Spanish Landscapes in the Middle Ages: Reconstructing Territorial Memory from Early Documents and Cartography –A GIS-Based Methodology

Abstract

The gradual disappearance of traditional ways of life in the countryside is changing the historical relationship between rural inhabitants and their environment. As a consequence, the reconstruction of historical landscapes and territories plays an important role in historical memory. Toponyms are now considered an essential means of constructing community identities, because they refer to old uses and infrastructures, as well as to historical landmarks. Following the clues left behind by toponyms, old landscapes emerge from the past and endow the present ones with new meanings. The main goal of our project has been to preserve, protect, and disseminate this essential cultural heritage, which might otherwise sink into oblivion under the weight of the recent sweeping transformations wrought on the countryside by urban development and land use planning. To this end, we have developed an Open GIS-based tool that can be applied worldwide and which falls within the framework of European Union policies to promote free multilingual digital access to Europe's cultural heritage. This tool will provide free information on toponyms, helping to reconstruct historical territories and landscapes.