Signs of Place. A Visual Interpretation of Landscapes

Abstract

Throughout millennia people have created place from within space by using an array of different types of signs in a multitude of different environments. Signs that can give insights into the very different ways in which ancient people have interacted with their natural surroundings and how they included it into their social and ideological realms. Within this volume we focus on different implementations of the concept of signs and place and the broad field of meanings, associations, and definitions these interrelated terms cover. In so doing, the papers in this volume explore how different kinds of visual signs were positioned within the physical and morphological features of the landscape; how the landscape was chosen or modified to accommodate them; what value or information these signs provided for the place in which they were created; and how they have been socially, culturally, and spiritually appropriated over time.