Past Landscapes of the Baltic Region: aerial 
survey and new perspectives of research, protection, promotion and education.

Duration: 3 years project starting from October 2004 

Coordinators of the project:

Lis Helles Olesen, 
Holstebro Museum, Holstebro (Denmark)
E-mail: lis.helles@holstebro-museum.dk

Włodzimierz Rączkowski, 
Institute of Prehistory, 
Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań (Poland)
E-mail: wlodekra@amu.edu.pl

Landscape is part of our everyday life. It surrounds us, in the home, at work or in our leisure time. Do we care about it? Can we perceive it in our everyday activity? Or do we admire the landscape only during holidays? It seems that it is worthwhile to stand and look around for a while and observe the landscape. What features can we recognise? Buildings, churches, farms, fields, roads, woods etc. Do we understand why they are there, their layout, their relationship to one another? What do we know about their origins? Do they mean anything for us? 

From the air landscapes look different than from the ground. The "bird's-eye" view allows us to understand the landscape better. The landscape is a palimpsest. Looking from the air we can learn to recognise each stage of its history and through this to understand the human impact on the modern shape of the landscape. We can also recognise the beauty of individual features as well as whole patterns and relations between culture and nature. Aerial photographs may bridge science and art.

1. Understanding and protection the landscape

The main research aim of the joint project is to bring together specialists in archaeology and history as well as aerial survey to develop future approaches and standards for recording, understanding and conserving archaeological and historical landscapes. "Aerial archaeology" contributes to academic understanding and heritage conservation of past landscapes in a variety of ways. Exploratory survey from light aircraft has vastly extended the number and range of known sites, both in upland areas and in plough-flattened landscapes where the only traces of past settlements, ritual sites and communication routes are the "cropmarks" of their former walls and ditches, visible for just a few weeks in ripening arable crops or in parching grassland. Whole landscapes from the past can be mapped, described and analysed from this exploratory photography, allowing new understanding to be achieved and new questions posed for future research. Similar exercises can be carried out using the vast but under-exploited collections of "historical" air photography taken for mapping, military intelligence and conservation purposes. Since the war of 1914-1918 it has been clear that aerial reconnaissance flown for military purposes has many peaceful uses. It is now treasured by the scientific community as a resource of great cultural, social, historic, environmental, and archaeological value. New techniques have now been added, with the advent of satellite imagery and other forms of digital recording from specially-equipped light aircraft. 

The capacity of "aerial archaeology" to cover large areas very economically (in time, money and manpower) has made it an essential technique in the exploration, interpretation and conservation not only of individual sites but also of whole landscapes from the past. Regrettably, its high level of development and practical application in Britain is not matched in most other European countries. The object of this joint-project is to create a network between institutions and people from the Baltic region to undertake and prompt initiatives which will advance the growth of aerial archaeology in countries where it has not yet been effectively deployed, or in some cases barely deployed at all. The aim will be the immediate or longer-term initiation of "home-based" exploratory, interpretative and mapping programmes in countries where the potential of aerial research and conservation has yet to be fully realised. Each meeting and new link in the network will be used to explore local sources of funding for activities in this and related programmes. Most of British and European activities have been focused on aerial survey in south Europe (Italy) and Central Europe (Hungary, Poland). The Baltic region has dropped behind countries like the UK, Germany, France or Belgium. Due to the Valetta Convention and the stress on protection of archaeological landscapes as well as using non-invasive methods of research, aerial survey becomes the best method to meet these new needs. 

Aerial surveys for archaeology in countries like the UK, Belgium, Germany and France have discovered thousands of new sites and shown that sites and indeed whole landscapes have been destroyed or damaged through the intensification of agriculture and the growth of towns and cities. This process of destruction has been accelerating since 1945 and the process is still continuing (e.g. new huge infrastructure projects like Via Baltica). Recording sites and landscapes prior to destruction is a last resort and a strategy for the Baltic region needs to be developed to minimise destruction wherever possible. 

Aerial photographs are very persuasive tools. The beauty and mystery of pictures, their romanticism or realism will always fascinate the viewer. Aerial photographs offer "air travel" in time and space. As a sort of archaeological record they offer metaphorical contact with past landscapes. The detail and context in a photograph produce a "reality effect" that can give the public a sense of "touching" the past. This leads us to the next, very important aspect of aerial survey - presenting the past (and past landscapes) to the public. There are various ways of helping people to appreciate and value their landscapes. Exhibitions seem to be the most common way. But this is not enough. The organisers plan to publish books, leaflets and catalogues. The web page of the project will present the results and will be freely accessible.