EXPERIENCE IN USING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL MAPS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH. LITERATURE, METHODS, CASES

Abstract

The objective of the study is to look into the best practices of environmental history in terms of methodology (including some interdisciplinary methods) – ones that can be adopted and adjusted for historical research. A review of literature is presented in which historic maps and the data of aerial photography are used for historical and environmental reconstructions. Key approaches and methods of such research are examined; and some case studies carried out with the implication of these methods are outlined as examples. An analysis and comparison of historic maps, modern data of aerial photography, field surveys and non-cartographic historical evidence is a powerful tool for reconstructing the historical dynamics of the landscapes. Such an analysis is a major provider of the information necessary to understand the evolution of the environment and to reveal the driving force – including anthropogenic ones – of its development. In historical studies, the research lens is refocused from the landscape to the study of human activity interacting with the changing environment. The authors conclude that this sort of an approach is supposed to be heuristically effective.