Basque ethnography at a glance

Great fields and strips in the neighbourhood of Ahedo. Valley of Carranza (Bizkaia), 1965. GeoEuskadi Viewer.

The so-called llosas were a convenient form of land arrangement and use characteristic of the Valley of Carranza (Bizkaia) but with wide geographical variations. Adjacent flatlands and gentle slopes within each neighbourhood in the Valley were grouped together and enclosed for cultivation in what was known as a llosa. Each block of arable land was divided into individual strips, those closer to the farms, or piezas, being devoted to maize, also wheat more formerly, and other crops; the more remote locations served as grazing land and were thus called campas.

Cadastral map of the orthophotograph above.

The name llosa derives from the Latin word clausa ‘enclosed’, indeed a defining feature of the said tracts of land. At a time when most of the land was commonly held and unfenced, it became necessary to protect the cultivated fields and prevent livestock grazing on common land from entering. As a consequence of the expansion of dairy farming, the perception changed: common pastures were enclosed so that livestock might not escape.

Great-field husbandry could be thought of as an intermediate stage between the common fields and private land ownership. Peasants cultivated on strips of land which although privately owned were nevertheless altogether enclosed and would therefore meet and collectively make decisions about crops and cultivation.

Land consolidation arrangement.

All farmers from the neighbourhood and its surrounding vicinities held a number of strips scattered around the great fields and each of them cultivated their own. Inherited strips were generally subdivided in partitions, some of them of a rather small size. A simple furrow in the ground, known as riego, or else imaginary lines between boundary stones, or ilsos, served to mark ownership of the strips. The great fields were entered through a gate called lata, one or more paths inside them leading to the agricultural strips. Because of the complex pattern of the strips that made up the fields, access to particular strips in the field involved bordering house plots belonging to fellow farmers; the right to access, or cambera, was established by custom and practice so as to cause as little damage to crops and property as possible.

There were several great fields in every village, and under former regulations, landowners were obliged to grow some maize in the wheat field and some wheat in the maize field, then both fields were planted to wheat and maize. Absolutely the same applied to forage grown for livestock. And by doing so the yearly harvest would be ensured.

Current concentration of land in the hands of a few. GeoEuskadi Viewer.

A set of customary rules governing details about the tasks to be done and the timeline for their completion developed over time. Careful consideration needed to be given to rainy winters and springs resulting in waterlogged soils and the seasonality of traditional crops, among other issues. Through council meetings neighbours decided when strips should be fertilized, ploughed and sown, when crops could be harvested, when fields were barred, and even when village dogs must be tied so they stayed off the maize. The great fields were ultimately private spaces managed by the community in a most efficient manner.

This ancient agricultural system of multiple strips of land grouped in great fields was lost around the year 1970 due to land consolidation.

Luis Manuel Peña – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa