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Reconstructing nineteenth century landscapes from historical maps—the Survey of Western Palestine as a case study

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  • Gad Schaffer
  • Noam Levin

Abstract

Geographic information systems allow the extraction and quantitative analysis of information from historical maps. The aims of this research were to examine the completeness of information represented on the 1881 Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) map, to quantitatively reconstruct the landscape of nineteenth century Palestine and to explore whether spatial patterns in land cover/land use can be partially explained statistically by physical and human factors. Using historical aerial photos, we concluded that most of the major past landscape features were indeed shown on the PEF map, with an average overall correspondence of 53%. Forests and Mediterranean maquis were more abundant at distances greater than 2 km from towns and villages. Specific land cover/land-use types were associated with certain soil types, topographic regions and rainfall thresholds. In conclusion, the 1881 PEF map can serve as a reliable reference for understanding the land cover/land-use patterns of nineteenth century Palestine.

Suggested Citation

  • Gad Schaffer & Noam Levin, 2016. "Reconstructing nineteenth century landscapes from historical maps—the Survey of Western Palestine as a case study," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 360-379, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:clarxx:v:41:y:2016:i:3:p:360-379
    DOI: 10.1080/01426397.2015.1078454
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    Cited by:

    1. Vassilis Detsis & Eleni Gkadolou & Katerina Koutsovoulou & Georgios Tolias, 2022. "Long-Term Landscape Dynamics to Assess Land Degradation Hypotheses—An Exploratory Study of Evidence from Travelers’ Narrations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Zhiwei Wan & Xi Chen & Min Ju & Chaohao Ling & Guangxu Liu & Fuqiang Liao & Yulian Jia & Meixin Jiang, 2020. "Reconstruction and Pattern Analysis of Historical Urbanization of Pre-Modern China in the 1910s Using Topographic Maps and the GIS-ESDA Model: A Case Study in Zhejiang Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.

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