A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Nature and society

  2021. Oscar Jacobsson. Environmental humanities, 13-30

  Chapter

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• The co-development of agriculture and flood–related problems in the parishes of Högsby and Mörlunda, Sweden, 1600–1800

  2020. Oscar Jacobsson. Water History 12 (4), 477-500

  Article

  This paper analyses the development of flood related problems in two parishes in southeast-ern Sweden—Högsby and Mörlunda—during the period 1500–1800. The questions asked concern the role of the larger development of the agricultural production in the expansion of flooding problems during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and also investi-gates how this relationship was perceived by the local inhabitants. This is done through an analysis of the development of agriculture in the area using historical maps, combined with a study of written source material such as parish records and court protocols. The river Emån which flows through these parishes had long been a vital resource in the cattle–based economy of the studied parishes. This relationship turned more problematic by the turn of the eighteenth century due to the introduction of autumn rye into the agricultural scheme, prolonging the period of flood risk exposure for the arable crops. Combined with arable field expansion during the eighteenth century, this increased the sensitivity of agriculture to flooding. This development was not apparent in the discourse of the local inhabitants by the end of the eighteenth century, who instead interpreted increasing flooding problems in relation to existing water rights principles. These emphasized the more direct effects of human and natural obstructions in the river channel. The limits of historical memory as well as the necessities of agricultural development colored the local interpretation. Such processes on a general level were also closely inter–linked with the large–scale institutional changes of the period.

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• People, Runestones and Landscape in Västergötland

  2018. Carl-Olof Siljedahl, Oscar Jacobsson.

  Article

  Runestones in the province of Västergötland have been studied quite thoroughly, but there has until recently been a lack of in-depth individual studies of these monuments. Religious and linguistic aspects have dominated runestone research in the province, while few exclusively archaeological and landscape-related studies have been conducted.

  This article focuses on a landscape analysis of two runestones in Västergötland: Vg 127 in Larv and Vg 174 in Nöre. The results show that there are clear connections between these two runestones, with both standing in connection to well-established roads and border areas between settlement units and land use types. A closer inspection reveals that the stones differ in purpose and although broadly located in similar settings there are clear differences in their local landscape. The runestone in Larv is a manifestation of power while the monument in Nöre instead commemorates a tragic incident. These results illuminate the importance of studying runestones individually and not just as parts of a general cultural phenomenon.

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