Free-time habitation and layers of ecological history at a southern Finnish lake

I analyse ecological and cultural change as an intertwined, simultaneous process using a summer cottage habitation as a case. This habitation developed during the 20th century on the shores of Lake Roine, in southwestern Finland. My aim is to identify spatial and temporal scales constituted by the process, as well as its ecological influences in connection with socio-economic changes and ecohistorical layers of the area. The results indicate that the emergence of summer cottage culture is breaking the dichotomies between urban and rural and also merges different time horizons. Remarkable context dependence was found when the ecological influences were evaluated in relation to traditional peasant culture and modern silviculture. The present summer cottage occupants of the lake are often tightly engaged with their site by managing it and reusing artefacts innovatively. As managers they reflect both peasant and urban mentalities, and having great variation in management practices they create potentials for further changes in the ecosocial system.