Long term unintended (?) soil improvement

As you wander in the hills here in the highlands, every now and then you come accross the remains of a sheilings : a summer village where the (mainly) women and children would have taken the cattle in times past while the (mainly) men worked in the main crofts and elsewhere. Sometimes you can see little rings of stones - the remiains of stone beehive dwellings, but always you see areas of green grass. An oasis in the heathland surrounding these seasonal living places.

Green area where seasonal dwellings were in summer

It intrigues me that over the centuries the people have improved the soil there. They wouldn't have done it deliberately - these as far as I know weren't areas where they grew crops - that would have been down in the more fertile and hospitable valleys. These seasonal grazing dwellings were up in the hills, and I guess they would have eaten a combination of foraged and stored goods, and milk fresh from the animals. However these places would have been disused now for at least a century - I'm not quite sure when the seasonal movement to summer grazings stopped, but I guess it was a long time ago. I find it interesting though that, given our wet climate, the obvious improvement in the soil is still evident even now.

Ash from the fires, and animal dung?

This is really interesting history. How recently would this lifestyle have been common?

Thom Bri wrote:Ash from the fires, and animal dung?

That's my guess too. Plus some of the shelters may have been thatched. Doing a bit of research this seems to have been the norm. I had thought that fully stone roofs was normal but I think now these must just be the ones that survived.

surviving beehive dwelling in outer Hebrides

outerhebrides.com

from the Scotsman

"The earliest account of a shieling was made by Thomas Pennant in Voyage to the Hebrides published in 1776.

He wrote: “I landed on a bank covered with sheelins, the temporary habitations of some peasants who tend the herds of milch cows.

“These formed a grotesque group; some were oblong, some conic, and so low that the entrance is forbidden without creeping through the opening, which has no other door than a faggot of birch twigs placed there occasionally; they are constructed of branches of trees covered with sods; the furniture a bed of heath; placed on a bank of sod, 2 blankets and a rug; some dairy vessels; and above, certain pendent shelves made of basket-work, to hold the cheese, the product of the summer."

This description sounds very like the construction of charcoal burner's huts.  The bedding of heather would probably have been gathered fresh every year, and maybe the thatch repaired too, that detritus would either have been burnt or added to the soil build up.

Bethany Brown wrote:This is really interesting history. How recently would this lifestyle have been common?

from the Scotsman:

The use of shielings is thought to have dated from the end of the Iron Age ...............

Dr Harrison said shielings were largely phased out during the 1700s and 1800s when drovers sought out cattle to buy..............

According to a paper by Professor Hugh Cheape of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI on the isle of Skye, the shieling system has survived into the present day in Norway, parts of Sweden and Finland and the highlands of Central Europe.

So they were used from about 43AD to the 18th and 19th centuries - nearly 2000 years. They were in general use in the highlands of Scotland and parts of Northern England too, the way of life still surviving in parts of Europe.

So there was time for a fair amount of soil to build up over the centuries. It would be interesting to analyse the soil and find out what it's composition is compared to the surrounding land.

I am having a hard time imagining how much cattle/people would be located on a shieling but the more I read, the more interesting I find it!

You have your cattle graze hard for a couple months, then the pasture is left for the remainder of the year to recover. You have people burning/crafting/cooking/disposing in the area for some time and then nature can reclaim. I think seeing what you are seeing to this day is incredible. I'd love to see if there has been an archeological dig done and what they might of found in the area. I have read a little bit about stills being found in some areas!