Cultural Landscapes. Examples

Distinct cultures living within the same area frequently produce very different sets of artifacts. Two distinct styles of house construction can be found in the Karakoram Mountains of northern Pakistan (Figure 2-3). The two reflect fundamental differences between two distinct cultures that have long inhabited the area.

Figure 2-3. House Types in the Karakoram. Even casual observers can distinguish houses built by the mountain culture (a) of the Karakoram from those built by the plains culture (b). Residents of the plains culture brought techniques of stone and adobe construction to the mountains with them. In the semiarid environment where the plains culture originated, wood was scarce

The original inhabitants of the Karakoram region moved into the area nearly three thousand years ago. The traits of this culture are similar to those of other cultures inhabiting the mountainous areas of neighboring Tibet, India, and Afghanistan. Over the past fifteen hundred years, a second culture was brought to the region by migrants from the nearby plains of the Indian subcontinent.

The Karakoram region is earthquake-prone and contains numerous steep, rocky slopes. Residents need homes that can withstand earthquakes, falling rocks, landslides, and avalanches and also protect their owners from attacks by hostile enemies. The two cultures inhabiting this region achieve these objectives in very different ways (Figure 2-4).

Figure 2-4. The Karakoram Region. In the Karakoram region, two distinct cultures have left their imprints on the cultural landscape. Cultures originating in the plains regions to the south moved northward into the mountains, bringing distinctive practices with them

Members of the mountain culture build their houses in places that command a wide view of adjacent territory. Because trees are plentiful in the mountains, houses are made of wood. By contrast, the plains culture originated in a semiarid region in which trees are scarce.

Their houses are constructed of rocks, bricks, or adobe rather than wood—reflecting their place of origin. The plains culture secures its dwellings from attack by building thick and impenetrable walls. Fortification reduces the possibility that homes will be destroyed during earthquakes, at the same time facilitating the defense of the houses against attack from invaders.

The two cultures differ in their adaptation to the mountain environment in other ways. The mountain culture was oriented to the herding of goats, whereas the plains culture emphasized crop cultivation. The diet of the mountain people emphasizes fruits, nuts, and products made from goat milk. The plains people, on the other hand, eat foods produced from cultivated wheat and livestock. While mountain people irrigate their fields with melted snow and ice. the plains culture uses river water for irrigation purposes.

Anyone familiar with the two basic cultures of the Karakoram region can easily distinguish an area inhabited by the mountain culture from one inhabited by the plains culture. The two cultures have created distinctive cultural landscapes. A cultural landscape is the product of modifications to the earth's surface that result from human activities. Thus, a cultural landscape is the observable result of interaction between a society and its environment. In the Karakoram region, the cultural landscape of the mountain culture includes widely spaced wood farmhouses located at points commanding wide views and surrounded by fields irrigated with systems relying on melted snow and ice. That of the plains population includes closely packed stone or adobe houses located near rivers that provide water for irrigating nearby fields.