Open access publications in the SLU publication database

Livestock were a necessity for life and had a versatile use both alive and dead: milk, meat, hides, manure and so on. They were also important as they contributed to a household’s economy as capital, to build a household’s wealth, and as income to give a “flow” in the economy. Examples from pastoralism and transhumance are used to show the importance of animals to build capital and give income and is used as a backdrop to a discussion about early modern Sweden. In the transhumance system (fäbodar) that emerged, cows were important as capital and small stock as income. Increased market integration resulted in a large increase in small stock while the number of cows were stable at the household level. Using a modern concept, mental accounting, the article concludes that early modern peasants put cow, goats and sheep in different slots in their “wallet”<br></p>