Research foci

We investigate the impact of humans on the environment, particularly on forests. Our research addresses questions such as: How have humans altered the landscape? How has the composition of forests been influenced by human activities? To find answers, we analyse and interpret human traces in and around wood, as well as within forests (e.g., monuments in the forest). Our studies are based on historical documents and maps, modern aerial imagery, and natural proxy data such as tree rings and pollen. Our research covers a wide range of topics, with a special focus on the reconstruction of historical forest management practices, such as coppicing. We analyse patterns in natural proxies and compare them with historical sources. We also explore the historical timber trade and rafting, examine the impacts of mining, and analyse how humans have utilized wood resources over the millennia. The insights gained from this research provide valuable knowledge that can guide sustainable forest management in the future. To answer our research questions, we employ traditional historical and social science methods such as archival work and literature reviews. At the same time, we apply natural scientific approaches and utilize geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical analyses to quantify the relationships between humans and the environment at different spatial and temporal scales. This methodological diversity is a central component of our teaching.

Societal change and forest management

Humans and forests over the millennia: We analyse the changing societal demands placed on forests and examine historical forest management practices based on existing or transformed forest stands, historical documents, tree ring patterns, and historical wood findings.

Change in the growth pattern of a modern (left, six times) and historical (right, 3 times) oak due to coppicing (coppice-with-standard). The red arrows mark years with very narrow growth rings caused by competition for resources with the undergrowth. Rapid growth follows the removal of the undergrowth (so-called release effects) (Photos: W. Tegel).

Historical timber utilisation

Everything related to the history of construction and woodworking: Using archaeological methods on timber for construction and artworks, as well as historical documents such as records and photographs, we decode the specific wood species selection, wood usage, timber trade, and architectural practices of the past.

Panel painting from Rubens' studio: Two Head Studies of Monks (Private Collection, UK) (left), Panel makers and marks of the branding iron from the Guild of St Luke (two hands over Antwerp Castle) (centre) and the written petition of the panel makers and mirror case makers dated 3 November 1617 (right) (Jordaens Van Dyck Journal I & III).

Society and environmental perception

Relationship between Humans and Forests in a Social Scientific Context: We explore the cultural significance of the forest in society, captured in myths, tales and traditions, as well as the social, economic and political power structures that have influenced access to forest resources and created inequalities (through expectations). Based on theories from social sciences, we examine how forests have been integrated into social, economic and political processes by using historical sources and statistical analysis.

Five women sitting at the edge of a forest with bundles of firewood on their backs [photo: Rudolf (unspecified) (from Kleinschmit (2007), p. 38) (left). A wolf attacks children in the forest (from ‘Johann Staub's picture book: Anschauungsunterricht für Kinder’ from 1917) (right).