Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests
and weather extremes for historical climatology

J 2025

Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology

BRÁZDIL, Rudolf; Jan LHOTÁK; Kateřina CHROMÁ; Dominik COLLET; Petr DOBROVOLNÝ et al.

Základní údaje

Originální název

Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology

Autoři

BRÁZDIL, Rudolf; Jan LHOTÁK; Kateřina CHROMÁ; Dominik COLLET; Petr DOBROVOLNÝ a Heli HUHTAMAA

Vydání

Climate of the Past, Copernicus Publications, 2025, 1814-9324

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Obor

10510 Climatic research

Stát vydavatele

Německo

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL, URL

Impakt faktor

Impact factor: 3.200 v roce 2024

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Ano

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14310/25:00140713

Organizační jednotka

Přírodovědecká fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

public granary; grain harvest; weighted grain index; weather documentary data; reconstructed climate series; proxy data; southwest Bohemia

Štítky

14315030, rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 15. 4. 2025 11:30, Mgr. Marie Novosadová Šípková, DiS.

Anotace

V originále

Public granaries served as key infrastructure to improve food security in agrarian societies. Their history dates to the oldest complex societies, but they experienced a boom period during the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. In Bohemia and Moravia (modern-day Czech Republic), numerous granaries were established by decree in 1788 to provide serfs with grain for sowing in the face of fluctuating weather. Here, we analyse granary data from 15 out of a total of 17 considered domains in the Sušice region (southwestern Bohemia) from 1789 to 1849 CE. We use the documented annual values of grain borrowed by serfs, their grain depositions, total grain storage, and the total debt of serfs at the end of the year as proxies for harvest quality and size. Based on the series of these four variables, we calculate weighted grain indices, considering the balance between borrowed and returned grain: a weighted bad harvest index (WBHI), a weighted good harvest index (WGHI), a weighted stored grain index (WSGI: WSGI−, more borrowed than returned; WSGI+, more returned than borrowed), and a weighted serf debt index (WSDI: WSDI+, more borrowed than returned grain; WSDI−, more returned than borrowed grain). WBHI, WSGI−, and WSDI+ were used to select years of extremely bad harvests, while WGHI, WSGI+, and WSDI− were used to identify years of extremely good harvests. We tested selected extreme harvest years against documentary weather data and reconstructed temperature, precipitation, and drought series from the Czech Lands. We discuss the uncertainty in the data and the broader context of the results obtained. The findings document the potential of this new methodology using widely available public granary data as proxies for historical climatological research.

Citovat

BRÁZDIL, Rudolf; Jan LHOTÁK; Kateřina CHROMÁ; Dominik COLLET; Petr DOBROVOLNÝ a Heli HUHTAMAA. Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology. Climate of the Past. Copernicus Publications, 2025, roč. 21, č. 2, s. 547-570. ISSN 1814-9324. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-547-2025.

@article{2480141,
   author = {Brázdil, Rudolf and Lhoták, Jan and Chromá, Kateřina and Collet, Dominik and Dobrovolný, Petr and Huhtamaa, Heli},
   article_number = {2},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-547-2025},
   keywords = {public granary; grain harvest; weighted grain index; weather documentary data; reconstructed climate series; proxy data; southwest Bohemia},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1814-9324},
   journal = {Climate of the Past},
   title = {Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-547-2025},
   volume = {21},
   year = {2025}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2480141
AU  - Brázdil, Rudolf - Lhoták, Jan - Chromá, Kateřina - Collet, Dominik - Dobrovolný, Petr - Huhtamaa, Heli
PY  - 2025
TI  - Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology
JF  - Climate of the Past
VL  - 21
IS  - 2
SP  - 547-570
EP  - 547-570
PB  - Copernicus Publications
SN  - 18149324
KW  - public granary
KW  - grain harvest
KW  - weighted grain index
KW  - weather documentary data
KW  - reconstructed climate series
KW  - proxy data
KW  - southwest Bohemia
UR  - https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-547-2025
N2  - Public granaries served as key infrastructure to improve food security in agrarian societies. Their history dates to the oldest complex societies, but they experienced a boom period during the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. In Bohemia and Moravia (modern-day Czech Republic), numerous granaries were established by decree in 1788 to provide serfs with grain for sowing in the face of fluctuating weather. Here, we analyse granary data from 15 out of a total of 17 considered domains in the Sušice region (southwestern Bohemia) from 1789 to 1849 CE. We use the documented annual values of grain borrowed by serfs, their grain depositions, total grain storage, and the total debt of serfs at the end of the year as proxies for harvest quality and size. Based on the series of these four variables, we calculate weighted grain indices, considering the balance between borrowed and returned grain: a weighted bad harvest index (WBHI), a weighted good harvest index (WGHI), a weighted stored grain index (WSGI: WSGI−, more borrowed than returned; WSGI+, more returned than borrowed), and a weighted serf debt index (WSDI: WSDI+, more borrowed than returned grain; WSDI−, more returned than borrowed grain). WBHI, WSGI−, and WSDI+ were used to select years of extremely bad harvests, while WGHI, WSGI+, and WSDI− were used to identify years of extremely good harvests. We tested selected extreme harvest years against documentary weather data and reconstructed temperature, precipitation, and drought series from the Czech Lands. We discuss the uncertainty in the data and the broader context of the results obtained. The findings document the potential of this new methodology using widely available public granary data as proxies for historical climatological research.
ER  -

BRÁZDIL, Rudolf; Jan LHOTÁK; Kateřina CHROMÁ; Dominik COLLET; Petr DOBROVOLNÝ a Heli HUHTAMAA. Public granaries as a source of proxy data on grain harvests and weather extremes for historical climatology. \textit{Climate of the Past}. Copernicus Publications, 2025, roč.~21, č.~2, s.~547-570. ISSN~1814-9324. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-547-2025.

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