Historical Cadastral Maps as a Tool for Valuation of Today’s Landscape Elements

Abstract

Physical and biological traces of human activity in the landscape such as various stone structures, buildings, irrigation channels, semi-natural vegetation types and land use patterns can give us information about the past and particular historical periods. However, it can often be difficult to fix the exact age of such traces, and to evaluate their continuity, because fragments dating from different parts of a long history may be recovered alongside each other in today’s landscape. Historical cadastral maps may be very useful tool for evaluating such landscape elements. They can be used to distinguish between older and younger man made structures, and may thus tell us, which structures survived land consolidation, which structures were built later on, and which have been lost. Knowledge of the types and locations of previously existing structures may also help us to understand other traces in today’s landscape. An understanding of the history of the landscape gives us information on areas with a long continuity of land use and management. Historical materials and historical maps have therefore been used in a number of ecological and geographical studies (Foster 1992; Kienast 1993; Skånes 1996; Ihse & Blom 2000; Cousins 2001). In Sweden, Riddersporre (1995) described the old agricultural landscape from before the 17th century and Borgegård (1994) demonstrated how historical maps could be used in the reconstruction of an old agricultural landscape.