Evolution of landscapes influenced by watermills, based on examples from Northern Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the role of watermills in the shaping and evolution of cultural landscape. The distribution of 1217 watermills along rivers in the lower Vistula catchment area since the 12th century has been reconstructed on the basis of cartographic materials and historical sources. Their number changed over time, with the progress of civilisation, as a result of wars, changes in land use, drainage, irrigation and climate change. The 800-year period of the functioning of watermills in Northern Poland has led to the generation of a special type of cultural landscape, termed ‘molinotope’. Out of the wide range of biotic and abiotic factors, the most significant role in the shaping of mill-based landscapes was played by artificial landforms and specific transformations of the hydrographic network. Taking into account the technological progress, size and nature of changes in the landscape due to the functioning of watermills, a conceptual model of development of mill-based cultural landscapes has been constructed. Results of this study indicate that the status of the mill-based landscape (in each of the 7 distinguished stages of development) corresponds to the types of river landscape, considered as a system of technology and landscape. The full cycle of development of mill-based landscapes concerns only some of the investigated locations and it is determined by the degree of development and use of the landscape since the construction of a watermill until the present day.