The shieling system is a type of animal husbandry developed in the Scandinavian countries. Shielings were part of the Viking system of farming known as Landnám, and their use was spread into the rest of northern Europe by the Viking expansion beginning in the 8th century AD.
Shielings were summer animal farms, established in forested areas at the edges of residential estates and some distance from the farmsteads themselves. There, cattle kept for milking were tended in the summers, milk was produced and converted into milk products (cheese and whey) before being brought back to the farmsteads. Grass, cereals and other crops were raised in small nearby fields, and used to feed the animals; sometimes small dams were built on adjacent streams to provide adequate watering.
Non-milk producing livestock was kept in communal highland grazing areas (called affretir in Icelandic) until the early autumn, when they were gathered, sorted and culled. After the autumn slaughter, all the animals were brought back close to the settlements, where grazing areas had been kept fallow all summer.
Archaeological evidence of a shieling includes the presence of herbaceous plants within an originally forested area, charred particles indicating deliberate burning, stone fences and wooden postmolds, cereal pollen, storage pits and barns, and the lack of residential structures. Place-names which contain the element of aergi, argi or ergi, an old Norse word referring to shieling activity, are considered strong evidence of shieling.
Shieling Origins
The origins of the shieling system have long been debated, and dates of its inception have ranged from the the Late Neolithic to early Modern Age. Written records suggest shielings were used at least as long ago as the Medieval period, including the Viking settlement of Iceland and Greenland in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. The system was largely abandoned in Europe by the 13th century AD, replaced by a "commons" method of sharing communal pastures, and this change is associated with the shift to sheep rearing and wool production.
Typically, the reason given for the shieling system is the lack of adequate year-round pasturage near settlements. Moving the animals to distant pasturages during the summer would have allowed forage near the farmsteads to recover adequately to support animals over the winter.
Recent Studies
Recent studies at the village of Angersjo and adjacent shielings of Gammelvallen and Ojingsvallen in the central Swedish forest were led by the Department of Forest Ecology and Management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. These studies suggest that permanent farms with shieling systems were established together in Sweden perhaps as early the Roman Iron Age (AD 1-400) or Migration Period (AD 400-540). Karlsson et al (2010) suggest that during this period, seasonal forage was not an issue, and the shieling system was developed as a way to mark territorial boundaries. Under this theory, the farm-shieling system was a successful way to expand one's landholdings.
Environmental investigations (Brown et al 2012) were conducted at the Icelandic sites of Arnarvatnssel and Sandfell, which further suggested that the shieling system was a successful strategy through ~1300, and even afterward, when cold and variable climatic conditions increased. Said Brown and colleagues, during the coldest part of the shift, 1300-1477, shieling management continued to operate as a moderating influence, increasing resiliency of livestock farming.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Ancient Farming Systems, the Guide to the Vikings, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Arge SV, Sveinbjarnardottir G, Edwards KJ, and Buckland PC. 2005. Viking and Medieval Settlement in the Faroes: People, Place and Environment. Human Ecology 33(5):597-620.
Brown J, Simpson I, Morrison S, Adderley W, Tisdall E, and Vésteinsson O. 2012. Shieling Areas: Historical Grazing Pressures and Landscape Responses in Northern Iceland. Human Ecology 40(1):81-99.
Karlsson H, Emanuelsson M, and Segerström U. 2010. The history of a farm–shieling system in the central Swedish forest region. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 19(2):103-119.
