Methodische und konzeptionelle Weiterentwicklungen in der ...

Wüstungsforschung als Prozeß- und Regressionsforschung 3 5
(reduction, extensification, desertion etc .), which take place in cultural landscape,
land use and settlements .
Evidence for total, partial and temporarily abandoned sites or land in designated
areas within a regional study (case studies) forms the basis for general and
theoretical approaches to the study of regressive processes in cultural landscapes .
Larger and widely separated areas can also be studied in this manner, in order to
highlight regional differences in the processes involved in the extensification of
land use and the desertion of settlement sites .
Examining the dynamic processes .of regression, push factors (local forces
which cause a decline) are to be distinguished from pull factors (progressive,
attractive and attracting forces which act from outside) . Phases of regressive
processes - the catalysts, the climax and the final consequences are all general
categories of the approach, which have to be passed by any decline in a cultural
landscape . And these stages of processes have to be reconstructed in detail .
The precise dating or chronology of evidence is a precondition for this research,
precision which can be obtained through the detailed evaluation of sources
and through the employment of widely separated regional archaeological
data. The quality and degree of regression are the criteria which have to be
investigated in detail . For earlier periods of course, sources to complete such
research are often inadequate . Regression and desertion of settlements and land
use may also often be affected by changes in settlement patterns or settlement
systems, as a consequence of the shifting of settlements, the transformation of
settlements, or the concentration of settlements or population . These processes
played an important role in various areas of Central Europe during the Middle
Ages .
Research on regressions and processes of decline is especially important in
studying the edges of settled areas of the hemisphere (high mountains, Scandinavia
etc.), which were the scene of frequent expansion and regression, depending
on climatic, economic and political conditions .
Finally, the study of regressive processes must include an analysis of consequences
and ensuing developments which arise as a result of regression and desertion
(subsequent land use, persistence of rights and ownership, local traditions
etc .) . The approach concentrates traditional historical geographical deserted village
research to focus on regressive processes acting in the cultural landscape,
going beyond the physical setting and heading for an explanation of the crucial
factors behind regressions in settlement and land use .