Digital publication explores the thousand-year history of the heath
On 5 February, the publication A Place for the Heathlands? A publication that, through interdisciplinary contributions from archaeology, history, ecology and artistic research, delves into the thousand-year history of the heath. Based on five years of research in the European project HEATHLANDS , the publication explores how humans, animals and environments have mutually influenced each other in the heathlands throughout history.
The heaths broke out in Northern Europe more than 5000 years ago as the first agricultural communities began to cut down and burn forests. Cultivation allowed the heather plant to spread extensively. Since then, the moorland landscapes have played a significant role for humans and animals throughout history.
A new publication collects and disseminates the results of the European research project HEATHLANDS, which through five years of work has investigated the complex ecological, cultural and historical significance of the heath. Through interdisciplinary contributions ranging from archaeology, history, and ecology to artistic research and practice, the digital publication explores how humans, animals, and environments have shaped and been shaped by these landscapes over time.
The publication also contributes new perspectives to current agendas such as the green transition and nature management by questioning whether there is still room for heath in a time characterized by modern agriculture and climate change.
"The long history of the heath hides a number of thought-provoking insights about the relationship between man and nature, which shake the romantic and somewhat static image many have. With the dynamic digital publication form, we instead want to highlight the role of the heath as a living and changing landscape that has shaped and inspired human understanding and practice and continues to do so today," says project manager Mette Løvschal.
Free available publication and international conference
The publication is published in collaboration with the Jutland Archaeological Society and will be freely available to everyone at www.heathland.place
The publication is published on the same day as the opening of the conference of the same title (A Place for the Heathlands?). More than 90 researchers from Denmark and abroad are participating.
About the project
The Heath Project (ANTHEA) is funded by the European Research Council. The project is hosted by Aarhus University and will run for a period of five years, starting in 2020. The project covers the period 2800 f.Kr to 1000 e.Kr with a special focus on the earliest spread of the heath and how this landscape type survives through millennia.
https://projects.au.dk/anthropogenic-heathlands/
Contact
Mette Løvschal, Professor of Archaeology
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies
School of Culture and Society
Aarhus University and Moesgaard
Mail: lovschal@cas.au.dk
Mobile: 2288 9205/ 2225 3395