Contenu du sommaire : Archéogéographie et disciplines voisines

Robin Brigand, Roman centuriation in the Brenta alluvial plain (Venetia). In the second half of the 19th century and (more specifically) in the first half of the 20th century, the materiality of centuriations in the plain of Venice was measured using vertical photography and medium-scale topographic mapping. The discourse surrounding this issue was thus shaped by a geohistorical perspective that incorporated the broader context of romanization and the agrarian question in Roman Antiquity. Recent findings in archaeogeography, geoarchaeology and preventive archaeology in France and Italy suggest that the nature of this key aspect of agrarian history needs to be re-examined. In examining the Brenta alluvial plain, the issue is not to seek for an original form but to understand the social and environmental factors contributing to the construction of centuriated landscapes.

Magali Watteaux, Medieval agricultural colonization in Alentejo (Portugal). This paper examines the morphology of agrarian planned parcels of land in the Middle Ages, focusing on the case of Alentejo in southern Portugal. In Alentejo, history offers an ideal context for the analysis of agrarian morphology on account of the Reconquista and the process of Repoblación. Historians have extensively studied the phenomenon of allocation and redistribution of land parcels in the context of agrarian colonization. However, the resulting forms of land parcels have yet to be studied. Exploring three research avenues – historical, epistemological and archaeogeographical – the paper demonstrates the potential of this subject and promotes greater recognition of the importance of the morphology of agricultural land planning in the Middle Ages in a country where this issue has so far been largely ignored.

Marie-Pierre Buscail, The royal domain: between territories and networks
The royal domain (or crown estate) is a major feature of French medieval history. The purpose of this study is to re-examine the royal domain from a spatial perspective. The paper begins by examining the potentially distorting effects of the context in which the object emerged in the late 19th century, before focusing on an archeogeographical analysis of an exceptional document: the 1332 prisée (or land evaluation) in Gâtinais. The notion of multiple and simultaneous seisin is essential for understanding the nature of the social and land relationships between the King and others in society. The royal domain can thus be viewed as a complex social space that changed radically in the 14th century as a result of centralization (a process that occurred at different levels and to varying degrees). This paper posits that crown lands were organized as networks of interconnected social-land networks. Several logics are at work in this process, illustrating the balancing act of the monarchy and the emergence of network leaders and local taxation authorities.

Ricardo González Villaescusa and Thomas Jacquemin, Gallia Belgica: an object unclaimed by any nation
This paper begins with some thoughts on a puzzling fact: no French, Belgian or German scholar has so far provided a synthesis of Gallia Belgica. This can be explained by the fact that the historical memory of this ancient territory is shared by several countries – a fact that has prevented the emergence of a specifically national perspective on this issue. This incommensurability of perspectives and descriptions was in fact already apparent in Antiquity, and was later used by Renaissance scholars, who saw the coexistence of different ancient geographies as a way of legitimizing the reality of their times. In this sense, the current spatial or territorial construction of Belgium is neither more nor less “natural” than any other national territory. However, a detailed examination of this issue reveals the extent to which the processes of national construction in the 19th and 20th centuries shaped the direction of research on Gallia Belgica according to the national origins of scholars.

Nicolas Verdier and Marie-Vic Ozouf-Marignier, Constituencies and transport networks: a blind spot in historical geography. This paper examines two aspects of the relation to space and territory: networks and grids. Over the past one hundred and fifty years, historiography has focused either on constituencies or on means of communication and transport, but has largely overlooked the relationship between the two. A detailed examination of historical practices reveals that the introduction of the planimetry of districts (between 1680 and 1850 in the case of France) coincided with the construction of both objects. Based on several case studies at the level of cantons, the findings suggest that there are a number of significant links between district boundaries and means of transport. This raises the question of common or separate histories (or temporalities) and the importance of mapping and planimetrics conceived as the combination or association of different objects in the 18th century.

Sam Turner, Landscapes and relationships: archaeology, geography, archaeogeography
In this short article the author examines recent developments in landscape archaeology. Having been involved in developing the method known as “Historic Landscape Characterisation” (HLC) in the UK, he argues that the theoretical perspectives of archaeogeography have much to offer modern landscape archaeologies. As a consequence of such engagements, new opportunities are opening for archaeologists to put their discipline back at the heart of debates about the environment and society in the present and the future. This marks a notable change in comparison to earlier decades.

Anne-Sophie Clémençon, The “îlot du lac”: between archaeogeography and the history of urban forms. Based on a detailed examination of the “îlot du lac”, located on the left bank of the River Rhône in Lyon, this paper has two main objectives. Over the course of the past three hundred years, this originally rural island has been incorporated, like many others of its kind, into an urban landscape. The aim will be to probe deeper into various aspects of the “making of the ordinary city”. What happens on îlots when the road network is the only rigorously planned feature of urban development, while everything else is subject to uncontrolled urbanization? What is the impact of land management on land morphology, particularly in relation to the complex problem of land rent (a more common issue than is often assumed)? The second objective is to evaluate the potential contribution of “the history of urban forms” to archaeological research. Ultimately, the aim is to assess the validity of knowledge transfers by comparing the two methods.

Salvador Juan, Local actors and the challenge of climate change. The case of the Normandy coast
Based on interviews conducted among elected officials and local actors, this study examines the conflict between the proponents of “coastal protection” and those in favour of a “strategic retreat” from the coast. While the former emphasize immediate requirements (in particular economic requirements) by contrast with the natural elements, the latter have generally taken a more global long-term view of the issue, based on an anthropomorphic conception of nature. The advocates of coastal protection generally refuse to consider major trends and to anticipate or predict the future, while emphasizing the knowledge of local people. By contrast, their opponents emphasize the need to adapt and to stand back from local issues and challenges. After examining this conflict, the paper considers the sociopolitical issues raised by the adaptation to climate change.

Anton Serdeczny, The stork's beak. Deciphering the legacy of a myth
The purpose of this paper is to uncover the (sometimes lost) meanings contained in the myth of the Alsace stork conceived as a psychopomp. If it is assumed that the boundaries between different cultural registers can be porous or permeable, a whole system of representations founded on an inverted (or “upside down”) structure can be reconstructed using scholarly texts of the modern era: storks hibernate under water, in an inverted world, a world “beyond” whence the souls of newborns are said to originate. Inversion and the symbolism of rebirth are combined with a close association between the beak of the stork and its rump, an example of the carnivalesque. An interpretation of the myth reveals the ambivalent attitude of Enlightenment thinkers towards popular culture, a locus of identity construction and conflict that is still operative today. This attitude is based on a rejection and mutilation of popular culture combined with a renewed interest in myths (under the guise of science).