The reconstruction of past patterns of tilled fields from historical cadastral maps using GIS
Stein Tage Domaas · Landscape Research · 2007
Information derived from a historical infield cadastral map dated 1874 and its written protocol was combined with data on four landscape characteristics (distance to the hamlet, 1 1 Hamlet—‘group of houses in the country; small village, especially one without a church’ (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, 1974). Also explained in 2.1 (the buildings belonging to most of the holdings were previously situated in a central cluster, referred to as ‘the hamlet’ in this paper). slope, folded aspect and quaternary geology) in a GIS-based 3D model in an attempt to develop a methodology for reconstructing earlier tilled field patterns. The study area was the farm of Grinde in Western Norway. The areas that the farmers themselves considered to be best for growing crops in 1874 sloped gently, faced south-west, were close to the hamlet and were on glacio-fluvial deposits or a thick layer of moraine. More than 80% of the fields expected to be the oldest appeared to be correctly identified. This pilot study shows that it is possible to identify the probable location of the oldest tilled fields both on maps and in the terrain, using land consolidation documents or other data on crop sowing and yields from historical sources even where no land consolidation documents are available. The method may be helpful in determining areas that should be managed or protected in specific ways to maintain the value of the cultural landscape.