What Imprint Does Agriculture Make on the Cultural Landscape? Cadastral systems Township and Range System (rectangular survey system): Based on a grid system that creates 1-square-mile sections Metes and Bounds Survey: Uses natural features to demarcate irregular parcels of land Long-lot Survey System: Divides land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals
Township and Range
Metes and Bounds Survey Here is an example of how it would apply to farmland surrounding a river http://www.fairview-industries.com/gismodule/PartOneMetes&Bound.html
Long-lot Survey In this example the lots all have access to the central road http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/long_lots.html
Dominant Land Survey Systems in the U.S.
Property Inheritance All land is passed on to the eldest son -Called Primogeniture (Germanic system) -Parcels tend to be larger and farmers work a single plot -Seen today in Northern Europe and the areas that were colonized by northern European countries (the Americas, S. Africa, Australia and NZ
Property Inheritance 2. Land is divided among heirs -Considerable fragmentation over time -Seen today throughout much of Asia, Africa and Southern Europe and most of the allotted Indian reservations in the US -Land reform initiatives have consolidated landholdings in some places, but fragmentation is still common worldwide
Dispersed Settlements Land is intensely cultivated by machine, not by hand Typically found in the United States Midwest Isolated from neighbors as opposed to living side by side
Nucleated (or Clustered) Settlements Land is intensely cultivated by people and animals Number of families living in close proximity with fields surrounding houses and farm buildings Most prevalent rural residential pattern in agricultural areas
Agricultural Villages
Functional Differentiation A stilt village in the Mekong Basin of Cambodia
Grain storage containers in the Midwest US, Senegal, and Northern Portugal (clockwise from top left)
Kraals for protection of livestock within the circular village