Human-environment interactions in the Dijle-Demer catchment (800 BC-1000 AD). An interdisciplinary approach

Floodplains are highly dynamic environments that have attracted humans throughout history. As such, they have not only been shaped by the interplay of geomorphological, ecological and hydrological processes. They have also been directly and indirectly impacted by human activity. It is in these parts of the landscape that we find ideal research areas to study and reconstruct transformations of human-environment interactions through space and time.

One such area, the Dijle-Demer catchment (Belgium), has been selected as the main point of focus of the Floodplainscapes-project. This project aims to provide fundamental insight in the long-term development of these landscapes, by reconstructing human-environment interactions from prehistory to now. This will provide insight in 1) how the present-day cultural palimpsest landscape developed, and 2) how the use and management of the floodplains evolved through time. An interdisciplinary approach is used to unravel the complex and multi-layered history of these floodplainscapes, integrating research topics and methods from geography, archaeology and history.

Chronologically the research has been split up in three interdisciplinary PhD’s, in which this PhD focusses on the period 800 BC-1000 AD. Prior research has identified human impact as the main driving force of morphological and ecological change in floodplains. Its progression throughout the Middle and Late Holocene can be characterised as non-linear, ranging from rapid increases to periods of regeneration. How this relates to the human activities involved is the subject of ongoing research and will form the main topic of this PhD. For the period at hand human impact can be considered largely of an indirect nature. Therefore human activities are studied across the entire catchment area and not solely in the floodplains themselves.

A variety of archaeological and historical sources is studied and integrated on a large spatial and temporal scale. This facilitates integration with data collected through geomorphic field work and environmental studies. Set against a back-drop of climatological and socio-political developments taking place on a supra-regional scale, the aim is to identify the complex set of factors that trigger changes in human-environment interactions throughout the Iron Age, Roman and Early Medieval Period. For now, major components are considered to be settlement patterns, agricultural practices and artisanal activities. At a later stage these will be studied in greater detail through several case studies, to come to a high-resolution understanding of the processes taking place on a local scale.