A Place for the Heathlands

Focusing on the many different tasks carried out by shepherds on the west Jutland heathlands today, cultural geographer Emmy Laura Pérez Fjalland explores how these activities actively shape the landscape, acknowledging them as acts of “landscaping.” Through a collage of drawings, maps, stories, notes, quotes, photographs, and letters, Pérez Fjalland tells the stories of the traditional practices still maintained by a small group of shepherds today, of mobile grazing systems and fire management. Through fragments of narratives, she highlights the sensitivity required to navigate these practices, foregrounding the shepherds’ local and embodied knowledge of the animals, the landscape, its botany, and cultural and natural histories. She further positions these slow landscape practices as a radical alternative to the dominant land-use regimes of today, driven by efficiency and intensity.

Myths and folktales from a nomadic culture that once inhabited the heath commons pose a challenge to the prevailing view of the heathland as an isolated and distinctively Danish culture. They highlight the cultural connections of the heathland, connections that extend beyond Denmark’s borders. This contribution probes the unacknowledged history of one of the many and various cultures that traditionally sustained the west Jutlandic heathlands – the “skøjere,” or, as they would also call themselves, “rejsende” or travellers. Through her artistic research and practice, which she roots in her own family history, Marie Kølbæk Iversen delves into the mythologies of these travellers to explore and empower a broader “we” – one that transcends the boundaries of a Danish and nationalistic narrative.

Listen to the call of the Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix), a bird that once thrived and bred in the Danish heathlands but is now extinct in Denmark. Known locally as “hedens sorte kok” (the black cock of the heath), the Black Grouse was named for its striking black plumage and its habitat in heathlands and heather moors. The last recorded sighting on the Jutland heathlands was in the late 1990s. Despite efforts to restore its habitat, the species was officially declared extinct in Denmark in 2001. The Black Grouse still inhabits other parts of Scandinavia today, including northern Sweden, where this recording was captured. In recent years, it has emerged as a significant symbol in discussions and policies concerning the management of Danish heathlands.

How can ancient systems of collective governance help societies to weather unpredictable change across generations? This contribution explores the concept of panarchy developed by ecologist C. S. Holling to understand how the ancient tradition of collective governance might mitigate risks from short-term shocks to medium-term social-environmental resilience in our future. Through an early medieval case study of the governance of heathlands and other commons, it investigates the enduring role of social capital in shaping adaptive strategies for managing change through the lens of Fernand Braudel, Pierre Bourdieu, and Elinor Östrom. In a world of rapid change, what can the wisdom of the past teach us about navigating uncertainty and building resilience?

Are the Dutch heathlands truly the vast, timeless landscapes of purple that we imagine? Or do these perceptions mask a richer and more complex ecological and cultural history? This contribution challenges the prevailing narrative of the Dutch heathlands as static and uniform, arguing instead for a more nuanced and localized understanding of their development over time. As we uncover the ecological and anthropological diversity embedded in these landscapes, we can move beyond simplistic tropes to explore the dynamic interplay between environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors that have shaped the heathlands’ evolution.

This contribution explores the creation of an artistic earthwork to both reflect and commemorate a cultural landscape that has been shaped by change over time and by continual evolution. Ellen Martine Heuser shares her creative process behind Memorial That Unveils Its Being in the Heathland (2023), an artwork that seeks to uncover the deep, layered histories embedded within the remnants of Danish heathland landscapes. These histories were formed through intricate relationships between humans, soil, plants, and animals. Through this process, Heuser discovered that truly understanding the heathland requires reciprocity; one must give something of oneself in return. She describes how, to deepen this connection, she spent a summer immersed in the heathlands – herding sheep, engaging with locals, and exploring the heather-covered terrain.

What connects the fading heathlands of Jutland to the misty hills of England’s Lake District, and why did a long-dead Danish author’s unfulfilled wish lead to a journey through both landscapes? This contribution embarks on a historical and personal exploration of the Jutland heathlands, a landscape co-created over centuries by grazing animals and human pastoralists. Through a unique blend of fieldwork, literary reflections, and geography, the author examines how the once-vast heathlands have become fragmented, mirroring a larger loss of cultural and ecological continuity. He argues that the heathlands’ enduring persistence owes much to the synergy between animals, humans, and the foggy and rainy waters of the North Atlantic archipelago. Exploring the impact of present and past land-management strategies such as rewilding and enclosure, the contribution raises critical questions about the future of these iconic landscapes. It foregrounds the tensions between the attempt to preserve the heathlands as wild nature and the dependence of this de facto cultural landscape upon its use in the making of livelihoods.

Beneath the red pits of eastern Jutland lies a complex story of ancient human ingenuity, where peat from the heathlands served not only as fuel for warmth, but likely as an essential resource for grain-drying and malting. This study delves into the layers of history hidden in these distinctive red-filled pits, revealing how prehistoric communities harnessed their environment to sustain agricultural practices. Exploring the use of bog and heather peat for drying grains reveals a key connection between ancient settlement activities and the unique landscapes of northern Europe.

Crafting with local materials fosters a deep connection to the landscape, its history, and its communities in which they were made. Using wool from sheep that graze and maintain parts of the west Jutland heathlands, artisan and weaver Marianne Noer works with this local material to connect with the intangible cultural heritage rooted in the landscape. With ancient techniques like weaving, ropemaking, and plant dyeing, Noer explores how the act of creation can foster a tactile knowledge by attuning to the inherent qualities of these materials.

This photo essay explores the heathlands of the Serra da Estrela foothills, Portugal. It is a testament to how these landscapes have fostered biodiversity for millennia. Through vivid imagery and ecological insights, it examines the interplay of human activity, biodiversity, and the challenges posed by wildfires in a rapidly changing environment.

This contribution explores the often-overlooked transitional zone between heathland and ocean. This liminal area likely played a pivotal role in early encounters between nomadic human groups and the heathlands of Atlantic Europe during the Allerød period (c. 13,300–12,800 BP). Blending speculative palaeohistory with fact, interpretation, and imagination, the narrative follows human foragers traversing the northernmost edge of Europe’s Atlantic heathlands – today’s Danish Jutland – while a pod of baleen whales embarks on their southward migration through the frigid waters of the eastern North Atlantic. This contribution foregrounds the intricate interrelationships and the often-overlooked dynamics between humans, animals, oceans, and heathlands. It illuminates and reimagines the interspecies connections that underlie the archaeological evidence from this distant spatiotemporal context. In so doing, it advances the growing field of multispecies archaeology.

This contribution challenges conventional approaches to heathland conservation and argues that a rewilding perspective should take priority over historical preservation. Current practices tend to prioritize landscapes shaped by human activity over restoring biodiversity-rich ecosystems. Historical practices may be justified for the conservation of cultural heritage, the author argues, but historical preservation will not meet the targets of scientifically informed ecological restoration. Highlighting the ecological potential of rewilded heathlands, the author emphasizes the importance of dynamic, self-sustaining systems driven by natural processes over static, human-maintained landscapes.

For over a century, the pastoralists of central Jutland’s heathlands (2800–2300 BCE) have been portrayed as cattle herders. But could this narrative be a romanticized construct, shaped by twentieth-century nationalist art and politics? This contribution challenges the enduring “cattle narrative,” arguing that it emerged during periods of war and recession in Denmark – the 1890s and 1940s – as part of a broader effort to bolster national pride and identity. From revisiting the osteological data, it is evident that the Single Grave Culture’s pastoral practices could equally well have been sheep-based. Through a critical examination of the research history, this contribution unpacks how the relationship between humans and the heathlands has been selectively framed to serve cultural and political agendas, including the idealization of cattle as symbols of Denmark’s imagined past glory.

This contribution tells a story of human pride, stubbornness, and environmental change, highlighting the ecological and social impacts of the nineteenth-century radical effort to transform Danish heathlands into arable land. At the heart of this story are two key figures who worked passionately to convert heathlands to arable lands: the Heath Society director, Enrico Dalgas (1828–1894), and the forestry lecturer Peter Erasmus Müller (1840–1826). We follow the planting of Norway Spruce, the preferred tree species for these sandy soils, and the inexplicable faltering of the trees after an initial period of growth. Both together and in opposition, Dalgas and Müller worked to solve the puzzle and identify the “X,” the unknown growth-improving factor.

This contribution explores interconnections between tangible historical and ecological legacies of changes in land use and intangible perceptions of place shaped by historical social injustice and loss. During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, farming communities in the Scottish Highlands were forcibly evicted in a period known as the Highland Clearances. The heathland-dominated landscapes were transformed as dispersed settlements were replaced by extensive sheep farms and elite sporting estates. These upheavals left deep imprints on both the ecology and the cultural memory of the Highlands, which persist to this day. By comparing historical records with palaeoecological evidence, this contribution examines the contrasting legacies – social and ecological – of the Clearances. It reveals that even at moments of profound social transformation, ecological and cultural histories do not always align. Yet these discrepancies can offer unexpected insights, prompting new conversations about the role of heritage and the future of valued heathland landscapes.

Beneath the surface of the Lüneburg heath lie traces of a landscape shaped not just by nature, but by millennia of human influence. From ancient burial rituals at the Oldendorfer Totenstatt to the expanding heathlands, the region’s environmental history is etched in layers of pollen, spores, and charcoal. Through the lens of archaeological and ecological research, this study unveils how prehistoric societies not only adapted to but actively transformed their landscape, creating a living testament to the enduring relationship between people and place. What secrets do the soils of the Lüneburg Heath hold about our deep connection to the land?

This contribution sheds new light on the role of heather as a valued local commodity in medieval and early modern Aalborg. It challenges the prevailing perception of heather as a by-product.

Historically, heather served many and various essential purposes and was mainly traded locally. This contribution compares the archaeobotanical record from Vesterbro 68 (dated 1450–1575 AD) with historical sources from the same period to explore the evidence for short-distance heather trade. This approach offers fresh perspectives on the local economy tied to heathlands and the heather trade.

The heathlands’ soil serves as a living archive in which artistic interventions can bridge the seeming gulf between our present and the deep past. Ceramic and textile artisans Helle Bovbjerg and Birgitte Munk delve into how history is materially embedded in the heathland landscape. Bovbjerg’s modest earthenware honours the communities that have inhabited and worked on the heathlands over time. Munk explores the earth’s strata, drawing parallels with the layers created in knitwear from heathland wool. Together, their works illuminate the interplay between the natural environment of the heathlands and its historical and contemporary culture. Both materials and craft are rooted in the landscape.

What happens when an ancient landscape is framed as “waste” but is, in fact, teeming with life-sustaining potential? This contribution challenges long-held assumptions about the Neolithic–Bronze Age transition in Orkney. It shows how the expansion of heathlands, often viewed as representing a reduction in landscape affordances, was actually central to the development of new, sustainable practices. By reconsidering the role of heathlands in prehistoric societies, we uncover a dynamic interplay between culture, environment, and resilience, offering a fresh perspective on the relationship between humans and their physical environment in times of change.

This contribution reimagines the Celtic field systems of the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age as commons – as landscapes collectively managed by communities. These prehistoric agropastoral systems of northwest Europe reveal intricate interactions between humans, animals, and heathland landscapes. The contribution examines the Øster Lem Hede site in western Jutland, Denmark, and applies commons thinking to uncover how communities may have sustainably navigated the immense task of managing vast fields, grasslands, and heathlands. This reinterpretation sheds light on the dynamic and communal nature of these ancient landscapes. It challenges traditional views of private governance, and it offers fresh perspectives on prehistoric land use.

Historic resistance haunts the Kongenshus memorial park on Jutland’s heathland. This contribution invites readers to explore a landscape in which clashing histories and human interventions unfold. One narrative stems from the Heath Society, established in 1866, which initially sought to cultivate the heath into arable land and now works to preserve areas like Kongenshus Heath. Another perspective comes from locals Jens and Ellen, who challenge the placement of a memorial stone dedicated in 2016 to poet Jeppe Aakjær (1866–1930), a vocal critic of the Heath Society’s actions in his time. This piece delves into these conflicting stories, questioning who wields the power to shape the narratives and legacies embedded in this landscape. It is a story about how historical resistance can traverse time and still call to activistic and political action today.

How do we make sense of landscapes where time seems to flow in multiple directions, blending ancient heaths with modern plantations? This contribution unravels the layered history of Klosterheden plantation, once a vast heathland and now Denmark’s third-largest forested area. Focusing on the remaining small heaths and heritage sites within the plantation, the authors explore these fragments as heterochronic “slices of time,” each one revealing incompatible intersections of past, present, and future. By examining the mosaic of Klosterheden’s histories – where ecological conservation collides with ongoing extraction – this paper invites us to rethink heritage management. Should we preserve static snapshots of the past, or should we embrace the fluid, multispecies entanglements that shape these landscapes today?

Iceland’s grazing history unfolds through the dynamic interplay of heathlands, humans, plants, and animals. Spanning the ninth to the nineteenth century, this contribution explores the intersections of three dominant grazing systems on Icelandic heathlands – land division systems, seasonal shieling settlements, and communal grazing practices on highland heathlands. Integrating archaeological evidence with historical contexts, it reveals how these systems were shaped not only by economic needs but also by socioecological forces tied to the fragile northern heathland ecosystem. It traces an “archaeology of grazing” which illuminates the entangled relationships between humans, nonhumans, and landscapes, and highlights the adaptive practices and spaces that evolved in response to shifting environmental and social conditions over time.

Far from being isolated, the nineteenth-century heathland farmers of central and western Jutland were active participants in regional trade networks. This contribution draws on the personal diary of Peder Knudsen (1798–1857), a heath farmer from western Jutland, to tell his story in rich detail. Through Knudsen’s records, the text reconstructs the economy of his farm, illustrating how he sustained his household and how he navigated the challenges of life on the heath. It explores how Knudsen’s engagement in local and regional trade positioned him within broader economic and social systems, revealing a life marked not by isolation but by resourcefulness and connection. Knudsen’s diary offers an intimate glimpse into life on the Karup plain. It shows that even in the most barren and sparsely populated regions, farmers could maintain thriving households, improve their circumstances, and generate surplus through ingenuity and hard work.

Imagine a landscape once dominated by forests, now transformed into a patchwork of expansive grassland and heathlands. In the Bronze Age, the open grazing landscape of Thy in Denmark underwent a profound transformation, shaped by a rapidly growing population and intensive land-use practices. But how much of this change was a result of human activity, and how much was influenced by the environment itself? This contribution delves into the dynamic interplay between Bronze Age human activity, landscape transformation, and ecological pressures. It offers a unique lens through which to view the cultural landscape of Thy and its lasting impact on today’s environment.