Abstract This paper describes the landscape evolution of the Waasland Scheldt polders in the north of Belgium from the Late Glacial – early Holocene to the present time, and the effects of this changing landscape on the human settlement. The regional landscape evolution has been visualised in a series of palaeogeographical maps for successive time frames. Two different map series were produced: a series of Holocene palaeogeographical reconstructions (11,000–950 cal BP) based on geotechnical, geological and archaeological data, and a series of post-Medieval landscape reconstructions (16th- to 19th-century) based on historical maps, land registers and soil data. Additional palaeoenvironmental information from fossil pollen and plant remains allowed reconstruction of the vegetation and wetland changes, particularly for the middle to late Holocene. Peat growth was the main key to understanding the landscape evolution of the Waasland Scheldt polders. Whereas the landscape evolution during the Holocene was mainly sea-level driven, the transformation of the landscape during the last millennium was largely due to human interventions.

This paper discusses the generation of a high precision DEM (Digital Elevation Model) based on high density airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data for an interdisciplinary landscape archaeological study concerning the settlement history and environment in Sandy Flanders, a region to the north of Ghent (Belgium). The objective was to create a detailed topographical surface free of artificial features and topographical artefacts, in the form of a DEM, visualizing the natural and current topography through the implementation of true ground points only. The semi-automatical removal of these features and artefacts was based on topographical vector data, visual interpretations and slope analysis. Ultimately two DEM's were constructed (1) a TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) model, whereby the inherent large file format restricts the usability to large scale and (2) a grid model which can be used for small-, medium- and large-scale applications. Both datasets were used as an image that is interpreted using ancillary data from historical sources. Its usefulness is illustrated in a case of field pattern and microfield topography. Starting from this DEM, the approach of this landscape historical study is mainly retrogressive, i.e. starting from the landscape structures and elements that are still present in the contemporary landscape and moving into the past.