Urskogen med de stämpelbleckade gammeltallarna : en skogshistorisk tolkning av Brännlidens naturreservat

Abstract: People have used forest resources in northern Sweden for different purposes. Before the 20th century the forest was used for many different reasons, but during the past 200 years it has become an industrial raw material. The presence of people in the forest has left different kinds of traces in the forests. One example is culturally modified trees (CMT´s). The aim of this study was to study and document how people have used the forest resources during the last centuries in Brännlidens nature reserve, and what kind of traces this land use has left. I did during spring and summer 2002 an inventory of CMT´s in the area to address this aim. Total numbers of CMT´s in my field investigation was 71, distributed on 42 trees. In my lineassesing of the area, which is 85 hectares, did I assessed approximately 10 % of the area and found in total 180 CMT´s, which will be about 2.12 CMT´s per hectare. The most common CMT in the area was trail blazes (28 st) and logging blazes with stamp-axe mark (24 st). Trail blazes with the message: "a trail passes here", and cutting blazes with the message: "trees approved to be cut". The inventory shows that humans have felled trees in the area during the late 1900´s century. Remaining, blazed pines in the area from old-time dimensioncuttings suggest this. Two trails that pass through the nature reserve, which have frequent blazes, confirm that humans used the trail in the area during a long time. Sami people have also been present in the area, because I found Pine bark-peelings that suggest this. Sami people peeled pine trees to use the inner-bark as food and for storage of reindeer sinews. Our nature reserves have both biological and cultural values. This fact increases the complexity when dealing with the issue of preserving forests. By interpreting CMT´s it is possible to get unique information of historic use of forests in a greater context. The CMT´s that are still present in the forest can increase our knowledge of history and we are obligated to preserve this culture heritage for future generations to the best of our ability.