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2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

3. Combining Written and Tree-Ring Evidence to Trace Past Food Crises: A Case Study from Finland

Author : Heli Huhtamaa

Published in: Famines During the ʻLittle Ice Ageʼ (1300-1800)

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The lack of written source material on population and food availability has hindered studies on medieval and early modern food crises in many parts of the world. Examining the case of sixteenth and seventeenth century Finland, this article explores how indirect evidence—so called proxy data—could be used to identify past food crises. The proxies of past climate, grain harvest, storage capacity and population variability were derived from tree-ring studies and early administrative accounts. Evidence from “natural” and written archives supplemented each other. The applicability and limitations of using proxy data to trace past food crises is further discussed by comparing the examples of the sixteenth and seventeenth century to the better documented famine period of the 1860s. It was found that tree-ring data and early administrative accounts provides valuable material to identify past food crises.

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previous chapter The European Mortality Crises of 1346–52 and Advent of the Little Ice Age

next chapter Two Decades of Crisis: Famine and Dearth During the 1480s and 1490s in Western and Central Europe

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Finnish: Suuri olkivuosi. Replacing grain flour with grounded straws was a common practice during famines in pre-modern Finland.

Estimations are based on contemporary population and trade statistics published by Statistiska Central-Byrån (1871) and Suomen virallinen tilasto (1868, 1875).

Finland was part of the Swedish Kingdom from the Middle Ages until 1809, when Sweden lost the Finnish War (1808–1809) to the Russian Empire. Thereafter Finland became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire known as the Grand Duchy of Finland up until 1917, when the country declared its independence. In this article, the geographical area that covers modern day Finland is referred to as “Finland” throughout the study period, although no such country existed before 1917. Under Swedish rule Finland was a part of Sweden proper, not dominion or possession of the realm (like, for example the Baltic states in the seventeenth century). During the Russian rule, Finland enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, particularly considering the economy.

The growing season lasts from May to September in the southern parts and from June to August in the northern parts of the country.

Over the last thirty years (1986–2015), only one year (1987) has been considered as a year of nation-wide crop failure.

Also known as burglager system in English (Ylikangas 1991, 85).

The Club War (also known as the Cudgel War).

A similar course of events can be seen for 1868, when the MXD data indicates climatic conditions favourable for high yields, but the statistical crop yield data indicates moderate harvest (Fig. 3.4c).

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Title: Combining Written and Tree-Ring Evidence to Trace Past Food Crises: A Case Study from Finland
Author: Heli Huhtamaa
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Famines During the ʻLittle Ice Ageʼ (1300-1800)
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-54341-3

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-54337-6

Copyright Year: 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54337-6_3