Aalen, F.H.A., 2001, Landscape development and change, in: Green, B. & W. Vos, ‘Threatened landscapes’, E. & F. Spon, London and New York
- Author : Aalen, F.H.A.
- Year : 2001
- English Title : Landscape development and change
- Published in Book : Threatened landscapes
- Pages : 3-20
- Outline in English : CONTENT: The study of landscape history; The meshing of nature and culture; Time layers in the landscape; Dynamics of landscape change; Prehistoric outlines; Historic landscapes. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER (From the book): "The great physical and cultural variety of Europe has resulted in a profusion of contrasting landscapes. Broad latitudinal zones of distinctive relief, climate and natural vegetation cross the continent; moving from south to north, they include the Mediterranean evergreen woodland, the massive barrier of Alpine ranges, a wide belt of temperate deciduous forest on the North European Plain and, beyond it, the subarctic coniferous forest and treeless tundra of the Scandinavian north. Within these major ecozones, and especially marked in the major mountain chains, there is a mosaic of interlinked local ecologies. This ecological frame has actively influenced a long, eventful history involving many ethnic groups and major civilizing forces. A complex pattern of agrarian settlement traditions emerged, intimately adjusted to the natural background but also transforming it. European landscapes are indeed a complex meshing of nature and culture, created by millennia of dynamic interaction between communities and their habitats. Through the careful study and historical reconstruction of these landscapes we can uncover new and useful evidence of humanity's transformation of and by the earth" (Green & Vos, 2001). (Availeble from: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&docId=106359044)