Culture, Landscape, and the Environment : The Linacre Lectures 1997

This collection of essays looks at the relationship between culture and the environment. Leading scholars in the humanities and social sciences explore the concept of landscape across cultures, ranging from Papua New Guinea to ancient Britain. Generously illustrated, the book provides powerful evidence of the role of culture in shaping our understanding of the material world.

The environment we inhabit is inseparable from culture. The contributors to this volume move through time and space - from prehistoric Europe to the Enlightenment, and from Aboriginal Australia to the industrial heart of Britain - to compare the ways in which the environment is constructed in different ways across cultures. The book transcends disciplinary boundaries, bringing together leading anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, historians, and literary scholars to provide challenging perspectives on the ways in which culture influences human conceptions of landscape and the environment. The essays explore the interrelationship between values and emotions associated with ''landscape'', and the economic practices that help to shape the physical and social environments in which people live. The book provides powerful evidence of the role of culture in shaping our understanding of the material world.