Title of the project:
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)
Włodzimierz Rączkowski
Institute of Prehistory
Adam Mickiewicz University
of Poznań (Poland)
Aims and objectives:
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?
Everything that surrounds us has an impact on our lives, the comfort and fulfilment of our lives. So landscape and its shape also influence our lives. If we understand the landscape then we may discover its history, secrets, beauty, and the people of the past who lie behind it. There are many different approaches to the study of modern landscapes and their history, a particularly potent one uses aerial photographs.
From the air landscapes look different than from the ground. The "birds-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.
The aerial view can show
landscapes in ways that emphasise their most important and valuable aspects.
This specific perspective may attract people to put more attention on their
landscapes as well as to think about their value and the need for their
protection. The aerial view also provides a unique opportunity, for our
generation, to record many features of landscapes for the first time. When
we compare past aerial photographs against current ones we can recognise
the impact of our culture, and our conclusions might not be very optimistic.
It may provoke people to consider our role in the landscape. We may come
to understand better that the landscape is a part of our legacy and that
we should protect it for ourselves and for our children. We can do this
only if we first understand the landscape.
The project consists of two parts:
1. Research into the history
of landscapes across the Baltic Region;
2. Popularising the understanding
of landscapes through presentations of its beauty as well as promoting
education curricula in which the cultural landscape is included.
Part one:
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.
2. Historical images of landscapes - perspectives for the future
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. Surveys across the Baltic have
also begun to show that there are archaeological phenomena and sites which
have a common theme: the same types of site can be found from Denmark to
Finland, from Lithuania to Sweden (for example strongholds, barrows, as
well as castles, Hanseatic towns, medieval villages, field systems etc).
A very recent trend in archaeology has been to record the remains of the
Second World War and Cold War, and aerial survey has played a major part
in these projects. Understanding our very recent past through archaeology,
rather just through documentary sources, will provide new insights.
Part two:
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. Education is another
way of popularising the new approach to understanding landscapes. It should
be done at schools as well as in other institutions (e.g. museums). Teaching
programmes must relate to the ages of the pupils.
Other partners:
Dr. Romas Jarockis
Department of Lithuanian
Heritage Protection
Snipiskiu g. 3
LT-2600 Vilnius
Lithuania
E-mail: jaro@takas.lt
Dr. Dimitri Korobov
Institute of Archaeology
Russian Academy of Sciences
ul. Dm. Uljanova 19, 117036
Moscow
Russia
E-mail: dkorobov@mail.ru
Prof. Juris Urtans
Academy of Culture of Latvia
Ludzas iela 23
LV-1003 Riga
Latvia
urtans@lka.edu.lv
Wiesław Stępień
Regionalny Ośrodek Studiów
i Ochrony Środowiska Kulturowego
ul. Piotrowska 252/254,
90-361 Łódź
Poland
E-mail: wstepien@rosiosk.lodz.pl
Prof. Otto Braasch
Matthias-Hoesl-Str. 6, D-84034
Landsuht
Germany
E-mail: otto.braasch@landshut.org
Dr. Friedrich Lüth
Landesamt für Denkmalpflege
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
und Archäologisches Landesmuseum
Domhof 4/5
D-19055 Schwerin
Germany
Tel: + 49 385/55 87 00
Fax: + 49 385/562905
e-mail: Friedrich.Lueth@archaeologie-mv.de
Prof. Mika Lavento
Department of Archaeology
University of Helsinki
Unioninkatu 38F
P.O. Box 59
00014 Helsinki
Finland
e-mail: lavento@mappi.helsinki.fi
Prof. Bożena Irene Werbart
Institute of Archaeology
and Saami Study
University of Umea
901 87 Umea
Sweden
tel +46 (0)90-786 7919
fax +46 (0)90- 786 7663
e-mail: bozena.werbart@arke.umu.se
Schedule of project activities:
Taking into account these general remarks the project will include the following elements:
- aerial survey in each country
which is involved in the project, carried out during summers 2005, 2006
and 2007 to record past landscapes
- workshops to provide training
in active aerial survey through demonstration flights, intensive survey
of selected areas and ground schools to interpret and map recorded archaeological
features
- seminars to discuss the
main problem related to post-flight methodologies for aerial exploration,
interpretation, data processing, conservation and public presentation
- a series of invited lectures
given at leading universities and institutions in partner countries as
well as short courses of aerial archaeology for students in countries where
aerial archaeology is not taught
- searching for archives
which keep aerial photographs and photo-maps, especially those taken during
the Second World War by the Luftwaffe and RAF, as a resource for future
landscape studies
- exhibitions and/or web-sites,
TV programmes, education packs etc to promote public and official understanding
of the role of aerial survey in research and conservation of past landscapes
- publishing books promoting
past landscapes (popular books, albums etc)
- a final conference to
sum up the achievements of the project and to create new perspectives for
the integration of aerial survey and other methods
Past Landscapes of the Baltic Region: aerial survey and new perspectives of research, protection, promotion and education
Preliminary programme
Year 1 from October 2004
Specialist workshop and conference on the uses of aerial and other remote-sensing data in archaeological research, interpretation and conservation; preparing detailed schedule of the project - Helsinki, October 2004
Study visits to locate and describe archival photographs and photomaps in home countries and abroad (Germany, UK, Russia and USA)
Specialist seminar on aerial reconnaissance in landscape studies and on using aerial photographs in teaching landscapes - Vilnius, April/May 2005
Aerial survey in each country (at least 15 hrs)
Workshop (training school)
on aerial survey, interpretation and mapping archaeological and historical
monuments - Denmark/Sweden, July 2005
Year 2 from October 2005
Specialist seminar on uses aerial photographs in protection and management of past landscapes - Germany, October/November 2005
Aerial survey in each country (at least 15 hrs)
Study visits to locate and describe archival photographs and photomaps in home countries and abroad (Germany, UK, Russia and USA)
Specialist seminar on archival resources as a base for landscape studies - Norway, April/May 2006
Workshop (training school)
on aerial survey, interpretation and mapping archaeological and historical
monuments - Estonia/Latvia, July 2006
Year 3 from October 2006
Aerial survey in each country (at least 15 hrs)
Specialist seminar ways of exhibiting the results of the project - Poland, February 2007
Travelling exhibition: Landscapes of the Baltic region from the air (preliminary title) - May 2007 (including publication of a catalogue)
Final conference summing up the achievements of the project and formulating new perspectives for the integration of aerial survey and other methods in landscape studies - Denmark or Poland, September/October 2007 (followed by publication of the conference proceedings)