A peatland landscape at Akraberg, Suðuroy, Faroe Islands: Peat mounds and a cautionary lesson

Abstract

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 108(2):27–35, 2008

The peatland landscape above the headland of Akraberg at the southern tip of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands features relict peat cuttings of various age—from the 1950s and perhaps centuries before—as well as mounds of peat. Superficially, the latter might be thought to be abandoned stacks. In fact they are ‘torvløð’ (singular ‘torvlað’) representing platforms of fragmentary peat upon which stach had been constructed after turves had passed through several intermediate drying stages. The removal of dried peat from the torvløð and the continued use of the platforms led to a gradual increase in torvlað height. General comparisons are made with peat mounds from the British Isles. The peatscape at Akraberg yields implied lessons for studies of ethnography and warns of potential dangers in landscape misinterpretation.

Keywords:

• Peat cuttin
• peat stack
• ‘torvlað’
• Faroe Islands
• Suðuroy
• landscape interpretation