Recovering Lost Landscapes

Abstract

The scale of landscape transformation over the last century, within Europe and globally, has been great. War, urban expansion, land use and land cover change and construction projects, amongst other activities and processes, have heavily altered our landscapes, destroying or covering up ancient monuments and the historic environment. The resulting loss of evidence from which to understand the past has been great, and sources that give us an insight into earlier conditions can be invaluable. So-called ‘historic’ aerial imagery is a privileged source for documenting and understanding these lost landscapes since it provides information that cannot be found anywhere else. To the historic aerial perspective can be added complementary sources such as historic cartography, modern aerial photographs and new technology such as Airborne Laser Scanning, recognizing that integrated approaches are key to more comprehensive interpretations of landscape processes.