The term "landscape" has a long and rich tradition in geography. It also has one of popular significance, framed in the context of painting. Artistic landscapes typically emphasize so-called "natural" things, or topics of physical geography, usually landforms, vegetation, and atmospheric phenomena. Indeed, much of what has been covered in this course thus far has dealt with such things. In the last class period, we began to look at things human. Now, we take the next logical step and explore "cultural landscapes." Emphasis here is on things that are purely human-built and are independent of the biophysical environment. In a sense, the focus is now on things imprinted on the natural landscape.
In some cases, field work can be used to supplement office work. For example, several years ago a geographer set out to map the Cajun area of Louisiana. He decided that since the names of the original settlers from Canada were known that he would map the distribution of French surnames. What is a convenient source of surnames by location? Phone books. The job could be done without leaving the comforts of his office [example]. Or could it? Perhaps you guessed it. At the time, not all Cajuns had telephones. Our researcher had to go to the field. But what should he look for? If you guessed names on mailboxes give yourself a gold star [example].
Many phenomena on the cultural landscape, and differences therein, remain to be mapped (Remember the example of outhouses and their differences mentioned in the class period on sampling?). Can anything be learned from this type of mapping? Probably. Such features might well be territorial "flags," if you will, demarcating the space occupied by various cultural groups. Anyone who has driven through northern Arizona surely has noticed differences in the square adobe houses of Hopi Indians and the round wooden hogans of the Navajo. Each type is found clustered in undisputed lands; both types are found in disputed territory.
Some phenomena are more complex and difficult to deal with than others. The degree of simplicity or complexity is, of course, not only relative, but subject to debate. In the way of illustration, there are four types of corner notching used in Mexican log houses [example] and several more types of courthouse squares in Texas. These courthouse squares are not only found to have distinctive spatial distributions [example], but they are also correlated with particular culture groups [example] who came from various parts of the United States at distinct periods of time [example].
Culture is as dynamic as the earth itself. It has both spatial and temporal dimensions. Furthermore, some cultural phenomena on the landscape are more ubiquitous than courthouse squares, and more permanent than houses. Particularly intriguing are cemetaries. Cemeteries can be seen as microcosms of regions. Depending on when they were begun, cemeteries can reflect group values. Those established in the 1800 tend to be rectilinear, those laid out in the late 20th century tend to have curved streets [example]. In this respect, they are not unlike U.S. cities. Cemeteries occupy space, but not all the space they occupy is brought into use at once. Cemeteries may be delimited (fenced) quickly, but they fill over extended periods. Cemeteries contain features--tombstones--which have variety, reflect personal tastes and preferences [example], and, therefore, can be seen as analogous to the house types discussed earlier. House types tend to change over time and so do tombstones.
Changes over time can be seriated--arranged in sequence. This usually involves plotting topical and temporal data on a chart [example].Whereas tabular data are easier to understand than raw data recorded as notes, graphic data are easier to understand than tabular data. Archaeologists seriate ceramics; they plot different types and styles in reference to time to understand prehistoric culture changes. Cultural geographers can seriate features on the landscape.
Geographers have been known to map and study all kinds of landscapes and their cultural imprints. Houses, fences, barns, churches, courthouse squares, plazas, parks, cemetaries, neighborhoods, small towns, and large cities, just to name a few, have all been subjected to study. We won't go far. We'll look at our own campus.
Created by William E. Doolittle. Last revised 10 July 2013, wed