Mapping Lost Woodland. An Attempt to Use the Spatial Distribution of Woodland-Related Place Names as a Proxy for Localizing Woodland in the Middle Ages

Abstract

After many centuries, much of Europe is now largely deforested. Today, plans for reforestation are ongoing. These plans have the potential to significantly impact the landscape. As a contribution to the current debate on large-scale reforestation in the Netherlands, we have tried to conduct a quick and overall scan to determine whether the spatial distribution of woodland-related place names can have an evidential value for locating surviving woodland in the high and late Middle Ages (AD 1000–1500). To do so, we have made extensive use of digital data sets and existing inventories (place names, field names, historical maps, charcoal production sites, ancient woodland, ancient woodland indicator plants). Two different indicative distribution maps (period maps) were produced and tested: period map 1 (AD 750–1350), based on woodland-related place names, and period map 2 (AD 1250–1650), based on historical woodland references. Results suggest that although the spatial reconstructions produced are biased due to multiple factors, pre-1500 place names in combination with historical woodland references and other woodland proxies can indeed be used to quickly and roughly reconstruct the distribution of woodland and even of specific historical woodland types. A precondition is the availability of existing inventories and digital data sets.