming, while seaweed is most abundant in stormy
winters, a slack time for farmers.
Samples from different functional areas within an abandoned farmstead were
analysed for biological, physical and chemical composition. Functional areas can be
distinguished using the variables measured. This results from, and allows the
tracing of, the recycling of resources within the farmstead, from the barn and kiln to
the byre, thence to the midden and finally to the vegetable plot.
In conclusion, archaeological implications are briefly explored for the Outer Hebrides.
Intensive recycling may have been less necessary and the accumulation of dung less
difficult in prehistory, if climate was warmer, soils more fertile, population density
lower and society less inegalitarian. Iron age 'midden' sites with deep organic
dumps may be evidence that recycling was indeed less intensive.
Metadata
Keywords: | Farming 3,000 B.C |
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Awarding institution: | University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Archaeology (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Identification Number/EthosID: | uk.bl.ethos.308327 |
Depositing User: | EThOS Import Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 25 Oct 2012 14:59 |
Last Modified: | 08 Aug 2013 08:47 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:etheses.whiterose.ac.uk:1827 |
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