History in Points, Lines and Polygons: Time Depth in the Landscape of Guangdong Province, Southern China

Ying Pan, Jiayu Bai and Sam Turner ()
Additional contact information
Ying Pan: School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Jiayu Bai: School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
Sam Turner: School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Change and persistence are often richly entangled facets of landscapes. While many studies use land use/land cover (depicted as polygons) to illustrate landscape evolution, this paper draws on approaches from landscape archaeology to investigate how lines and points can also be used to examine landscape morphologies. The study uses three distinct spatial elements: points (graves), lines (field boundaries), and polygons (land use) to represent landscape transformations and reflect time depth in the landscape. The paper aims to identify the most enduring landscape elements within the region and uncover the underlying mechanisms of persistence. It is suggested that the time depth exhibited in field boundaries surpasses that of land use in this case. Field boundaries provide a useful way to examine agricultural intensification, whereas land use is more sensitive to agricultural commercialization and urbanization. In addition, the Chinese Feng Shui funeral culture emerges as a stabilizing force that encourages landscape persistence. This cultural driver ensures the persistence of field patterns surrounding graves, making these fields the most ancient plots within the study area. In conclusion, representing the time depth of landscapes through linear features and points can serve as an important supplement to the study of landscape change based on land use.

Keywords: feng shui; field boundaries; graves; historic landscape character; landscape change; landscape persistence; land use; time depth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/1979/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/11/1979/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:11:p:1979-:d:1268139

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().