Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
A third approach investigates changes through time in a particular
phenomenon or a whole landscape (a 'time sequence'). Here we
may use the example of the history of the Norse settlements in
Greenland, which was colonized from Iceland around
AD
985 and
lasted for some 500 years. The Western Settlement lasted until the
mid-14th century whereas the people of the Eastern Settlement
died out towards the end of the 15th century. The decline
coincided with the 'Little Ice Age', and it is an intriguing question
as to whether there was a causal relationship. Climatic conditions
certainly deteriorated: the graves of those who died were
subsequently entombed in permafrost that only thawed in the
20th century. Crop failures would have increased in frequency as
climate deteriorated, and connections to the outside world by ship
were made more diffi cult by the extension of sea ice. However, the
precise causes have yet to be established. Other factors that have
been implicated include: overpopulation, soil degradation, and
erosion leading to decreasing yields; the inability of the settlers
to change their cultural values and lifestyle and thereby adapt to
changing conditions; confl ict with the native Inuit population
whose economy was based on the marine ecosystem and was more
sustainable; congenital infertility in an in-breeding population;
and declining trade with Europe.
Like regional geography, historical geography has diversifi ed
considerably from merely providing a descriptive catalogue of
historical change. Close relationships with history remain and
there is a sense in which all geography is historical geography.
Most human activities and natural phenomena that occur on
the Earth's surface are of potential interest to modern historical
geographers. In focusing on natural environmental change and
the evolution of the natural landscape, physical geographers
who investigate the historical dimension have largely done this
without reference to historical geography. The recent tendency
has been for cultural geographers to dominate historical
geography with an emphasis on the different ways that places
and landscapes can be shaped and experienced by people
