Theme 2: Landscape and Heritage

• Landscape


  View of land intended to be interpreted and created upon
• Landscape archaeology


  • Descriptive work of mapping and plotting
  • Interpretative work that focuses on social use of space by past communities
• 'New' archaeology


  Science oriented, focus on systems and processes
• Archaeo Regions


  • 17 regions in Netherlands
• Post-processual archaeology


  Subjective (meaning, expression, symbolism and human experience)
• European Landscape Convention (ELC)


  • Concerned with all aspects of European landscape
  • Compared to Valletta treaty (protection of archaeological heritage) + Faro convention
  • Concerns all landscapes: protection, management, and planning
  • Landscapes has an important public interest role (economic, cultural, ecological, environmental and social fields)
  • Aim: create future landscapes
• European Landscape Convention adopted in Florence

  20th October 2000
• Layered landscapes


  • Physical layers (vertical, stratigraphy)
  • Horizontal layers (spatial development)
  • Palimpsest (writing material used multiple times after earlier writing has been erased = deliberately erase, preserve, rewrite, communicate, transmit, hide)
  • Intellectual layers (re-interpretation of past)
  • Layers of meaning (changing meanings of elements in landscape)
• Boros Bunker


  • Nazi bunker => Russian prison => techno fetish club => modern art museum
• Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC)


  • Map based: GIS
  • Focus: historic character in present-day landscape + management of change in landscape no preservation = provide info rather than judgement
• Sustainable development


  Process that changes exploitation of resources into harmony
• 2 methods


  • Biographical approach
  • Landscape characterisation
• Biographical approach


  Based on idea that every period represented to understand landscape
• Landscape characterisation


  Gathers all information of relevant sources and decides what to sustain and what to leave by policy-makers
• Cultural biography of landscape

  Exploration of long term and diverse histories of landscape using personal and social perspective (people's impact and the landscape's own life-story)
• Historic landscape characterisation


  Distinctive historic dimension of urban and rural environment within area (identify, mapp, describe, and interpret)
• Lancashire (UK)


  • Covered both urban and rural areas. Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) got tool to protect individual sites
• 7 steps to process sustainable development (English heritage)

  • Improve understanding of historic environment and values
  • Identify present and future forces that affect change of resource
  • Informed judgements (environmental indicators)
  • Use information to set objectives
  • Match priorities to appropriate implementation mechanism
  • Define sustainability strategy (policies + plans)
  • Monitor character of historic environment to determine effectiveness
• Concept: protecting while developing


  Preserve archaeological remains in situ
• Concept: strategic research


  • Fundamental: solved by archaeological questions
  • Applied: questions concerning management of archaeological remains
  • Strategic: influence policies and plan through research
• Future strategies: COST A27 (European cooperation in science and technology) => diversity, pro-active participation in planning, effectiveness
• Environmental assessment and wind power in Sweden

  • Aim = identify, describe and provide basis for overall assessment of direct and indirect environmental effects and impacts of planned activity on resource management
  • General values = experience, scientific, educational, user-value
  • Issues: Swedish offshore wind power parks are affecting cultural heritage
• Hermeneutic method for landscape research

  Reading the landscape, interpreting perception, historical situated perceiving, contextual perceiving the present
• Metaphors as a tool

  Communicating values behind landscape planning to gain importance in public debate and form strategic coalitions
• Western Netherlands of the polder landscape dating from medieval period between the Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Amsterdam


  • Green Heart
• Cultural biography of landscape


  Emphasis on ideological and social dimension of the landscape within defined cultural system
• Building biography of landscape: All periods included => creates a time depth
• Limes


  Frontier zone, archaeologically is military infrastructure along borders (fortifications, wall, military road, connected infrastructure (cities and canals))
• Development of lower Rhine limes

  1. Oldest = 39-41 CE as a guarded transportation infrastructure

  2. Transforms into closed defensive line (100-120 CE)
• Structure of limes


  • England (Hadrian's wall and Antonine Wall)
  • Southern Germany (Obergermanisch-Raetische Limes)
  • Lower Rhine limes
  • Romania (Lower Danube limes)
• Economic impact of limes

  • Sheep (wool), horses (army usage), barley (horse fodder)
• Social impact of limes

  • Batavians recruited in large numbers => many military veterans
  • Villa development (proto-villa in rural areas = cultural impact of Romans)
• Archaeological study of Roman limes

  • Antiquarians = written sources (16th century Katwijk castellum)
  • Forum hadriani = scientific sources (1827-1834)
• Batavian myth


  • Origin = emphasises ancient origins and specific character associated with the region
  • Based on Tacitus' Germania
  • 16th century = Netherlands originates from Batavia (good warriors and special status) => 80 year war against Spain => Batavian Republic as a nation in 1795
• Limes in post-processual archaeology

  • Widening perspective = inclusion of landscape
  • 2003: "a sustainable frontier?" project focused on the landscape and their function and character of limes
  • The social and economic impact of limes
• Remains of the limes: Below ground - very good conservation = wetlands, Above ground - no remains visible, Some castella under modern towns = Valkenburg, Woerden, Alphen aan de Rijn, Utrecht
• The limes as UNESCO World Heritage status

  • 2021 = Lower Germanic Limes (Netherlands and Germany)
  • Part of Frontiers of Roman Empire, they are associated with complete development of Roman Empire
  • Good preservation of archaeological remains
• Current research


  • Valkenburg castra
  • Romeinse Vicus aan de Rijn: research on military vici, their development and inhabitants + focus on public and participation
  • The limes nowadays (biography) = layered landscape in order to create appreciation in current day