Drowned but not deserted. Interactions between social and
ecological processes o f estuarine landscapes after flooding. T est­
case: the Waasland polders on the w est-bank o f the River Scheldt
(1 6 th -l 9th centuries)
Jongepier lason1, under supervision o f Tim Soens2 and Stijn Tem m erm an3
1 D epartm ent o f History, D epartm ent o f History, U niversity o f A ntw erp
Stadscampus, S.R-A.112, Rodestraat 14, 2000 Antw erpen, Belgium
E-mail: iason.ionqepier@ uantwerpen.be
2 D epartm ent o f History, U niversity o f A ntw erp
Stadscampus, S.D.31 B, Grote Kauwenberg, 18 2000 Antw erpen, Belgium
3 D epartm ent o f Biology, U niversity o f A ntw erp
Campus Drie Eiken, U niversiteitsplein 1, 2610 A ntw erpen, Belgium
This pitch presentation w ill be used to give an overview o f fo u r years o f doctoral research on the
post-m edieval interactions in the estuarine landscape o f the Waasland Scheldt polders.
Estuarine landscapes are very dynam ic ecosystems which makes it very d iffic u lt to m odel social and
ecological adaptations after catastrophic inundations. In th is research project the evolution o f tid al
channels a fte r historical inundations and the human re-occupation o f flooded areas in the late
medieval and early modern Western Scheldt Estuary are used to enhance o u r knowledge o f the lon g ­
term interactions between ecological and social processes.
In the period a fte r the late-16th century inundations both ecological and social (or socioeconom ical) processes to o k place, each interacting w ith one another. In th is presentation we w ill
discuss fo u r elem ents th a t shaped and interacted w ith in the study area fro m the late 16th to the
19th century: (1) the extensively mapped tid al channels which were responsible fo r heightening the
m arshlands to an ‘em bankable’ height, (2) the soil structure in later em bankm ents, determ ined by
the fo rm e r tid al marsh structure, (B) the em bankm ent process (m ainly induced by the Arenberg
fam ily) in which technical solutions had to be found in order to deal w ith com plications due to the
tid al marsh structure and (4) land use and land value in the em bankm ents (as results o f the above
m entioned processes).
1. A fte r the 16th century inundations an extensive tid al channel netw ork developed. This netw ork
allowed the tra n sp o rt o f sedim ents into the tid a l marsh, resulting in a natural heightening o f the
marshlands, which was a conditio sine qua non fo r later em bankm ents o f the tid al marsh, since at
least a m ajor part o f the marsh should be raised above mean high w ater level. Furtherm ore, the
tid al channel structure was extensively mapped since the fo rm e r imposed technical d iffic u ltie s
during fu tu re em bankm ents.
2. The second elem ent o f interaction is form ed by the soil (or sedim ent) co nd itio ns inside and
outside the em bankm ents. The outer dike area is form ed by tid al channels, m udflats and (higher)
tid al marsh. This th re e-p artition is reflected in the embanked areas (the fo rm e r tid al marsh) which
have a subdivision in sand, silt and clay. Therefore, q uantitative evidence fo r the correlation
between the (form er) tid al marsh structure and the soil structure w ithin the embanked marshes was
gathered using soil samples and grain size analysis.
3. In the th ird part we w ill focus on the human activity in the inundated area. Over a period o f three
centuries the extensive tid al marsh (drowned in 1 583-85) was gradually re-em banked under a
grow ing influence o f the Arenberg fam ily. These embankers had to handle the com plexities
imposed by the natural situation o f the tid al marsh.
4. Interaction o f the above m entioned elem ents created a typical soil structure in the d iffe re n t
em bankm ents, which resulted in d iffe re n t o p p o rtu n itie s fo r land use. Since the q u a lity o f the soils
has an influence on crop yields, th is pattern also translated in d iffe re n t land values w ithin the
em bankm ent. Q uantitative spatial m icro-level analysis was used to establish a proven correlation o f
these physical and socio-econom ical properties.
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