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Resilience in Historical Landscapes

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A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Landscape Archaeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2024) | Viewed by 34146

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Angelo Castrorao Barba

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Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, The Polish Academy of Sciences, 50-118 Wrocław, Poland
Interests: late antique and early medieval archaeology; landscape archaeology; historical ecology; GIS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Pilar Diarte-Blasco

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Guest Editor

Department of Archaeology and Social Processes, Instituto de Historia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28037 Madrid, Spain
Interests: late antique and early medieval archaeology; landscape archaeology; historical ecology; GIS

Dr. Manuel Castro-Priego

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Guest Editor

Department of Archaeology, University of Alcalá, 28805 Madrid, Spain
Interests: late antique and early medieval archaeology; landscape archaeology; historical ecology; GIS

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Bazan

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Guest Editor

Department STEBICEF, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: landscape ecology; vegetation science; botany; biodiversity biocultural landscape; historical ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last decade, the concept of resilience has established itself in different fields as a key phenomenon in the analysis of landscapes in their long-term dynamics. In fact, the landscape is continually subject to interactions between anthropogenic and natural dynamics, in which different reactions and adaptations to changes over time are produced. The resilience of historical landscapes has, therefore, been an object of interdisciplinary study between natural sciences and humanities. As we hope to demonstrate in this volume, the phenomena of resilience cannot be understood without the union of its driving forces, both anthropogenic and natural/environmental.

The aim of this Special Issue is to analyze different aspects of the resilience of historical landscapes according to multi and interdisciplinary approaches between science and humanities. How is the resilience of a landscape defined over time? How have ecological and environmental dynamics reacted to anthropogenic changes? What reaction and adaptation did human societies have in dealing with environmental changes? How can a “resilient landscape” be analyzed during historical periods of transition and change?

These general questions will be addressed in the following topics.

Resilience in land cover and vegetation changes in historical landscapes;
Dynamics of the adaptive cycle to historical changes in settlement models;
Reaction to climate and environmental changes;
Change vs. long duration in the dynamics of formation of historical landscapes;
Human–environment interactions in ages of transition.

Papers with interdisciplinary approaches between science (landscape ecology, environmental and vegetation sciences, and geomorphology) and humanities (history, archaeology, and human geography) and with a diachronic/historical dimension (from the prehistory to pre-industrial age) concerning the resilience of landscapes are strongly encouraged for submission.

Dr. Angelo Castrorao Barba
Dr. Pilar Diarte-Blasco
Dr. Manuel Castro-Priego
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Bazan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

resilience
historical ecology
landscape archaeology
vegetation history
paleoecology and archaeobotany
human geography and environmental anthropology
world/global history
long-term human–environment interactions
landscape changes
geospatial (GIS) analyses

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Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

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43 pages, 15746 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Building Resilience through Territorial Planning: Water Management Infrastructure and Settlement Design in the Coastal Wetlands of Northern Apulia (Salpia vetus-Salapia) from the Hellenistic Period to Late Antiquity

by Roberto Goffredo and Darian Marie Totten

Land 2024, 13(10), 1550; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13101550 - 24 Sep 2024

Viewed by 2361

Abstract

This Gulf of Manfredonia has, for millennia, been the primary water feature of the coastal wetland of Northern Apulia, Italy, although modern reclamation works make writing its long-term history challenging. Our recent paleoenvironmental research has reconstructed the evolution of the southern half of this lagoon since the Neolithic period. Here, we write a history of water management and environmental change in this landscape from the perspective of two key urban sites: pre-Roman Salpia vetus and Roman Salapia. The Roman architectural historian Vitruvius recounts the abandonment of Salpia vetus and the refoundation of Salapia. We employ his narrative as a frame for a more complex environmental history, starting from a historiography of this landscape’s study and a summary of our interdisciplinary research agenda, which unifies environmental, topographical, remote sensing, and archaeological approaches. Resilience in this changeable wetland environment was only possible through an integrated and intentional management of water among rivers, the lagoon, and the Adriatic Sea. While Salpia vetus exploited this wetland and thrived for centuries, the settlement eventually collapsed due to human and environmentally impelled factors. Roman Salapia subsequently emerged with a different approach, new infrastructure, and a new location. This blueprint would sustain urban life in this wetland for six centuries and lay the groundwork for the Medieval town. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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19 pages, 76402 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying the Authenticity of Plantscapes through Classics: A Case Study of Beijing Suburbs in the Qing Dynasty

by Dong Xu, Junda Zhu, Zhiyu Chen, Nan Hu, Peiyan Wang and Yunyuan Li

Land 2024, 13(8), 1171; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081171 - 30 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1330

Abstract

The plantscapes surrounding historical gardens hold significant value, reflecting the natural pristine state as well as demonstrating the cultural attributes of the landscape. This study aims to develop a method for identifying the characteristics of historic plantscapes and to recognize the authenticity of historic landscapes from the perspective of plant elements. Our method combines textual and geospatial data analysis to examine the plant species, their relationships and combinations, and spatial distribution. The case study focuses on the Beijing suburbs during the Qing Dynasty, as documented in A Collection of Past Events in Beijing. We identified 658 plants recorded, encompassing 44 families and 58 genera. These plants were categorized into 7 groups based on the growth type and morphological characteristics, leading to 54 plant relationship outcomes, 107 plant combination scenarios, 5 plant combination categories, and 7 representative plant combinations. Additionally, we mapped the spatial distribution of plants, forming 16 plantscape groups and depicting the spatial kernel density distribution of important plants. We also determined the characteristics of plantscapes in different directions in the suburb. Our findings advocate for respecting the historical development of the plantscape and understanding its evolution, particularly emphasizing the use of high-quality native plants and plant combinations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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27 pages, 67737 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aerial Remote Sensing Archaeology—A Short Review and Applications

by Dimitris Kaimaris

Land 2024, 13(7), 997; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13070997 - 5 Jul 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2362

Abstract

Aerial and remote sensing archaeology are tools for identifying marks on images of archaeological remains covered by soil. In other words, they are archaeological prospection tools that fall into the category of non-destructive research methods. In this paper, a short review of these valuable research tools is carried out, presenting the way marks appear, and also the categories of aerial and remote sensing archaeology, depending on the medium of storage of images and the type of platform of transfer of sensors. The timing of the emergence of each category is determined and examples of relevant surveys are presented. Focusing on the use of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) with a multispectral sensor (aerial remote sensing archaeology), their partial utilization is revealed for collecting images in areas outside of the visible spectrum, aiming at the identification of covered archaeological remains. To this end, examples of the use of UAS with different sensors are presented and indexes that have been used so far in respective applications are gathered. Aerial remote sensing archaeology took place in two areas of particular interest in Northern Greece. UAS WingtraOne GEN II was used to collect multispectral images. In both study areas, soil and vegetation or crop marks were detected, possibly covered archaeological remains, initially in RGB orthophotomosaics and then more clearly in the index maps, such as the normalized difference vegetation index, simple ratio, brightness index, second brightness index, and anthocyanin reflectance index 2b. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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18 pages, 1992 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Resilience of Terraced Landscapes to Human and Natural Impacts: A GIS-Based Reconstruction of Land Use Evolution in a Mediterranean Mountain Valley

by Titouan Le Vot, Marianne Cohen, Maciej Nowak, Paul Passy and Franck Sumera

Land 2024, 13(5), 592; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050592 - 29 Apr 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2536

Abstract

Terraced historical landscapes have multiple functions in mountain land, limiting erosion, enabling agricultural production and constituting cultural heritage. Currently, they are largely abandoned in Mediterranean regions and facing the ongoing impacts of climate change. Our aim is to reconstruct the evolution of land use on the terraces in order to test the hypothesis of the resilience of these landscapes and their age in recent history (17th–21st century). To achieve this, we used various current and archive spatial datasets and GIS knowledge to detect and map terraces and the changes in land use. We tested this hypothesis in a territory impacted by a recent extreme event, facing the challenge of its reconstruction. Our main outcome showed that the optimal use of the terraces corresponded to the demographic optimum of the mid-19th century, and they were gradually abandoned after the Second World War, with significant differences between Mediterranean and mountain lands. Despite this evolution, the terraces persisted and withstood an extreme event, validating our resilience hypothesis and opening avenues for the revitalization of this territory based on this heritage. These findings are drawing perspectives for the future of terraced landscapes in Mediterranean mountains in the context of climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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36 pages, 29976 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Continuity, Resilience, and Change in Rural Settlement Patterns from the Roman to Islamic Period in the Sicani Mountains (Central-Western Sicily)

by Angelo Castrorao Barba, Carla Aleo Nero, Giuseppina Battaglia, Luca Zambito, Ludovica Virga, Alessandra Messina, Marco Cangemi and Giuseppe Bazan

Land 2024, 13(3), 400; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13030400 - 21 Mar 2024

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3597

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the dynamics of change in settlement models from the Roman, late antique, and Byzantine periods, focusing on how these transformations influenced the formation of Islamic societies in the rural landscapes of western Sicily. The study is centered around the territory of Corleone in the Sicani Mountains (central-western Sicily). This region, strategically located between the significant cities of Palermo on the Tyrrhenian Sea and Agrigento on the Strait of Sicily, has been pivotal in the communication network spanning from the Roman era to the Middle Ages and beyond. The area has been subject to extensive surveys and excavations, revealing diverse dynamics of continuity, resilience, and innovation in settlement patterns from the Roman to the Islamic periods. Beyond presenting the results of archaeological fieldwork, this study employs GIS-based spatial and statistical analyses and utilizes a range of topographic (elevation, slope, aspect, topographic position index (TPI), and distance to water sources) and ecological factors (vegetation series). These analyses aim to assess the evolving relationships and site positioning within the territory over time. Combining archaeological data with topographic and ecological landscape analysis, this integrated approach elucidates the complex transition dynamics from the Roman settlement system to the Islamic age’s landscape formation in western Sicily’s rural areas. The study thereby contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate interplay between historical developments and environmental factors in shaping rural settlement patterns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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15 pages, 2887 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is Historical Cartography a Useful Tool for Landscape Analysis? A Perspective from Inland Spain (Zorita de los Canes, Guadalajara) from the Middle Ages to the Present

by Pilar Diarte-Blasco and Manuel Castro-Priego

Land 2023, 12(8), 1627; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12081627 - 18 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1876

Abstract

Historical cartography continues to be an essential resource in developing strategies for the analysis of anthropised landscapes. In recent years, the digitisation and conversion of a large number of pre-20th-century maps to modern geographic coordinate systems and data hierarchisation in GIS-integrated databases have opened up huge possibilities. In this paper, we highlight some of the advantages and issues that we observed in using historical cartography in the Iberian Peninsula heartlands by comparing archaeological data, textual sources and maps and various levels of information obtained for our area of study: the southeast of the present-day province of Guadalajara, Spain. Using the longue durée approach conceptualised by Fernand Braudel (1976), historical cartography enabled us to delve deeper into two essential aspects, land use and the road network, while providing elements of diachrony that suggest changes in the landscape in specific and disruptive periods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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30 pages, 17351 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adaptive Dynamics of Settlement Models in the Urban Landscape of Termez (Uzbekistan) from c. 300 BCE to c. 1400 CE

by Enrique Ariño, Paula Uribe, Jorge Angás, Raquel Piqué, Rodrigo Portero, Verónica Martínez-Ferreras and Josep M. Gurt

Land 2023, 12(8), 1550; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12081550 - 4 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2288

Abstract

The archaeological site of Ancient Termez is located in southern Uzbekistan. Despite the arid environment, the city benefited from its strategic position near two rivers, the Amu Darya and the Surkhan Darya. Its significance was mainly related to the expansion of trade routes connecting Eurasia. The city comprises several enclosures that attest long-term human-environment interactions. In order to identify the adaptive dynamics of the settlement models during an extended chronology covering the period from c. 300 BCE to c. 1220 CE (Greco-Bactrian/Yuezhi, Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Islamic periods), a multidisciplinary study has been carried out, which includes: (1) archaeological excavations in several areas of the urban complex; (2) pedestrian surveying inside some enclosures and in the urban periphery; (3) an aerial survey based on high-resolution satellite imagery; (4) AMS dating of charcoal and bone samples; (5) archaeobotanical investigation through anthracological analysis; (6) zooarchaeological studies. The results point to variations in the development of the inhabited spaces, in which abandonment and occupation took place. The zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical data demonstrate the exploitation of natural resources in different environments (i.e., arid areas and irrigated land) and a certain evolution during the period considered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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35 pages, 20713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water as a Problem and a Solution in Arid Landscapes: Resilient Practices and Adapted Land Use in the Eastern Marmarica (NW-Egypt) between the 2nd Millennium BCE and the 1st Millennium CE

by Anna-Katharina Rieger

Land 2023, 12(5), 1109; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12051109 - 22 May 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4411

Abstract

Arid environments are suitable for researching the resilience of landscapes, since their ecological conditions pose continuous water stress to plants, animals, and humans living there. It is not only water, but also soil that is a limited resource. The arid landscape of the Eastern Marmarica (NW-Egypt) serves as an example for studying the resilience in and of a past landscape and its inhabitants from the 2nd millennium BCE to the 1st millennium CE, which is conceptualised as a ‘social arid landscape’. The adapted life strategies and resilient practices to make a living in the arid environment are reconstructed from (geo-) archaeological evidence, discussing the applicability of the concept of resilience for ancient (landscape) studies. Resilience is an etic concept, depending on the perspective on and scale of a system. With the categories of ‘event’, ‘practice’ and ‘knowledge’, however, various scales can be bridged; life strategies can be defined as communities of practice and dichotomies be solved. Niche dwellings in the ancient Marmarica, where exposure to stress was normal, functioned because of an elaborate water management and the mobility of the people living there. The resilience of the arid social landscape is based on mixed life strategies, where only a multi-factored crisis (economic and climatic) or a series of smaller shocks (many dry years) could have destructive impacts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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33 pages, 13175 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Landscape Exploitation and Biotic Resource Management at the Tossal de la Vila Hillfort through the Long Durée

by Marta Pérez-Polo, Joan Negre, Ferran Falomir, Guillem Pérez-Jordà, Sonia de Haro and Gustau Aguilella

Land 2023, 12(5), 1033; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12051033 - 9 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2288

Abstract

This paper focuses on the anthropic dynamics of environmental transformation and natural resource management in the specific case of the archaeological site of Tossal de la Vila in Castelló, Spain, a hillfort located at the end of the Eastern Iberian Cordillera. It presents two phases of occupation determined by multiple radiocarbon dating analyses: the first phase during the late Bronze Age (8th–7th centuries BCE) and the second at the beginning of the al-Andalus period (8th–10th centuries CE). The results of the comparison of the subsistence strategies and the biotic configuration of the natural environment in the same place at two different times have shown us that in the protohistoric period, the diversity of economic activities represented in the archaeobiological record is certainly heterogeneous, while in the al-Andalus period the complexity of these options is reduced to much less significant limits, possibly due to the different functionality of this space in both periods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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22 pages, 47224 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Dynamics of Occupation between Resilience and Abandonment in Two Post-Classic Rural Landscapes on the Iberian Peninsula

by Julia Sarabia-Bautista

Land 2023, 12(4), 768; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12040768 - 28 Mar 2023

Viewed by 2027

Abstract

In this paper, we present a comparison of two rural landscapes in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, where the dynamics of occupation have differed since the end of the ancient world in terms of both the degree of resilience of settlements and the land use. Our purpose was to explore the social, political, economic, and environmental factors that could explain why there has been a long-term cross-cultural occupation of some resilient sites and landscapes for almost a millennium, while there have been only very specific temporary occupations in other areas. The first part of this paper describes the archaeological investigations carried out by means of intensive survey methods, geophysics, and some excavations in peripheral and peri-urban spaces. In the second part, we reflect on whether the use of the same methodology in all cases allows us to compare and understand what makes societies sustainable (or not) over time through their archaeological record. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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22 pages, 7376 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resilience Thinking and Landscape Complexity in the Basentello Valley (BA, MT), c. AD 300–800

by Matthew Munro

Land 2023, 12(3), 651; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030651 - 10 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2278

Abstract

Archaeological data for the transformation of late Roman rural landscapes in Southern Italy over the sixth to eighth centuries AD are often meagre. This record often provides little explanatory power in the context of understanding the collapse of Roman political and economic hegemony and the framework for the regeneration of these relationships in the early medieval countryside. Resilience thinking offers a robust suite of heuristics to help guide both method and theory in understanding the key socio-environmental relationships involved in this transformative process based on limited material evidence. Through insights gained from developing a panarchic perspective of the Basentello landscape between AD 300 and 800, both capacities for and strategies of resilience to landscape-scale shocks and stressors emerge as key patterns in this collapse process. To explain how these patterns emerge, resilience thinking employs narratives from complexity science by framing landscapes as self-organizing complex adaptive systems. It is through appreciating this complexity that archaeologists can revolutionize how we understand landscape-scale transformations, the role of resilience in landscape history and, more broadly, the nature of societal collapse. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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Review

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19 pages, 3119 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceReview

The Anthropocene in the Aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark Schelde Delta Area: Geological History, Human Resilience and Future Landscape Management

by Sjoerd Kluiving and Ronald Waterman

Land 2023, 12(5), 990; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12050990 - 29 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2853

Abstract

In north-western Europe, the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt rivers have created a large river delta over the past 3 million years. Geological phenomena in the Scheldt region in north-western Belgium and in the southern Netherlands testify from a highly dynamic landscape, showing a range from very old (50 MY) to very young (recent) geological processes. The great diversity in geological processes and resulting landscapes is unprecedented on a global scale and has had its impact on the region’s cultural and economic history, shaping today’s reality in the global polycrisis. However, the area is usually observed by people as a flat and featureless type of terrain, although sometimes, unexpected elevation differences and sharp contrasts in landscapes occur alternating with omnipresent waterways. Therefore, here, the seven most conspicuous landforms are reviewed and presented in conjunction with the geological history of the area, including the typical lowland theme of the human battle against water. This study aims to (a) reconstruct the Tertiary and Quaternary to Holocene Dutch–Flemish Schelde Delta history, (b) review a cultural history that evolves into the present of the Anthropocene, and (c) project the desired future for sustainable landscapes in the aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark Schelde Delta between plural landscape management scenarios of Revitalised Land- and Waterscape and Improved Biodiversity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilience in Historical Landscapes)

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