From environment to landscape. Reconstructing environment perception using numerical data

Popa, C.N.; Knitter, D. (2015)

Article / Letter to editor

The paper introduces a method that links environment to landscape. The
environment-landscape divide appears because of epistemological differences:
since studying the landscape involves describing the world as it was perceived
by humans, it is difficult to access this dimension through the numerical data that
we employ when studying the environment. We approach the issue of noncorrespondence
between environment and landscape knowledge using fuzzy logic.
The numerical data describing two geomorphometric parameters, slope and
modified topographic index, are split each into three classes with overlapping
borders. The classes are then fused into four qualitative categories: flat wet, steep
dry, flat dry, and gradual moist. These four categories have direct correspondence
in the real world and can be observed by people through simple perception. The
correspondence of such categories to peoples’ perception is checked against
evidence of past human settlement in three areas coming from Turkey, Serbia,
and Syria. The identified qualitative categories resemble the way people
categorized their landscape in all but the second case study. Humans were able
to perceive and choose areas which correspond to gradual moist in Turkey and
broadly to flat

• landscape
• environment
• perception
• fuzzy logic
• statistical modelling

• All authors: Popa, C.N.; Knitter, D.
• Date: 2015
• Journal: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
• Advanced Publication: Yes
• DOI: doi:10.1007/s10816-015-9264-9