GEOSPATIAL APPROACH TO A THIRTY-YEARS-WAR MILITARY ENCAMPMENT IN CENTRAL MORAVIA USING ICONOGRAPHIC SOURCES
Abstract
Documentary engravings that have appeared in the spectacular historical publications are a valuable source for the study of the Thirty Years' War, opening up the possibility of researching the fortification techniques and identification of terrain relics of the war era. The paper examines the accuracy and completeness of capturing topographic features, settlements and military fortification and objects depicted on the engraving of a military encampment by a Moravian village Horni Mostenice near Prerov.
Within the interdisciplinary research, besides historical, art-historical or archaeological approach, the methods of digital cartography and GIS are applied in studying the historical engravings published in 17th century. The iconographic sources could be treated as maps in a certain sense of the word.
By comparing the engravings with other relevant (younger) cartographic sources, e.g. historical military mappings or imperial imprints of stable cadastre maps, it is possible to identify individual depicted objects, to study the captured military situation or to visualize the changes of historical landscape. The aim of the work is to combine the results of a field survey of the area where the camp was located with a geospatial research of the engraving (georeferencing the imprint of the engraving, cartometric analyses, use of a digital terrain model from LIDAR data etc.) in order to support the study of historical military situation and landscape.
The interpretation of such plans of military engineers is not yet entirely clear. The research suggests that the plans could represent a kind of strategic plans or documentation of an ideal course of combat operations.
In each case, the description of reality on them has much to say even today.