Plattgårdar och avhysta byar - plattgårdssystemets spridning och förändring av landskapet

The aim of this study is to describe how the establishment of large farms (plattgårdar) in the county of Scania changed the landscape in the areas of the former villages, hamlets and small holdings. It is also important to find out if the establishment of the large farms was depending on the enclosure-reforms during the 19th century. Another aim of this study is to describe how the system with large farms was distributed during the 19th century in Scania. . It was the estates in the county of Scania that established the new large farms. The investigation shows that the landscape around the new farms changed in a radical way. This was not just because of the enclosures in the early 19th century, but even more because of the establishment of the large farms. Those farms suspended common farmsteads and small holdings in regions around to the estates. At some places in the county the new farms were even replacing entire hamlets and small villages. In this study, two estates (Börringekloster and Rydsgård) were chosen for getting a closer view of the changes because of the establishing of the large farms. Looked upon as innovations the diffusion of large farms was spread out from the first innovationcenters, the estates. The study shows that the second generation of large farms was located close to the first generation of large farms. It shows that the distance from the first innovation center is very important for the possibility to establish new large farms. This supports the theory of friction of distance, and it is argued that the reason is that the neighbourhood is more familiar, compared to how it is at a place more far away from it. The diffusion of large farms in Scania seems to follow the pattern of expansion-diffusion. The conclusion of this study shows that the establishment of large farms created a brand new large-scaled landscape with evicted villages and large fields. There is not very much left from the landscape as it looked before the establishing of those farms.