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Ever since the development of farming humans have been implicitly linked with the landscape. Influences include the manipulation of natural environments by woodland clearance, field developments and animal husbandry. Development can also be determined by the identification and distribution of soils developed and modified by the addition of organic and inorganic components. Anthropogenic or amended soils have been identified in many forms across north west Europe that retain distinctive physical and chemical indications of historical agrarian and settlement history. This thesis researched the on-site distribution of anthropogenic and amended soils across different landuse areas and identified and quantified a range of black carbonised particles in order to investigate their role in the soils ability to retain high elemental concentrations of manuring and elements associated with domestic activity and industrial processes. Three sites in contrasting environments were chosen for analysis; in Fair Isle, the Netherlands and Ireland on the basis of an excellent agararian and settlement history and previous analysis of anthropogenic soils. The fieldwork results showed extremly deep plaggen soils in the Netherlands but considerably shallower horizons of amended arable soils on Fair Isle and in Ireland contrary to previous analysis. There was however, clear evidence of a reduction in anthropogenic and amended soils with increased distance from the farm centres as a result of less manuring. The soil pH, organic matter, particle size, magnetic susceptibility and bulk elemental analysis results showed unexpected increases in the amended soils of Fair Isle and Ireland and reflected a similar manuring process. In the Netherlands the deep plaggen soils had very low results reflecting modern arable farming. The micromorphology results illustrated distinctive characteristics associated with localised manuring techniques. On Fair Isle and in Ireland the main organic manuring material was peat and burnt peat, whereas in the Netherlands the plaggen soils were predominantly composed of meadowland and heathland turf. At all three sites there was a large number of black carbonised and black amorphous inclusions and point counting and image analysis results showed a decrease with depth and distance from settlement nucleii mirroring the fieldwork observations. The elemental analysis conducted has proved to be an extremly useful tool for the identification of various forms of black carbon and for identifying the provenance of high elemental concentrations. The oxygen:carbon ratios confirmed the origins of organic components used in the development of the amended and anthropogenic soils and the elemental analysis showed that at each site over 80% of visually unidentifiable amorphous black carbon particles were heavily decomposed carbonised inclusions. Overall the elemental concentrations within the black carbonised particles was very low but this reflected the elemental results found in the bulk soils and the inclusions contained higher concentrations of P, Ca, K, Fe and Al and considerably lower concentrations of elements associated with domestic activity or industry Zn, Cu, Ba, Cr, As and Pb.

A possible relationship between the form and function of medieval or later field systems in Scotland is tested using soil micromorphology and quantitative analysis techniques. Existing survey data is used to develop a classification system of six medieval or later field systems in Scotland. The topsoils of two abandoned field systems are sampled from field units representing the range of field classes identified during the field system classification of each site. Soil micromorphology is used to identify existing micromorphological evidence of past anthropogenic influences in these soils. Two methods of soil thin section description are employed using a specially devised coding method to increase the speed of soil thin section description; Level 1 description records a single entry per slide for 32 micromorphological parameters, Level 2 uses a 1cm2 grid system over each slide to record an entry for alternate gridsquares for 15 micromorphological parameters. The soil micromorphological results are quantitatively analysed using HCA and non-parametric statistical tests to test for a possible relationship between the form and function of the field units within each field system. The results indicate that automated image analysis and quantitative analysis techniques can be successfully applied to existing data to produce classification maps for medieval or later field systems which reflect the morphology of the different units but current methods of recording field systems needs to be more detailed and comprehensive before a functional classification can be produced. The Level 1 method of soil micromorphological description provides an efficient and accurate method of describing a large number of slides. No relationship between the form and function of the field units within each system was found using the available survey data and soil micromorphological evidence. The identified micromorphological evidence for past anthropogenic activity is associated with manuring practises rather than cultivation techniques.

Through agriculture, humans have an intimate relationship to the land. Agriculture provides people with a link to the fertility of the earth in the production of resources for food, clothing and shelter. However, despite the fundamental dependence of humans on the earth’s fertility, people throughout history have transformed and degraded the natural landscapes of their agricultural lands. Continuation of this degradation will threaten the land’s ability to sustain the world’s increasing human populations. / This thesis investigates how agriculturalists might use the land without degrading it. The investigation focuses on the nature of the human-land relationship and begins with an examination of myth as an expression of the human relationship to the cosmos, including to the gods and the earth. Jungian psychology is examined for its explanation of symbolic perception and psychological attitude. Theological views on the human relationship to God are examined. These examinations of myth, psychology and theology identify two fundamental motifs in human thought about relationship to the cosmos: the Eros motif which derives from an egocentric attitude, and is associated with domination of nature; and the Agape motif which derives from the physically reintegrated attitude, and is associated with creativity through the development of fertility. The examination of background theory is followed by motif-analysis of theories of the human-land relationship, and of two case studies - the historical development of agriculture in Australia, and a comparative study of soil conservation and keyline farming. The analyses indicate that most theory and practice of agriculture is conducted with the Eros motif which leads to land degradation and responsive attempts at remedial actions. In contrast, keyline farming is indicative of the Agape motif in its development of the natural fertility of the land. / The thesis concludes that the humanised landscapes of the world follow symbolic patterns generated by psychological attitudes. The egocentric attitude leads to human domination of the land and its degradation through the transformation and simplification of the land’s ecological structure, and the superimposition of centralised settlement patterns which are often incompatible with the natural systems. Alternatively, people with the reintegrated attitude would nurture the land’s natural fertility through the integration of land utilisation and settlement patterns with the landscapes’ natural configurations and processes. Western thought is dominated by the Eros motif, inherited through religious mythology and perpetuated through Western education based on rationalism, reductionism and induction. This ethos tends to divorce humans from psychical and physical nature, and leads to a fragmentary and distorted view of the world. Education is necessary to bring the Agape motif into the consciousness of people and societies. People might then recognise and experience their direct relationship to the world and to have a creative relationship to the land.

This is a work of local history examining the course of Reconstruction in Collin County, Texas. National and state level surveys of Reconstruction often overlook the experiences of communities in favor of simpler, broader narratives. The work proceeds chronologically, beginning with the close of the Civil War, and tells the story of Collin County as national Reconstruction progressed and relies on works of professional and non-academic historians, oral histories, census data, and newspapers to present a coherent picture of local life, work, and politics. The results exemplify the value of local history, as local conditions influenced the course of events in Collin County as much as those in Austin and Washington D.C. The story of Reconstruction in Collin County is one of anomalous political views resulting from geographical exclusion from the cotton culture of Texas followed by a steady convergence. As Reconstruction progressed, Collin County began to show solidarity with more solidly conservative Texas Counties. The arrival of railroads allowed farmers to move from subsistence agriculture to cash crop production. This further altered local attitudes toward government, labor, voting rights, and education for Freedmen. By the end of Reconstruction, Collin County had all but abandoned their contrarian social and political views of the 1850s and 1860s in favor of limited rights for blacks and Redemption. The results show the importance of local history and how Collin County’s Reconstruction experience enriches and deepens how historians view the years after the Civil War. The author recommends further research of this kind to supplement broader syntheses.

LD2668 .T4 1947 O9 / Master of Science

Diss. Stockholm : Univ., 2004.

Diss. Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2000. / Även utg. som: Skogs- och lantbrukshistoriska meddelanden ; 23.

Orientadores: Maria Margaret Lopes, Léa Maria Leme Strini Velho / Tese ( doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T21:06:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bediaga_Begonha_D.pdf: 6758904 bytes, checksum: 5d19956f3edabe6c64693da4452e6197 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Analisa-se na tese a trajetória do Imperial Instituto Fluminense de Agricultura (IIFA), instituição de caráter privado criada por membros do Estado, proprietários rurais e homens das ciências. O Instituto tinha como objetivo o melhoramento da agricultura no Brasil, com propostas de mudanças na rotina da lavoura, de incorporação de princípios científicos e de introdução de máquinas e instrumentos agrícolas nas atividades rurais. Os homens das ciências vinculados ao IIFA buscavam o 'ideal de progresso de país civilizado' e empenhavam-se na 'missão' de convencer o lavrador a adotar uma agricultura baseada em princípios das ciências. Constituíam o IIFA: o Jardim Botânico da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, que adicionou à sua atribuição anterior de pesquisa e espaço de lazer a função de produzir mudas e sementes em grande escala e distribuí-las aos agricultores; a Fazenda Normal, que funcionava como espaço para a prática de experimentações tecnocientíficas; e o Asilo Agrícola, que acolhia órfãos desvalidos oriundos da Santa Casa de Misericórdia e ensinava-lhes o ofício da lavoura e as primeiras letras. O IIFA publicou, durante 22 anos ininterruptos, a Revista Agrícola, de periodicidade trimestral, destinada à divulgação de temas relacionados com as atividades da lavoura, com vistas a melhorar e aumentar a produção agrícola. Na tese, mostra-se que o Instituto serviu de lócus de institucionalização de áreas científicas relacionadas à agricultura, como química agrícola, silvicultura, pedologia, meteorologia agrícola, fitopatologia e zootecnia, até que elas constituíssem seus próprios espaços científicos / Abstract: This thesis analyses the trajectory of the Imperial Instituto Fluminense de Agricultura (IIFA), a private institution founded by State officials, landowners and "men of sciences". The Institute's main goal was to improve agricultural production in Brazil, through changes in farming practices, adoption of new equipment and the introduction of scientific principles into the rural activities. The men of sciences linked to IIFA aimed at the 'ideal of progress of civilized countries' and, took as their 'mission' to convince farmers to adopt a science-based agriculture. IIFA was constitute by: the Jardim Botânico [Botanical Garden] da Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, which besides being a leisure area, was also responsible for the production of seedling and seeds in large scale to be distributed to farmers; the Fazenda Normal, a farm with the purpose of serving as grounds to the practice of technical and scientific experimentation; and the Asilo Agrícola [Agricultural Asylum], a foster home that sheltered orphans from the Santa Casa da Misericórdia and taught them reading and writing and the profession of farming. IIFA issued the Revista Agricola [Agricultural Journal] consistently for 22 years. The three-monthly magazine aimed at spreading farming-related themes, with a view to improving and raising agricultural production. The thesis shows that the Institute served as a locus for institutionalizing the scientific fields related to Agriculture in Brazil, such as Agricultural Chemistry, Forestry, Pedology, Agricultural Meteorology, Phytopatology and Animal Husbandry, to the point they could conquer their own spaces / Doutorado / Ensino e Historia de Ciencias da Terra / Doutor em Ciências