EUROPEAN LANDSCAPES AND LIFESTYLES: THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BEYOND 1 17 RECONSTRUCTING DISAPPEARED LANDSCAPES OF WET AREAS: THE WESTERN SEALAND FLANDERS ALEXANDER LEHOUCK NELE VANSLEMBROUCK VANESSA GELORINI TIM SOENS ERIK THOEN JELIER A. J. VERVLOET INTRODUCTION Coastal landscapes show very specific characteristics since the sea and the water of the tidal channels mainly influenced their origins. The upper layers of soil are quite young, most of them are formed in the course of the Holocene period and consist mainly of alternations of clay, peat beds and sand deposits. Studying the historical geography and settlement history of these areas one encounters very specific problems. On the one hand, in many areas the settlement patterns and field patterns have completely changed; at times this was caused by renewed tidal influence and new marine deposits. In other areas environmental pressure generated new social relations, which engendered major changes as well. On the other hand, at least for the medieval period, the same areas offer major possibilities to be studied and even at times allow to a certain extent for better reconstructions to be made than is the case for many other landscapes in areas that did not develop under marine influence. This paper will present some preliminary results of an interdisciplinary project that focuses on the reconstruction of medieval landscapes in the coastal area of medieval Flanders. 1 It will especially highlight the difficulties as well as the possibilities of reconstructing disappeared medieval landscapes. The test area is an area in which the medieval landscape was largely lost: Western Sealand Flanders on the south-western 1 The project presented here is ‘Lost cultural landscapes in the border area of Flanders and the Netherlands’ (Supervisors- spokesmen: Prof. Erik Thoen (Ghent University, Department of Medieval History) and Prof. Jelier Vervloet (Wageningen University & Research, Department Socio-Spatial Analysis Group); Supervisors: Prof. Emeritus Hugo Thoen (Ghent University), Prof. Emeritus Peter Henderikx (Amsterdam University UvA), Prof. Marc Antrop (Ghent University), Prof. Philippe De Maeyer (Ghent University), Prof. Johnny de Meulemeester (Ghent University), Robert van Dierendonck (Stichting Cultureel Erfgoed Zeeland); Researchers and PhD-students: Geuch de Boer (Wageningen University & Research), Vanessa Gelorini (Ghent University), Alexander Lehouck (Wageningen University & Research and Ghent University), Nele Vanslembrouck (Ghent University), Tim Soens (Ghent University). The VNC-project (Flemisch-Dutch collaboration Project) is sponsored by the science foundations of Flanders (FWO) and the Netherlands (NWO), Wageningen University and Ghent University.