Village Communities - Conclusion

Conclusion

In conclusion, it seems that they may be stated under the following heads:

1. Primitive stages of civilization disclose in human society a strong tendency towards mutual support in economic matters as well as for the sake of defence.
2. The most natural form assumed by such unions for defence and co-operation is that of kinship.
3. In epochs of pastoral husbandry and of the beginnings of agriculture land is mainly owned by tribes, kindreds and enlarged households, while individuals enjoy only rights of usage and possession.
4. In course of time unions of neighbors are substituted for unions of kinsmen.
5. In Germanic societies the community of the township rests on the foundation of efficient holdingsbids, hides, hufenkept together as far as possible by rules of united or single succession.
6. The open-field system, which prevailed in the whole of Northern Europe for nearly a thousand years, was closely dependent on the customs of tribal and neighborly unions.
7. Even now the treatment of commons represents the last manifestations of ancient communal arrangements, and it can only be reasonably and justly interpreted by reference to the law and practice of former times.