Fences Have a Colorful and Crucial History
Sure you’ve got a fence around your backyard, and your neighbor probably does, too. Billions of people across the world have fences that they use every day. People use fences to keep pets and children in their yards, as well as to keep out pests and other potential intruders.
Just like many suburbanites use fences to protect their families and their property, farmers use fences to protect their crops and keep their livestock from wandering away from the property line. But did your ancestors use fences? How have fences changed over time and through different cultures?
Fences have been used for millions of years for many of the same reasons that we use them today. But, as with most things, they have changed and developed over time. Materials and styles may come and go, but quality fences are forever.
What Are the Origins of Fences?
Have you ever noticed that fencing, like what you put around your property, and fencing like the sport where people duel each other with thin metal swords, are spelled the same way? Believe it or not, there’s actually a reason for that. The word fence comes from the 14th-century English word “fens,” which is a short little word for protection or defense. And just like a fencer protects themselves from their opponent, your fence protects you and your family from things outside of your property.
In fact, that’s what fences have always been used for — to protect and defend people and their properties. Your fence creates a boundary between you and the outside world. It protects you from whatever lurks around, unknown in the rest of the world. In your case, that is probably just the neighbor’s dogs and the local rabbit population that has been making a mess of your flower garden for weeks. But historically, fences have been used to ward off much more dangerous enemies than local animals.
When Did People Start Using Fences?
People predate fences by a little bit – but not by much. Very early humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies, which some native cultures still live in today. These societies tend to be nomadic (roaming) in nature, and people travel to where natural food sources are so they can hunt wild animals and forage for naturally occurring fruits and vegetables.
In nomadic cultures like these, there is relatively little need for fences. Fences are used to block off pieces of property and contain pieces of land, which is not widely done in hunter-gatherer societies, which often have a very different cultural understanding of land and property than cultures like ours.
Early fences became important along with the rise of sedentary agriculture. Sedentary agriculture refers to the process of staying in one place (sedentary) and farming (agriculture). When people began claiming specific pieces of land as their own for raising crops and livestock, it became important to block off that property so that others couldn’t easily get to your property and damage your supplies, and also so that your livestock couldn’t accidentally wander away. These are many of the same reasons farmers use fences today.
There are believed to be fence-like structures as part of the earliest known sedentary human civilizations, including in Mesopotamia, where the earliest civilizations began to form around 12000 B.C.E. That’s over 14,000 years ago! In the Bronze Age, which took place from 3300 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E., people were known to build very sturdy stone fences around pieces of property. However, mounds of earth, as well as wood, were also commonly used materials.
The practice of sedentary agriculture is key to creating a long-term location for people to live. So, in a way, fences are to thank for modern civilization as we know it. Say “Thank you, fences!”
Fences Throughout the Ages
Fences are used throughout most cultures in the world and have been for a very long time. In addition to being used for agriculture, fences have also been used as an important part of military defense throughout history.
The Great Wall of China was used primarily to keep different nomadic groups from invading large parts of imperial China. Its construction began as early as the 7th century B.C.E., although many of the major parts of the wall (or fence) were not built until the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from the middle of the 14th century to the middle of the 17th century.
Other kinds of fences, like moats and gates and drawbridges, were an important part of military defense in the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages in Europe is also when tall bushes and shrubs started to become a popular way to fence off the property of wealthy or noble families.
Fences continued to be innovated and changed long after the birth of America. In the late 1800s, barbed-wire fencing was introduced in America as an effective way to keep cattle from leaving their grazing fields. Now there are even more advanced forms of fencing for livestock, like electric fences and even underground electric fences. What a long way we’ve come!
Building Your Fence With Northland Fence
Northland Fence isn’t as old as fencing itself, but it has been around for 17 years. In that time, Northland Fence has provided excellent customer service, solid work, and an overall great customer experience. According to the Better Business Bureau, Northland Fence has a near-perfect rating and zero customer complaints. When you hire Northland Fence, we will help you ensure that your fence is 100% up to code.
Northland Fence can help you pick out the perfect vinyl or metal fencing (chain link or ornamental wrought iron) with a 15-year to a lifetime warranty on materials, depending on the material, and 10 years on labor.
Are you ready to build your dream fence? Call (763) 316-4881 and get started today!
FAQ:
What is the history of fences?
Fences have a long history of being used to protect property and people from outsiders. The word fence has its roots in an old English word that meant to protect or defend. That’s what fences have been doing since the dawn of civilization.
Who invented fences?
Fences have been around for so long that there is not an individual who can claim they invented the fence. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an 18th-century French philosopher, once said, “The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said ‘This is mine,’ and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society.”
When were fences invented?
Fences have been around practically as long as people have been settling and living in one place because they were needed to protect families and property. The first settled civilizations began around 12000 B.C.E., which was more than 14,000 years ago.
Why were fences created?
The word fence comes from the old English word “fens,” which meant to defend or protect. Throughout human history, fences have been used to create a boundary on property lines and to defend the people and objects within.