THE STUDY OF HOW MEDIEVAL FARMERS colonised upland environments, and lived there on a year-round basis, can provide valuable insights on the long-term adaptability and resilience of rural communities. Yet there is a lack of clarity on the extent and chronology of this phenomenon in Britain and Ireland, and how to explain it without simplistic climate, population or market determinism. By undertaking a critical review of the evidence for upland colonisation across medieval Britain and Ireland, this article demonstrates that ‘glocal’ perspectives are crucial. Locally favourable geology, non-agrarian resources, and prior domestication of sites through prehistoric settlement and transhumance all encouraged upland colonisation. Indeed, when combined with regional socio-economic trends, these local factors sometimes overrode wider climatic conditions. As researchers look increasingly to large-scale modelling of land-use change, this article provides a reminder not to lose sight of the local landscape context and environmental knowledge of the peoples they are studying.

对中世纪农民如何殖民高地环境并在那里全年生活的研究，可以为农村社区的长期适应性和复原力提供宝贵的见解。然而，对于英国和爱尔兰这种现象的程度和时间顺序，以及如何在没有简单化的气候、人口或市场决定论的情况下解释它，缺乏明确性。通过对中世纪英国和爱尔兰高地殖民化的证据进行批判性审查，本文表明“全球本地化”观点至关​​重要。当地有利的地质、非农业资源以及通过史前定居和迁徙对遗址的先前驯化都鼓励了高地殖民化。事实上，当与区域社会经济趋势结合时，这些地方因素有时会压倒更广泛的气候条件。