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7/30/2019 The Use of Historical Data and Artifacts in Geomorphology
1/28
Progress in Physical Geography 32(1) (2008) pp. 329
2008 SAGE Publications DOI: 10.1177/0309133308089495
The use of historical data and artifacts
in geomorphology
Stanley W. Trimble*
Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles,
CA 90024-1524, USA
Abstract: Historical data and artifacts, as commonly used in historical geography, can provide
powerful tools for dating geomorphological processes over the past century or more and applicationscan range from months to millennia. Investigations in geomorphology and environmental
management can be greatly enhanced by the use of historical techniques. The approach is useful for
tracing human-induced changes as well as for those occurring naturally. Several primary techniques
are introduced in this essay.
Key words: historical articrafts, historical data, historical techniques, histriography.
*Email: [email protected]
I Introduction
Although commonly used in cultural-historical
geography, historical data and techniques are
becoming increasingly important in ascer-taining changes of the physical environment.
This importance stems from the fact that
(1) understanding processes in historical
time gives important insights to processes
in geologic time and (2) the knowledge of
processes and trends of the past century
or so allows more effective environmental
management.
New impetus to this trend has been given
by the question that increasingly faces
stream and wetland restoration: restore towhat? For example, a large Georgia swamp
pronounced by authorities as primeval was
shown to have been prime agricultural land
in the nineteenth century which had been
transformed to swamp by human action
(Trimble, 1970a). On the other hand, some
Australian lakes and rivers commonly thoughtto have been radically transformed by human
action were shown to have changed relatively
little and those changes may have had more
natural than human causation (Finlayson,
1984; Finlayson and Brizga, 1995).
An earlier overview and keen critique and
analysis of the historical approach is given
by the outstanding work of Hooke and Kain
(1982), especially the use of British sources,
and is required reading for anyone using
historical data. Historical data as used here(and in most other papers cited) primarily
concern cultural data and artifacts. While
more natural or scientific dating methods
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4 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
such as dendrochronology, anthropogenic
pedogenesis, stratigraphy, and isotopic
dating are touched on, full coverage is not
appropriate.
Among the first to use historical data in
geomorphology was George Perkins Marsh
(1864). While usually most appropriate tothe last few centuries, data and landscape
artifacts from classical civilizations were used
by Vita-Finzi (1969) to date stream processes
over a much longer period, a timescale per-
haps archaeological rather than historical.
While historical data are most often used to
study human-induced geomorphic changes,
they sometimes may be used to measure
changes that may be occurring quite natur-
ally (Schmudde, 1963; Alexander and
Nunnally, 1972). Indeed, some of the mostscholarly, not to mention most fascinating,
works of thisgenre are those by Parry (1978),and especially by Grove (1966; 1972; 1988).
For the United States, a timescale of
about three centuries, Trimble and Cooke
(1991) have amassed and critiqued historical
data sources for geomorphic change. But
a much broader and comprehensive eco-
system approach is that of Egan and Howell
(2001). This fuller environmental scale is
used by Whitney (1995) in a magisterialwork that may be the most comprehensive
and compelling use of historical data yet.
Conzen et al. (1993) have regionally cata-logued studies of the historical geography
of the USA and Canada. Such source lists
and bibliographies for other regions would
be most useful.
For Britain, a delightful and instructive
volume edited by Higgitt and Lee (2001)
not only encapsulates geomorphological
changes AD 10002000, but also implicitlyincludes many techniques covered in this
paper. Essays are by D. Brunsden, D. Jones,
B. Rumsby, J. Hooke, E. Lee, D. Higgitt, J.
Warburton, M. Evans and I. Foster.
II Some basic techniques
While it is possible to identify some gen-
eral principles of using historical data, it is
impossible to give clinical directions on their
use because every application is different.
Instead, this essay presents some applica-
tions of historical data and analysis to the
study of geomorphological forms and pro-
cesses. Several specific approaches or
techniques are presented with examples.The reader is also directed to Thornes and
Brunsden (1977), Gregory (1979; 1987),
Hooke and Kain (1982), Grove (1988), Cooke
and Doornkamp (1990), Trimble and Cooke
(1991), Trimble (1998; 2001), Collins and
Montgomery (2001), Vita-Finzi (2002),
Brown et al. (2003), Gurnell et al. (2003) andreferences given therein. An examination
of examples and the sources themselves
can often give insight and inspiration for
a particular application and that is the ap-proach of this paper.
For this review, most emphasis will be
placed on geomorphic effects (form and
process), but two sections (climate and land
use) deal with causes. It is, however, important
to note that effects in one place may act as
causes elsewhere. The organization herein
loosely follows that adopted by Trimble and
Cooke (1991).
1 Instrumented topographic surveysWhile not available for many locations,
topographic surveys are often the best base-
line data to be obtained. Costa (1978), for
example, was able to reconstruct bankfull
discharge back to 1858 for a stream in
Denver, Colorado. When available, data
reposited in the Vigil Network are extremely
useful because they are developed by geo-
morphologists and are designed for restudy
(Leopold and Emmett, 1965; Emmett and
Hadley, 1968; Emmett, 1974; Osterkampet al., 1990). For the USA, it is hard to over-emphasize the utility of detailed topographic
surveys by the US Army Corps of Engineers
(COE) on many US streams over the last cen-
tury or so. Longitudinal and cross-sectional
profiles by COE were essential to Adler
(1980) and James (1989) who studied the
movement of erosional debris from hydraulic
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 5
mining in California. Also in California,
Kondolf and Curry (1986) used COE pro-
files to show channel migration, while
Kesel et al. (1992) used them to establish asediment budget for the lower Mississippi
River. Carson (2003) used detailed COE
topographic surveys of the upper MississippiRiver floodplains to show that inundation
from low navigation dams actually enhanced
fluvial processes on the old floodplains. At
a much more local (brook) scale, Federico
(2003) used detailed COE maps to measure
channel erosion resulting from urbanization
in southern California.
Detailed maps are sometimes available in
unexpected times and places and may show
unexpected details. In Russia, Golosov and
Panin (2006) used a series of maps from the1780s to show how stream networks had
shrunk in response to climate and land-use
changes. In Poland, Zygmunt (2003) was
able to demonstrate the narrowing of a
stream over a 270-year period.
Brizga and Finlayson (1994) used a series
of nine profiles surveyed by an Australian
agency between 1920 and 1988 to discount
sustained channel change on the lower Snowy
River, while Thoms and Walker (1992) used a
government survey of the lower Murray Riveras a baseline for determining the effects of
a weir system. Detailed nineteenth-century
surveys of European rivers allow compre-
hensive planning for restoration (eg, Kern,
1992). Assani and Petit (2004) used a series
of precise surveys to show the downstream
effects of a reservoir in Belgium, while
Thomaset al. (2004) found archived baselinestudies of a gully in Iowa and were able to
precisely show subsequent changes. Piegey
et al. (2004) used surveys of the Rhone Riverdating from 1835 to document later changes
of channel form. In using topographic sur-
veys, one should always check to see if level
lines are closed and, if so, to what level of
precision. Measuring vertical increments of
centimetres across a broad floodplain may
be inaccurate unless 3rd- or 4th- order survey
standards are maintained and many older
transits or theodolites were not capable of
that precision.
Coastlines have been mapped to increas-
ingly precise standards over the past two
to three centuries (Carr, 1980). Such surveys
have been used to excellent advantage
to measure estuar ine sedimentat ion(Gottschalk, 1945; Figure 1), coastal erosion
(Dolan and Bosserman, 1972; Figure 2),
shoreline evolution (Robinson, 1966; El-
Ashry and Wanless, 1968; Engstrom, 2006),
long-term harbour changes (Robinson,
1955; Bird, 1987) and growth of a delta
(Ren, 1985). Detailed harbour plans date
from 1800 in the UK (Hooke and Kain, 1982)
and the mid-nineteenth century in the USA
(Trimble and Cooke, 1991).
Older stage-discharge rating records forstream gauging stations can be indispensable.
For the United States, some of these were
begun in the nineteenth century and were
sometimes revised frequently. Each succes-
sive revision entailed at least one surveyed
cross-section which may be contained in the
archival records and such series have been
used by Cooke and Reeves (1976), Williams
and Wolman (1984), James (1997), van
Steeter and Pitlick (1998), and Erskine and
Warner (1999) to study channel changes.Gauging stations sometimes include control
structures, such as weirs or flumes, which
also can be used for dating (Trimble, 1975a).
Topographic maps, although at a lower re-
solution, can be important sources. Maps and
travel accounts were used by Butzer (1971)
to document lake levels and delta growth,
18881930, in Lake Rudolf, Ethiopia. Drawn
without the benefit of aerial photography,
older topographic maps require caution but
are still valuable (Lewin, 1978; Werrittyand Ferguson, 1980; Hooke and Kain, 1982;
Hooke and Harvey, 1983; Lewis and Lewin,
1983; Lawler, 1993; Surian, 1999; Pasternack
et al., 2001; Liebault and Piegay, 2002; Pisut,2002; see Blakemore and Harley, 1980, and
Downward, 1995, for concepts of accuracy
using old topographic maps). Graf (1983a),
for example, was able to show channel
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6 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
0 150 300
Metres
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mean low water
18981924
18451898
Before 1845
Depthinmetres
Figure 1 Estuarine sedimentation sequence, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, based ondetailed topography from US Army Corps of Engineers and US Coast and GeodeticSurvey
Source: Adapted from Gottschalk (1945).
migration of the Salt River near Phoenix,
Arizona, from 1868 onward, while Madej
et al. (1994) used a large-scale topographicmap to measure bank erosion on the Merced
River in California. Erskineet al. (1992) docu-mented channel cutoffs from 1879 in SE
Australia, while Gregory and Ovende (1980)used the same approach to demonstrate in-
creases of drainage density in the Southern
Pennines. Land use in the UK from as early
as 1776 was reconstructed from Ordnance
Survey maps in order to understand erosion
and sedimentation trends (Foster et al., 1997;2000; Foster and Lees, 1999). Meandering
and channel migration since the nineteenth
century has been investigated by Sundborg
(1956), Mosley (1975), Hooke (1977; 2004),
Lewin and Brindle (1977), Hooke and Harvey(1983), Hooke and Redmond (1989) and
Surian (1999). Perhaps the longest-term
study using topographic maps is the four-
century evolution of embanked floodplains
in the Netherlands (Middelkoop, 1997). Soil
maps dating to the nineteenth century are
often at a larger scale and include many
features of interest to the geomorphologist
(Trimble, 1970a). Because the training of soil
scientists was quite similar to that of physical
geographers, the narrative of soil surveysshould also be consulted.
Studies of flooding have been published by
various governmental agencies over the past
century or more (Trimble and Cooke, 1991).
One such study was used by Cooke (1984)
to delineate flooded zones and flood deposits
for the 1914 floods in Los Angeles County
(Figure 3).
Unusual landscape features are more likely
to be documented. Hence, Niagara Falls,
New York, was surveyed several times, be-ginning in 1678, which made it feasible to
determine the recession rate (Philbrick, 1970).
US rivers were commonly given relatively
frequent and precise surveys by the US Army
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 7
RO
ANO
K EI S L A N D
0
0 .5
1 km
mi
NorthwestPoint
Fort Raleigh
OtisCove
1585
1851
1903
1970
Al b
e ma
r l eS o u n d
0 5km
Albemarle Sound
Atlantic
Ocean
Figure 2 Shoreline erosion of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. The shorelines of 1851and 1903 are from coastal surveys prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers and bythe US Coast and Geodetic Survey. The projected 1585 shoreline is extrapolated from
the average erosion rates of 18511970Source: Adapted from Dolan and Bosserman (1972).
Corps of Engineers which have been too little
utilized by geomorphologists (Trimble and
Cooke, 1991).
2 Stream and sediment discharge recordsFor the United States, stream discharge data
go back to about 1850, are quite plentiful for
this century, and most are easily available(Trimble and Cooke, 1991). Knoxet al. (1975)were able to construct the annual flood
series in the Upper Mississippi River for the
period after c. 1850 showing an ameliorationaround the turn of the century. Costa (1978)
reconstructed flood records for Denver,
Colorado, going back to 1864. Trimble et al.
(1987) used streamflow records dating
from 1900 to show that reforestation had
decreased streamflow for 10 large basins
in the southeastern USA. Potter (1991)
showed that annual floods had decreased
in southwestern Wisconsin after 1940 and
suggested that land treatment (rather than
land use) accounted for the change. Price
(1998) showed that flood regimes on theSouthern Piedmont, c. 19051975, had beenmoderated by improved land-use and con-
servation practices. Price (1998) also cor-
roborated the lag of hydrologic response
behind changes of land use earlier shown by
Trimble and Lund (1982) and Potter (1991).
Van Steeter and Pitlick (1998) demonstrated
that dams and diversions moderated the
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8 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
flood regime of the Colorado River during the
period 19171965. Wasklewicz et al. (2004)used stage records as surrogates for changesof flow characteristics on the Mississippi
River, while Juracek (2004) used gauging
station data to show changes of bed elevation
in Kansas.
In the UK, data are less plentiful than in
the USA, but have improved greatly since
about 1950 (Hooke and Kain, 1982). Using
historical techniques, the Institute of Hydro-
logy has lengthened the flood record for
Britain (Hooke and Kain, 1982). In addition, at
least two other excellent guides to historical
streamflow in the UK have appeared (Jones
et al., 1984; Sutcliffe, 1987).The USA has collected sediment discharge
data from the early twentieth century, and
both quantity and quality of sampling has
increased (Trimble and Cooke, 1991). Such
records were used by Meade and Trimble
(1974) to show the decrease of sediment
yield along the eastern seaboard of the USAbetween 1910 and 1970 as a result of (1) better
land use, and (2) reservoir construction (see
also Meade, 1982; Meade and Parker, 1985).
Trimble (1975b; 1977) compared these same
sediment yields to upland erosion rates based
on historical soil profile truncations to show
that streams were not in steady state. Hadley
(1974) showed that decreases of sediment
yield on the Colorado River 19261960 were
not related to decreases of grazing. Using
reservoir deposition rates plus unit runoff
data, Trimble and Carey (1984) demonstrated
how historical stream sediment concentra-
tions could be retrodicted. Bierman et al.(2005) used historical stream sediment
records to contrast erosion rates and sedi-
ment yields in the southwestern USA, while
Ferrier et al. (2005) did a similar study innorthern California.
Santa Monica Mtns.
San Gabrie l Mtns
San Fernando
Valley
San Gabrie l
Valley
flooded before 1914
flooded in 1914
heavily aggraded in 1914
Los
Angeles
Basin
10 km
Pacific Ocean
Figure 3 Areas of flooding and sedimentation in 1914 and areas flooded before 1914 insouthern Los Angeles County, California
Source:Original data from Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Adapted fromCooke (1984).
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 9
3 Permanent landscape featuresCommon, but permanent, landscape features
can sometimes act as gauges to measure
physical landscape change. Considered here
are: bridges; dams, mills, reservoirs, fords
and fish traps; roads, canals, causeways and
buildings.
a Bridges: Inspection of older bridges by apractised eye can often yield immediate
information about stream processes. Aggrad-
ing streams are often indicated by reduced
stream openings (Happet al., 1940; Trimble,1970b; Costa, 1978) and by the burial of
structural members (eg, wingwalls) which
are usually exposed to the stream. Degrad-
ing streams, on the other hand, can often
be diagnosed from old water lines left onstructural members, by exceptionally large
openings, and by the exposure of structural
members (eg, footings, pilings) which are
usually placed beneath the surface. The
remains of an old bridge were used by
Williams (1978) to show changes of channel
form on the North Platte River in Nebraska,
while bridges were useful in showing channel
changes in the River Severn, UK (Lewin,1979), and on the Bega River of New South
Wales (Brooks and Brierley, 1997).
Often of greater value are bridge plans,
usually obtained from governmental agen-
cies. In the USA, townships, counties and
states usually archive bridge plans. These
will usually include a stream and valley cross-
section surveyed before bridge construction
which can be resurveyed for comparison
(Figure 4). In comparing profiles, it must be
ensured that the present bridge has notinduced local scour or deposition which would
thus make comparison difficult or invalid.
Figure 4 Historical stream and valley sedimentation based on a railroad bridge profile,Hurricane Creek, Lafayette County, Mississippi. Aggradation between 1911 and 1936was about 2 m
Source:Adapted from Happ et al. (1940).
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10 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
Often, plans will include a detailed topo-
graphic map of the stream reach and some
may also include surveyed cross-sections at
some distance upstream or downstream.
The latter surveys are particularly valuable
because they are less affected by scour or
dam effects induced by some bridges.Often, a succession of bridges has been
located at the same site. Highway bridge
plans in the USA often go back to the turn of
the century and railroad plans to the mid- to
late nineteenth century. These were put to
good use by Happet al. (1940) and by Cooke
and Reeves (1976). In the UK, bridge, highway
and railroad plans are usually available from
the early nineteenth century (Hooke and
Kain, 1982). Fortunately, the same vertical
datum is normally used for successive bridges
at a site so that resurveys of century-old
profiles are facilitated. Bridge surveys were
used to great effect in showing channel
changes from 1861 in southeastern Australia
(Erskine, 1999; Erskine and Warner, 1999).
Even when datum changes, parts of the old
bridge may be excavated to re-establish ele-
vations (Trimble, 1998).
Bridges are usually inspected periodically
by government agencies. The resulting re-
ports usually include considerable description
and measurements of site conditions, and
often include photographs which allow time-
lapse photography.
b Dams, mills, reservoirs, fords and fish traps:
Changes in streams often create severe prob-
lems in the operation of mills and reservoirs
and such problems may have been docu-
mented or can be established (Trimble, 1998).
Trimble (1970a; 1970b) used mill dams, fish
traps, and stream fords, in part, to document
the aggradation and degradation of streams
on the Georgia Piedmont. That work has
been recently extended by Ferguson (1997a;
1997b) who has used subsurface radar and
magnetometer surveys to establish the pre-
sence of datable landscape features buried
beneath the floodplain and thus establish
accretion rates, and by Ruhlman and Nutter
(1999) who used Trimbles 1960s field data as
a baseline. Other types of low dams, such as
weirs and irrigation diversions, are similarly
useful to gauge stream changes (Gilbert,
1917; Thornthwaite et al., 1942; Vita-Finzi,
1969; Cooke and Reeves, 1976; Thoms andWalker, 1993). Limbrey (1983) points out the
enticing possibility of locating Anglo-Saxon
mills and paved Roman fords in the UK as a
means of dating fluvial processes.
While nearly all small water-powered mills
had reservoirs, most of these were channel-
type pools which had low trap efficiency for
sediment. Some mills and later hydroelectric
and flood-control dams have a large volum-
etric capacity in relation to their drainage
area and thus have a high trap efficiency so
that sediment yield can be measured with
some confidence (Brune, 1953; Trimble
and Bube, 1990). Data from large reservoirs
may be useful on a decadal timescale (Eakin,
1936; Trimble and Lund, 1982; Petts, 1984;
Petts and Foster, 1985; Foster et al., 1990;
Labadzet al., 1991; Trimble and Carey, 1992;
McManus and Duck, 1993). These data have
the advantage of often being long-term and
of including normally unmeasured sediment
(eg, bedload) but caution must be exercised
lest lake sedimentation rates be inflated by
shoreline erosion.
Erosion and sediment yield studies based
on lakes and reservoirs have blossomed in
the UK during the last two decades (Oldfield,
1977; Burtet al., 1984; Petts, 1984; Fosteret
al., 1985; 1986; 1990; McManus and Duck,
1985; Petts and Foster, 1985; Duck and
McManus, 1987; 1990; Stott, 1987; Stott
et al., 1988; Labadz et al., 1991; Dearing and
Foster, 1993; McManus and Duck, 1993).
While using many dating techniques not
under the purview of this paper, some of
these studies establish sediment yields well
back into the nineteenth century. A com-
prehensive survey of 28 reservoirs in the
Southern Pennines, for example, yielded data
from as early as 1840 (Butcher et al., 1993).
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 11
Estate lakes in the UK, such as built by Cap-
ability Brown or Humphrey Repton, for
example, are extraordinary and relatively
untapped data sources, some of which date
well into the eighteenth century. Estate
records of construction and maintenance
along with modern dating techniques(eg, Fosteret al., 1985) should together givesome extremely good long-term records of
sediment yields under varying land-use and
climatic conditions.
Many reservoirs are given continuing
surveys which sometimes must be obtained
from repositories, but compendia are peri-
odically published, usually by governmental
agencies (eg, Dendy and Champion, 1978;
US Geological Survey, 1983). Forty-five
years of such data (192570) from a largereservoir system, the Tennessee Valley
Authority, were used by Trimble and Bube
(1990) in a cascade optimization analysis to
construct trap efficiency rates for sediment
coming directly into reservoirs and also for
sediment which had already passed through
upstream reservoirs (Figure 5). The data
were also used to establish long-term ratesof sediment accumulation, yields and fluxes
in a stream basin of 113,000 km2.
c Roads, canals and causeways: Roads(including railroads) and causeways serve as
benchmarks to measure changes of stream
morphology and process. An example is
from Coon Creek in the Driftless Area of
Wisconsin (Figure 6). The 1852 surface is
the pre-agricultural soil as determined from
borings (McKelvey, 1939). Before the avail-ability of isotopic dating, McKelvey (1939)
Figure 5 Sediment trap efficiency ratings for reservoirs based on sedimentation ratesin Tennessee Valley Authority reservoirs, 192570
Source:Adapted from Trimble and Bube (1990).
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12 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
and Happ (1944) dated the pre-agricultural
soil of this region by cultural artifacts. In
another location, the sedimentary contact
of the floodplain soil and the fill of a railroad
embankment was used to establish the 1904
floodplain surface (Trimble and Lund, 1982).
The 1922 surface in Figure 6 is a roadwayabandoned when the bridge was relocated
100 m downstream. This roadway was de-
scribed by an eyewitness as being maintained
level with the floodplain until the time of
abandonment. It was located by dug holes
and borings, the diagnostic feature being
crushed limestone gravel at a uniform level.
The 1938 profile was surveyed just up-
stream by a governmental agency and the
1976 profile was surveyed using the 1938
datum (Trimble, 1981; 1983; Trimble andLund, 1982). It will be noted that the rate
of floodplain aggradation increased sig-
nificantly from the first period (70 years) to
the second period (16 years) when vertical
accretion rates averaged about 15 cm per
year (Trimble and Lund, 1982). A 1993 re-
survey (not shown, but see Trimble, 1999)
showed about 415 cm accretion in 17 years.
These five dated floodplains furnish a re-
markable record of the rates of accelerated
sedimentation in a highly impacted basin.Lateral movement of streams or gullies
can also be gauged with the help of roads
and canals (Ireland et al., 1939). When theformer position of a road or canal in relation
to the stream can be determined from docu-
mentary evidence such as old maps or aerial
photographs, its present location will allow
an average rate of lateral migration to be
calculated. Significant stream migration usu-
ally takes place on the timescale of decades
or centuries, but on occasion it occurs in afew years, or even months (Lawler, 1993).
Authorities will normally take whatever
measures are necessary to protect a road or
canal impinged upon by a laterally migrating
19741974
19381938
2291
1922
25811
00 50
metres
Figure 6 Stream and valley aggradation sequence, Coon Creek, Wisconsin, based onvarious historical techniques (see text). Sediment yields during the 1930s were about3000 tkm2
Source:Adapted from Trimble and Lund (1982).
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 13
stream. Some sort of documentation is
normally prepared, often with plans and
maps. Structures put into place then act
as benchmarks to measure future stream
movement. In Wisconsin, for example, a
roadbank reinforcement installed in 1947
later showed that the cut bank had advancedabout 10 m in five years (Trimble, 1975a).
Other road-protection structures useful for
future measurement are dikes, levees and
rip-rap. Additionally, roads are often raised
above normal flooding or aggrading flood-
plains by fill, and the level of the old road be-
neath may be ascertained from construction
plans, borings or excavations.
Cultural artifacts of harbours relate to
both coastal and fluvial phenomena. Finding
harbour features such as mooring cleatsseveral km from open water, for example,
allowed Gottschalk (1945) to establish the
rate of advance for a prograding delta in the
Chesapeake Bay of Maryland. For the UK,
Limbrey (1983) points out the possibility of
locating Roman harbour features as well as
riverine features such as causeways, bridges,
and fords. It appears that the evolution of
the great cuspate foreland of Kent known
as Dungeness was cartographically recon-
structed for AD 300 by Cunliffe (1980)partially on the basis of Roman relicts and,
for later periods, based partially on Anglo-
Saxon chronicles.
d Buildings: The work of archaeologistsrelating to buildings in the present context is
highly instructive (Butzer, 1964; Butzer and
Hansen, 1968; Vita-Finzi, 1973; 1978; 2002;
Limbrey, 1983). Thieme and Schuldenrein
(1998) used archaeological sites for age
control in Pennsylvania. In Ethiopia, Butzer(1971) used a ruined fort to gauge long-term
lake fluctuations. In Switzerland, Heim
(1989[1932]) used buildings to calibrate
characteristics of landslide, both potential
and active. Coates (1979) used buildings and
other structures to measure subsidence.
Other examples are given by Hooke and
Kain (1982). Except for occasional mills,
buildings are rarely constructed on active
floodplains, and even when close to streams,
they are usually sited on terraces. Thus,
when a structure is affected by sediment,
it often indicates important changes of
stream or sediment regime. Generally, when
a building is significantly impacted by waterand/or sediment, steps are taken to move
or raise the building if possible. If not, the
building is usually dismantled, leaving only
the foundation, which itself can serve as a
benchmark (Trimble, 1998). Once the foun-
dation has been covered with sediment,
however, the location must be established
from old maps, land plats or perhaps eye-
witness testimony although Ferguson (1997a;
1997b) has used subsurface radar. Likewise,
the chronology must be established fromsuch sources as maps and land survey plats,
tax records, or eyewitness accounts. Unlike
roads and causeways which may be located
by borings, it is best to excavate around as
much of the building as possible because it is
necessary to see how the buildings occupants
interfaced with the stream. For example, did
an entrance face the stream? Artifacts be-
tween the building and the stream such as
steps, walks, fences (McKelvey, 1939) and
small outbuildings would imply that thearea was frequented by people at one time,
thus implying low frequency of flooding. In
studying the buried village of Village Creek,
Allamakee County, Iowa, for example,
Trimble found a buried chicken house be-
tween a dwelling house and the stream which
allowed him to infer that the site flooded
infrequently at the time of construction.
Buildings may be occasionally useful for
measuring stream channel erosion. The work
of Bryan (1925), Cooke and Reeves (1976),Womack and Schumm (1977) and others
in studying arroyos (gullies) in the western
United States has relevance. In parts of
Europe (eg, Germany), older buildings have
historic flood levels marked, sometimes back
to the Middle Ages, so that high flood dis-
charges can be calculated and a long-term
flood series reconstructed. Such markings
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14 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
were also used by Madej et al. (1994) inCalifornia. In many places, flood stages
were often marked on buildings and bridges.
Werrity et al. (2006) used flood marks on abridge in Perth Scotland to corroborate sedi-
mentary flood dating, thus reconstructing
almost two centuries of flood record.
4 Land (cadastral) surveysAlthough they refer only to the plan view,
land surveys can often supply important
information to the fluvial geomorphologist.
Although they relate more to vegetation,
outstanding guides to North American ori-
ginal land surveys are given by Whitney
(1995) and Wang (2005). The original land
surveys have been used to establish pre-
agricultural floodplain conditions in theUSA (Trimble, 1970a; 1970b; Shankman and
Smith, 2004), upland vegetation (Trewartha,
1940; Knox, 1977) and stream widths (Cooke
and Reeves, 1976; Knox, 1977; Eschneret al.,1981; Brooks and Brierley, 1997; Fitzpatrick
et al ., 1999). In California, Kondolf andCurry (1986) used surveys of Spanish land
grants to estimate channel changes, while
Trimble (2003) used them to show the virtual
absence of natural streams before European
settlement on bahadas that are now denselyurbanized. In British Columbia, Church
(1983) used the cadastral survey of 188993
to fix the route of the Bella Coala River. In
other areas and more recent periods, ongoing
land resurveys sometimes give useful descrip-
tions of geomorphological interest.
Related sources are estate maps, tithe
maps and enclosure maps (Hooke and Kain,
1982). Tithe maps have been used to date
river meanders from 1840 (Lewinet al., 1977;
Lewin, 1978; Hooke and Harvey, 1983; Lewisand Lewin, 1983), while a detailed map of
1749 provided qualitative information about
stream braiding (Werrity and Ferguson,
1980). An exceptional study of this genreused deeds, private papers, and local maps to
reconstruct aspects of the River Trent back
to AD 1200 (Petts et al., 1992). Tax mapsand tax records are particularly valuable
and underused sources (Trimble and Cooke,
1991). Tax records were used to establish the
advance and retreat of glaciers in Norway
(Hoel and Werenskiold, 1962; Grove, 1972;
1988) and in the Alps (Grove, 1966; 1988).
Sundborg (1956) used tax records to show
stream channel migration in Sweden. Landrent assessments in Norway allowed Grove
(1972) to reconstruct the incidence of Little
Ice Age mass movement and other natural
hazards. Local records, also in Sweden, were
used by Dearing (1979) to reconstruct
ploughed area and sheep population. These
were then related to sedimentation rates in
a local lake.
5 Aerial photographs
Aerial photographs dating from as earlyas 1917 have been used to document and
date fluvial changes along with the land-
use changes that were responsible (Rozin
and Schick, 1997). The general coverage
of stereographic aerial photography in the
USA dates from 193738, but limited cover-
age exists from c. 1925 (Trimble and Cooke,1991). Air photos generally date from the
mid-1940s in the UK (Hooke and Kain, 1982)
where Thornes and Brunsden (1977) have
shown the utility of repetitive coverage tomonitor mass movements. The value of
aerial photography is a function of scale,
photographic quality, and the availability
of stereographic coverage. With optimum
conditions, Hoag (1983) was able to use
standard photogrammetric methods to
quantify channel erosion in Orange County,
California, from 1938 to 1983. Significant
decreases of stream response in Wisconsin
have been inferred from striking decreases
in drainage density as measured from airphotos (Trimble and Lund, 1982; Fraczek,
1987; Figure 7), but Knighton et al. (1992)showed that tidal creek channel networks
were expanding after 1943 in northern
Australia. Air photos are extremely useful
in establishing rates of channel migration and
channel change (Schumm and Lichty, 1963;
Williams, 1978; Thorne and Lewin, 1979;
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 15
Anderson and Calver, 1980; Church, 1983;
Hooke, 1984; Kondolf and Curry, 1986;
Lawler, 1993; Brizga and Finlayson, 1994;
van Steeter and Pitlick, 1998; Burge and
Lapointe, 2005).
Stream and valley aggradation is difficultto detect on air photos, but some attendant
effects such as the creation of backswamps
and vegetational changes can be seen and
measured (Trimble, 1970b). On upland areas,
air photos have also been used to quantify
land use and consequent erosion (Trimble
and Lund, 1982; Rowntreeet al., 1991). Newmethods of processing data from historical
photographs give more precision and pos-
sibility of replication (Chandler and Cooper,
1989; Chandler and Brunsden, 1995; Brunsdenand Chandler, 1996). Using air photo cover-
age spanning the period 19182000, Zviely
and Klein (2004) demonstrated the rapid re-
treat of cliffs along the Israeli Mediterranean
coastline, while Guthrie and Evans (2004)
used air photos to document 201 separate
debris slides between 1950 and 1996 in British
Columbia.
6 Ground-based oblique photographyGround-based oblique photography has been
used to date geomorphological processes
dating back to 1864 (Costa, 1978). Although
not systematically available as aerial photo-
graphy, ground-based photography hasexisted longer and generally offers better
scale. Some major American sources are
given by Trimble and Cooke (1991), but quer-
ies should always be addressed to museums,
libraries, and individuals living in the region
being investigated. By far the most valuable
coverage is sequential photos at the same
place, known as time-lapse photography
(Hastings and Turner, 1965; Malde, 1973;
Rogerset al., 1984). Graf (1979a) has used such
imagery to show land use and consequentdevelopment of channels in montane val-
leys, arroyo filling and vegetational stabil-
ization (Graf, 1982), changes of bed material
in the Salt River, Arizona (Graf, 1983a), and
stabilization by vegetation of sediment
deposits along the Rio Grande River (Graf,
1994). Brizga and Finlayson (1994) demon-
strated similar stabilization along the Snowy
Figure 7 Decrease of drainage density, upper Coon Creek basin, 193878, as
reconstructed primarily from US Department of Agriculture aerial photographs.Analysis of drainage density and other data suggests that present flood peaks are onlya fraction of those of the late 1930s
Source:Adapted from Fraczek (1987).
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16 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
River in Australia. Trimble and Lund (1982)
showed the formation and subsequent heal-
ing of hillside gullies in Minnesota and also
demonstrated the transformation of tri-butaries from sediment sinks to sediment
sources as stream response increased, while
Trimble and Crosson (2000) showed how
tributaries had improved in condition as
the result of better land use since the 1930s
(Figure 8). Ground imagery has been used by
Williams (1978) and Eschner et al. (1981) toshow changes of channel size and form for
the Platte and North Platte Rivers in the
central USA, while Williams and Wolman
(1984) demonstrated channel scour down-
stream of dams. Goudie (1992) used time-lapse photography to show changes in UK
beaches as the result of offshore shingle
mining and of jetty building. Trustrum and
DeRuse (1988) were able to date landslides in
New Zealand, while the destructive effects of
debris flows were documented in California
by DeGraff (1994). Enzel and Wells (1997)
used photographs in conjunction with
Figure 8 Time-lapse photography showing improvement of tributary stream channelconditions in the unglaciated region of Wisconsin. (A) Photo made by S.C. Happ in 1940to depict a typical tributary of the period. Note the eroded, shallow channel composedof gravel and cobbles with coarse sediment, much of it sand, deposited on floodplainsby frequent overflows. Such tributaries were described as resembling gravel roads.
(B) Remake by S. Trimble in 1974. The stream channel is narrower, smaller, and morestable. The coarse sediment has been covered with fine material, and the floodplain isvegetated to the edge of the stream which has continued to narrow. This condition hascontinued and improved since the early 1970s
Source: Trimble and Crosson (2000). Copyright: American Association for theAdvancement of Science.
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 17
Figure 8 (continued)
railroads and buildings to show the change of
playa water levels in California.
Photogrammetric techniques can alsobe used with oblique photography, making
it possible to obtain precise measurements
in some cases (Graf, 1979b; Lawler, 1993).
Using photogrammetry in conjunction with
planimetric maps, Hoel and Werenskiold
(1962) were able to measure glacier thick-
nesses in Norway. Oblique aerial photo-
graphy is also available for some areas but
does not lend itself easily to photogrammetric
methods (Trimble and Cooke, 1991).
Some investigators have used paintings
to extend time-lapse analysis to the scale of
centuries. Messerli et al. (1978) and Grove(1988) have used pictures to study glacial
advance and retreat over the past four cen-
turies. Indeed, Vita-Finzi (2002: 8384) states
that The acceptance of a Little Ice Age in
about 15501850 initially owed much to en-
gravings of Swiss settlements overwhelmed
by glaciers. Lamb (eg, 1982) and Ladurie
(1971) routinely used sketches and paintings
in their historical analyses of climate. Morerecently, Cooper (1994) used a detailed
painting to establish the 1847 morphology of
the Mvoti River estuary, South Africa, and
Madej et al. (1994) used old paintings of theMerced River in Yosemite Park, California,
to estimate long-term bank erosion.
7 LitterThe classic work on using litter in geomor-
phological investigations was done by C.B.
Hunt (1975) who worked in the American
desert. Litter includes mobile artifacts such
as tools, vehicle parts, bottles, cans, package
wrappers and any other datable artifacts.
Although litter may be precisely dated in
some cases, its location can only give an earli-
est possible date. For example, a beer can
datable to 1939 may have been dumped into
a stream in 1950 where it was later buried in
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18 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
a point bar in 1952. The point bar may have
eroded away in 1960 and the can buried 20 cm
deep on a downstream floodplain. The only
allowable conclusion, in the absence of more
information, is that there has been a mini-
mum accretion of 20 cm at the final location
since 1939. However, finding several itemsat similar levels with similar dates might
allow a stronger inference, as when an in-
tact dump is located beneath a floodplain
(Costa, 1975).
A related method of tracing fluvial sedi-
ments and surfaces is by use of anthropo-
genically produced materials such as radio-
nuclides, heavy metals and other wastes (eg,
Davies and Lewin, 1974; Lewin et al., 1977;Wolfenden and Lewin, 1978; Bradley, 1982;
Macklin, 1985; Knox, 1987; Marron, 1989;Wallinget al., 1992; Rowan et al., 1999; seealso the excellent review in Graf, 1994).
8 Contemporary descriptionsGeomorphological changes in China have
been dated back as far as 2000 years using
written accounts (Ren, 1985; Yang, 1998).
For example, Zhang and Yang (1998) used
contemporary descriptions to show that over
a two-millennium period the Yellow River did
not entirely lose surface runoff until 1972, theresult largely of upstream dams. Xu (2004)
was able to explain that decrease based on
climate and flow diversions. On the Yangtze
River, Wang et al. (2005) were able to in-vestigate channel forms and processes from
1644. The utility of written accounts takes
two basic forms. The first is a description of
past events or changes, while the second is
the description of contemporary or baseline
conditions useful for later comparisons. For
veracity, one must consider (1) the scientificcredentials of the observer, and (2) the stage
of scientific development at time of obser-
vation. An example of an erroneous observa-
tion would be a nineteenth-century observer
attributing erratic rocks to the currents of the
biblical flood.
As an example of contemporary change
by a qualified scientist, one can do no better
than the famed English geologist, Sir Charles
Lyell, who in 1845 observed the early fluvial
consequences of agricultural settlement on
the Piedmont of Georgia, pointing out that a
stream from the settled areas was turbid but
that one from the primeval area was clear,
even during floods (Lyell, 1849).The American surveyor and naturalist
David Dale Owen (1847) furnishes an example
of a baseline scientific observation. Before
extensive agricultural settlement in the upper
midwestern USA, he could observe fish and
stream bottom formations in streams up
to several metres deep. This, of course, would
have been impossible during most of the
period since agriculture began. Observations
of John C. Fremont and G.K. Gilbert were
used by Atwood (1994) to establish theearly levels of Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA.
Accounts from scientific observers such as
these tend to be dependable and are often
extremely helpful. Observations from less-
qualified people also can be helpful, but may
need more qualification or interpretation
(Hooke and Kain, 1982). Travel accounts
of ordinary people were used to reconstruct
the size and condition of glaciers in Norway
during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies (Hoel and Werenskiold, 1962) and inthe Alps during the seventeenth century
(Ladurie, 1971). Liebscher (1991) gives an ex-
cellent account of attempts to reconstruct
river flood stages and lake and ocean levels
based in part on historical narratives. Trimble
and Cooke (1991) and Whitney (1995) give
many useful sources for travel accounts in
the United States and Canada.
Somewhat less valuable sources are
contemporary newspapers, periodicals,
books, government records and unpublishedmanuscripts. Wooley (1946) used newspaper
reports to establish numbers of floods in
Utah, 18501938, and related these to popu-
lation increases. Kondolf and Curry (1986)
used newspaper accounts to study channel
migration in California, while Knox (1987)
and Fitzpatricket al. (1999) used them toestablish historical floods in Wisconsin.
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 19
Trimble (1974) used newspapers and peri-
odicals to trace the progress and effects of
soil erosion on the Southern Piedmont during
the nineteenth century. Using newspaper
and other contemporary accounts, Nuttli
(1973) was able to construct an isoseismal
map of the Mississippi Valley (New Madrid)earthquake of 181112. Newspapers were
used to document mass movements in the
southern Appalachian highlands by Clark
(1987) and in Puerto Rico by Larson and
Simon (1993). James (2004) used local his-
tories to show the effects of tailing fans from
hydraulic mining in California. In Switzerland,
Heim (1989[1932]) used local history to
chronicle major landslides back to AD 1563.
9 Weather events and climateRecorded climatic records, especially regular
records kept by governmental agencies, are
often of exceptional value to geomorph-
ologists. Official climate records sometimes
go back to the mid-nineteenth century in
the USA and Europe, but scattered records
were collected earlier. Cooke and Reeves
(1976), in their analysis of arroyos in the
southwestern USA, were able to use early
climate records from US Army posts. Trimble
and Lund (1982) used official records to
analyse precipitation trends back to 1865 in
the upper Mississippi Valley, showing that
climate was distinctly out of phase with the
human-driven hydrologic and geomorphic
processes shown to be occurring. Hoel and
Werenskiold (1962) were able to show that
glacial advance and retreat in Norway were
in accord with climatic controls. An exem-
plary study by Rumsby and Macklin (1994)
correlates climate and channel changes from
1700 to the present in the River Tyne, UK,
while Merrett and Macklin (1999) did the
same for the Yorkshire Dales. Using 110 years
of climate data, Mountain and Jones (2006)
were able to forecast and hindcast the fre-
quency of extreme flows on the River Wye
in Wales. Hooke and Kain (1982) list private
diarists going back to 1337 who periodically
recorded British weather. H.H. Lamb
(eg, 1977; 1982; 1988) has been resourceful
and ingenious in reconstructing past climates
from highly varied historical sources in-
cluding official records when possible. His
synthesis of these techniques serves as a
model. The work of Parry (1978) is also ex-cellent. Workers in the UK are fortunate in
having much of the climate over the past
two centuries or so synthesized and quite
accessible to use (eg, Lamb, 1972; Kington,
1976; Lawler, 1987; Favis-Mortlock et al.,
1997). See also the review in Goudie (1992).
Particular storms may have significant
geomorphologic effects locally or over
larger areas. Engstrom (1994; 1996; 2006)
has reconstructed some major storms for
California showing some of the geomor-
phologic consequences. From written re-
cords of an earthquake that struck Japan
in 1700, Satake et al. (1996) were able to
reconstruct the general dimensions of an
earthquake.
Historical reconstruction of precipitation
has been extremely important in explaining
the historical formation or demise of arroyos
(Graf, 1983b). Examined have been long-
term annual trends, seasonality, frequency,
intensity, and, more recently, connections
with the Southwestern Monsoon and El
NioSouthern Oscillation events (eg,
Bryan, 1925; 1928; Thornthwaite et al., 1942;
Leopold, 1951; Cooke and Reeves, 1976;
Hereford, 1984; 1993; Balling and Wells,
1990; Webb and Betancourt, 1990; Hereford
and Webb, 1992; Betancourt and Turner,
1993; Bull, 1964; 1997).
10 Land use
Land use has been increasingly recognized
as a major causal factor in geomorphology.
For the UK, tithe, topographic, county and
Land Utilization Survey maps, some of which
go back to the early 1700s, are given excellent
coverage by Hooke and Kain (1982). For the
USA, Trewartha (1940) and Knox (1977) used
original plats of survey to establish primeval
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20 Progress in Physical Geography 32(1)
vegetation in southwestern Wisconsin, while
Trimble (1970a) used them to study early
floodplain conditions in Georgia, showing
their genesis to wetlands. Graf (1979a) used
photography to reconstruct land use for a
basin in Colorado, 18591974, and then
related land-use changes to hydrologic andgeomorphic changes, specifically channel
incision. In the perennial and ongoing at-
tempt to explain arroyos in the southwestern
USA, Denevan (1967) and Cooke and Reeves
(1976) splendidly reconstructed livestock
numbers by census reports, travel accounts
and other sources. Both studies concluded
that animals were important but only one
of many causal factors.
Land-use reconstructions need to be as
precise as possible because (1) increasinglysophisticated information about the hydro-
logic and geomorphic effects of different
land uses and treatments is available, and/or
(2) we may be able to correlate historical
land use with contemporaneous geomorphic
phenomena in model building. An example
of the latter is Grafs (1979a) study which
related land use to channel incision. Another
example is the study of reforestation and
water yield decreases in the Southern
Piedmont by Trimbleet al. (1987) who wereable to use relatively precise census data.
Their long-term results of 10 large basins,
together with available short-term experi-
mental data, permitted a model which
explains 50% of water yield variance in
humid areas as a result of reforestation or
deforestation and is presently the standard
stochastic model (Maidment, 1993). Potter
(1991) was able to show a decrease in the
annual flood series of the Pecatonica River
in southeastern Wisconsin even though landuse held relatively constant. He attributed
the reduction of flooding to improvement of
land treatment with resulting decreases of
drainage density. Potters pioneering work
was followed by similar analyses in the same
region by Gebert and Krug (1996) and Knox
(1999). While controlling for climate with
historical climatic data, Price (1998) used his-
torical land-use data to show that an ameli-
oration of streamflow regime on the Georgia
Piedmont was culturally rather than physically
caused.
Detailed land-use reconstructions from
census data have been used to analyse his-
torical soil erosion and associated hydrologicchanges in the USA (Trimble, 1974; Price,
1998) and Canada (Wilson, 1989). Trimble
and Lund (1982) were able to show a lag of
hydrologic and geomorphic processes so
that there was a hysteretic relationship be-
tween land use and the dependent variables
of erosion and sedimentation. The lag was
attributed to cumulative temporal changes
in soil condition.
Agricultural census data are complex
and confusing because categories and de-finitions often change from one census to
the next. For the US census, at least, county
enumerations are for land in farms only
and sometimes cover only fractional parts
of counties. Where available, the census
manuscripts, rather than the published re-
ports, give far more detailed information
(Conzen, 1969). Another major problem
is that areas of enumeration units change
with time so that the boundaries and areas
must also be reconstructed (Trimble, 1974:Appendix F). Unfortunately, there are as
yet no guides to the use of census data in
reconstructing historic land use, and a great
need clearly exists. Despite all these problems
and limitations, Waisanen and Bliss (2002)
have recently succeeded in mapping by GIS
much of the agricultural land use for the
USA since 1850. Such mapping may fore-
shadow modelling of historical geomorphic
and hydrologic processes.
Urban land use is increasingly recognizedas a geomorphic factor. Cooke et al. (1982)and Cooke (1984) have shown the relation
between urban expansion and increased geo-
morpholgical activity. Trimble (1997; 2003)
showed that historical stream channel erosion
in southern California was associated more
with channel construction and agricultural
land use than with urban expansion.
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Stanley W. Trimble: Historical data and artifacts in geomorphology 21
Surrogates can sometimes be used to
extend land-use data beyond the effective
dates of the census. Thus, historic sheep
populations were estimated from the weight
of wool clipped each year (Noble and
Tongway, 1986) and erosive land use was
extended back in time by calibrating fromdensities of slave and non-slave populations
(Trimble, 1974). Such surrogate retrodictions
might be used for other historical data, but
caution must be used.
III Summary and conclusions
Although not always precise, historical data
and techniques can provide powerful tools
for dating processes over the past few cen-
turies and particularly during the last few
decades. This is important not only to more
traditional theoretical applications, but
also to considerations in environmental
management. Historical techniques can be
criticized (Richards, 1984), but the recog-
nition of their importance is shown by their
increased use and the fact that they are now
featured in standard texts (eg, Cooke and
Doornkamp, 1990; Ward and Trimble, 2004).
While this short paper has touched on most
major techniques used by historical geo-
graphers, there are often variants of each
not covered here. Geomorphologists would
do well to acquaint themselves with the
literature and techniques of both historical
geography and archaeology for their areas
of interest if they wish to extend their chron-
ologies beyond the few decades spanned by
instrumental records.
Acknowledgements
I thank Claudio Vita-Finzi (Natural History
Museum, London) and Ken Potter (University
of Wisconsin-Madison) for critiques of the
paper and Chase Langford (UCLA) for the
illustrations. Ron Shreve made suggestions
on sources. Early inspiration for historical
methods was provided by Karl Butzer, Louis
DeVorsey Jr, Herman Friis, and Claudio
Vita-Finzi.
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