Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

Based on paleolimnological records from Mulyeongari swamp, Jeju Island, we reconstructed the history of landscape change in Jeju mid-mountain area. Before agriculture, the mid-mountain area of Jeju Island was mostly forested land, unlike the present situation. At that time, grasses were scattered only on some oreums (small volcanic cones in Jeju dialect). Because barren soils of Jeju did not allow immigrant farmers from the peninsula to produce enough food for household, they seem to have turned their attention to the livestock farming using oreum grasses. Since then, intensive horse raising continued through the period of Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties in Jeju Island. Our pollen and charcoal records indicate that the size of pastures began to increase rapidly ca. AD 1100 when the Goryeo Dynasty annexed the Tamra Kingdom. By the end of the 13th century, pastures of Tamra Ranch established by the Yuan Dynasty, were extensively expanded to have a similar size to the present grassland. These artificial landscapes of the mid-mountain area have remained largely unchanged until now due to continuous livestock activities during the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. Thus, it is likely that the presence of grassy oreums led to a unique herding culture in Jeju Island. As the current residents and visitors of Jeju Island perceive the oreum as the representative landscape of Jeju Island, to the past residents the oreum was a major landmark that had a great influence on their real life.