Open Access

A Spatial Model of Forest Area in the Middle Ages Based on Historical, Archaeological and Geographic Data: A Case Study of 13th-Century Chełmno Land (North-Central Poland)

Paweł Molewski
Paweł Molewski
   | Jul 16, 2022
Quaestiones Geographicae's Cover Image
About this article
Previous Article
Next Article
Cite
Published Online: Jul 16, 2022
Page range: 53 - 74
Received: Mar 03, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/quageo-2022-0025
Keywords
© 2022 Paweł Molewski, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Fig. 1

Location of the research area in the background territory of the State of the Teutonic Order in the 14th century based on Czaja (2000).
Location of the research area in the background territory of the State of the Teutonic Order in the 14th century based on Czaja (2000).

Fig. 2

Physical map of Chełmno Land.
Physical map of Chełmno Land.

Fig. 3

Geomorphological map based on Molewski and Weckwerth (2017).
Geomorphological map based on Molewski and Weckwerth (2017).

Fig. 4

Relative altitude map.
Relative altitude map.

Fig. 5

Soil map based on Bednarek et al. (2015).
Soil map based on Bednarek et al. (2015).

Fig. 6

Deforested areas around settlements in the eastern part of Chełmno Land on the Schrötter map from 1802.
Deforested areas around settlements in the eastern part of Chełmno Land on the Schrötter map from 1802.

Fig. 7

Hypothetical extent of lands used for farming.
Hypothetical extent of lands used for farming.

Fig. 8

Density of archaeological sites.
Density of archaeological sites.

Fig. 9

Extent of forests: modern day (based on the Data of Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, Poland), the late 18th century (based on the Schrötter map from 1802) and wetlands (based on the Schrötter map from 1802 and the Map of Polish Wetlands (IMUZ 2020)).
Extent of forests: modern day (based on the Data of Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, Poland), the late 18th century (based on the Schrötter map from 1802) and wetlands (based on the Schrötter map from 1802 and the Map of Polish Wetlands (IMUZ 2020)).

Fig. 10

SAGA Wetness Index.
SAGA Wetness Index.

Fig. 11

Spatial model of forest area occurrence in Chełmno Land in the 13th century.
Spatial model of forest area occurrence in Chełmno Land in the 13th century.

Fig. 12

Variants of the hypothetical forest area of Chełmno Land in the 13th century.
Variants of the hypothetical forest area of Chełmno Land in the 13th century.

Criteria of potential forest area of the research area.

Criterion Attribute values A Ranking of criteria Weighting w
Extent of forests on the Schrötter map 1 1 0.33
Extent of wetlands based on the Schrötter map and maps of Polish wetlands 1 2 0.27
Extent of modern forests 1 3 0.20
Wetness index (SAGA WI) 1 4 0.13
Relative altitudes 1 5 0.07
Sum: 1.00
Hypothetical extent of agricultural land −1 1 0.50
Soils favourable to agriculture −1 2 0.33
Density of archaeological sites −1 3 0.17
Sum: 1.00

Variants of the hypothetical forest area in 13th-century Chełmno Land.

Grade of classification as forest area Surface Share in the area Variant A sum Variant B sum
[km2] [%]
8 77 3 16 28
7 119 4
6 238 9
5 329 12 22
4 276 10 72
3 507 18 62
2 379 14
1 840 30
eISSN:
2081-6383
Language:
English
Publication timeframe:
4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Geosciences, Geography
Journal RSS Feed