The study of changes in cultural landscapes

Abstract

Changes in cultural landscapes are examined theoretically and through applications of the theory developed. The concept of cultural landscape is interpreted as laying emphasis on visible and experiential landscape elements resulting from human activity. A multidimensional model for the concept is developed in which landscape phenomena are formed by a combination of material factors, non-material, experiential factors and underlying human and natural factors. Thus the concept requires both objective and subjective interpretation, against a background of regional studies which are a blend of science and art, of perspectives from the natural sciences and the humanities. The concept of landscape as defined in the model is also a multi-level one, in which the material factors build up from the village level to the province, country and continent level and the non-material factors from impressions to values, world views and cultures. This defination of landscape is used as a basis for a model for studying changes in cultural landscapes, which is then tested in a set of small-scale case studies on the village landscapes of Nurmijärvi, Lammi, Suomenkylä and Saksala in Finland and the mountain villages of San Salvador and Huaro in the Cuzco region of Peru, representing a culture initially less familiar to the research worker. Experiences from the case studies indicate that no sharp distinction can be made between the visible, material factors, invisible, non-material factors and underlying factors allowed for in the model, and that the subjective and objective interpretations overlap. Further work needs to be done to develop methods for studying the non-material factors and for describing the multi-level nature of landscapes.

Most value was attached to the old, harmonious, well preserved elements in the Finnish cultural landscapes studied, and careful consideration is needed when attempting any new building in such areas. When studying an unfamiliar culture the concepts involved in the model should be approached through the local cultural background. Improvements could be achieved in cultural landscapes if one was to understand the background affecting landscape changes. Only through understanding can we learn to take responsibility for changes in our cultural landscapes.