
What are the three main types of settlement patterns?
What are three types of rural settlement?
- Metro.
- Suburb.
- Big satellite town.
- Mid-size town.
- Small town.
- Village & Settlement cluster.
- Sparse settlement.
What factors affect settlement patterns?
- Factors that Influence Settlement.
- Physical factors.
- Drainage/rivers.
- Land quality.
- Altitude and relief.
- Coastal location.
- Human factors.
- Communications.
What different settlement patterns are there?
There are five main settlement patterns: compact settlement, scattered settlement, ordered settlement, linear settlement and nodal settlement. A settlement pattern is the way a population disperses over a particular area. Settlement patterns are defined by size, shape and population size. Topography and climate are the two major influences on settlement patterns.
What do settlement patterns mean?
The shape of early settlements was usually influenced by the surrounding landcape:
- a dispersed settlement pattern is where the buildings are spread out and is often found in upland areas;
- a nucleated settlement pattern is where a lot of buildings are grouped together and is often found in lowland areas;
- a linear settlement pattern is where the buildings are built in lines and is often found on steep hillsides.

What's is the meaning of settlement pattern?
settlement patterns. Definition English: A settlement pattern refers to the way that buildings and houses are distributed in a rural settlement. Settlement patterns are of interest to geographers, historians, and anthropologists for the insight they offer in how a community has developed over time.
What are the 3 types of settlement patterns?
There are generally three types of settlements: compact, semi-compact, and dispersed.
What are the 5 types of settlement patterns?
There are 5 types of settlement classified according to their pattern, these are, isolated, dispersed, nucleated, and linear.
What are the settlement patterns used for?
In the scientific field of archaeology, the term "settlement pattern" refers to the evidence within a given region of the physical remnants of communities and networks. That evidence is used to interpret the way interdependent local groups of people interacted in the past.
What are the 4 types of settlements?
The four main types of settlements are urban, rural, compact, and dispersed.
What is settlement explain its types with examples?
There are 5 types of settlement classified according to their pattern, these are, isolated, dispersed, nucleated, and linear. ... In a nucleated or compact settlement, the buildings are clustered, linked by roads, and the settlement itself may have a nearly circular or irregular shape.
What are 2 main types of settlement?
Settlements can broadly be divided into two types – rural and urban.
What is the most common type of settlement pattern in the world?
Dispersed, linear and nucleated are the most common. A dispersed pattern is where isolated buildings are spread out across an area, usually separated by a few hundred metres with no central focus. It is typically an area containing buildings rather than a single settlement.
What is importance of settlement?
The function of a settlement helps to identify the economic and social development of a place and can show its main activity. Most large settlements have more than one function though in the past one function was maybe the most important in defining the success and growth in importance of the settlement.
Why is geography important to the patterns of settlement?
Geography is often a major factor in deciding where a group of people settle. People need access to natural resources to build their homes and other infrastructure, to land that can provide food and water, and to places that are easily accessible to those who live in them.
What is an example of a settlement?
An example of a settlement is when divorcing parties agree on how to split up their assets. An example of a settlement is when you buy a house and you and the sellers sign all the documents to officially transfer the property. An example of settlement is when the colonists came to America.
What are the factors affecting settlement patterns?
Where people settle is determined by the main factors such as physical environment,demographic, natural, transportation, economic and social concerns.
What are the 2 types of settlement?
Settlement is a place where people live and carry out various economic activities on a relatively permanent basis. It can be divided into two types: rural settlement and urban settlement. The two types of settlement are differentiated by their size, density of population and employment pattern.
What is the most common type of settlement pattern in the world?
Dispersed, linear and nucleated are the most common. A dispersed pattern is where isolated buildings are spread out across an area, usually separated by a few hundred metres with no central focus. It is typically an area containing buildings rather than a single settlement.
What are the different types of human settlements?
Human settlements can broadly be divided into two types – rural and urban. Rural settlements: Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. The settlements size is relatively small.
What is an example of a settlement?
An example of a settlement is when divorcing parties agree on how to split up their assets. An example of a settlement is when you buy a house and you and the sellers sign all the documents to officially transfer the property. An example of settlement is when the colonists came to America.
What is a settlement pattern?
A settlement pattern re fers to the shape of the settlement as seen from above. The shapes of early settlements were influenced by the surrounding landscape. They were also shaped by other factors such as who owned the land and whether the land was good for building on or not. Some examples of settlement patterns include, nucleated settlements, linear settlements and dispersed settlements .
What is a dispersed settlement?
Dispersed settlements are ones where the houses are spread out over a wide area. They are often the homes of farmers and can be found in rural areas. Example of a dispersed settlement: Brülisau, Switzerland is an example of a linear settlement. Brülisau in Switzerland is an example of a dispersed village.
Why did early settlers form villages?
Early settlers forming villages would often live together for safety, for friendship, and to share services. These early settlements would take on distinctive patterns based on the shape of the land around them. Here we can see some examples of different settlement patterns.
What is an example of a dispersed village?
Brülisau in Switzerland is an example of a dispersed village.
What is settlement pattern?
In the scientific field of archaeology, the term "settlement pattern" refers to the evidence within a given region of the physical remnants of communities and networks. That evidence is used to interpret the way interdependent local groups of people interacted in the past. People have lived and interacted together ...
What is the difference between a settlement pattern and a settlement system?
If there is a difference, and you could argue about that, it might be that pattern studies look at the observable distribution of sites, while system studies look at how the people living at those sites interacted: modern archaeology can't really do one with the other.
What is the study of settlement patterns in archaeology?
The study of settlement patterns in archaeology involves a set of techniques and analytical methods to examine the cultural past of a region.
How was settlement pattern study conducted?
Settlement pattern studies were first conducted using regional survey, in which archaeologists systematically walked over hectares and hectares of land, typically within a given river valley. But the analysis only truly became feasible after remote sensing was developed, beginning with photographic methods such as those used by Pierre Paris at Oc Eo but now, of course, using satellite imagery and drones.
What is a regional surface survey?
What led to that was the implementation of a regional surface survey, also called pedestrian survey, archaeological studies not focused on a single site, but rather on an extensive area. Being able to systematically identify all the sites within a given region means archaeologists can look at not just how people lived at any one time, but rather how that pattern changed through time. Conducting regional survey means you can investigate the evolution of communities, and that's what archaeological settlement pattern studies do today.
Where were regional studies performed?
By the end of the 1950s, regional studies had been performed in Mexico, the United States, Europe, and Mesopotamia; but they have since expanded throughout the world.
When was the settlement pattern developed?
Settlement pattern as a concept was developed by social geographers in the late 19th century. The term referred then to how people live across a given landscape, in particular, what resources (water, arable land, transportation networks) they chose to live by and how they connected with one another: and the term is still a current study in geography of all flavors.
What is a settlement pattern?
Settlement Patterns. A settlement pattern means the shape of a settlement. The shape of early settlements was usually influenced by the surrounding landcape: a dispersed settlement pattern is where the buildings are spread out and is often found in upland areas; a nucleated settlement pattern is where a lot of buildings are grouped together ...
Why are shopping centres built on the edges of settlements?
Recently, large out-of-town shopping centres have been built on the edges of settlements because: the land is cheap to buy, there is plenty of space for car parks and it is near to their customers living in the suburbs.
Why did people build their homes together?
Originally, people built their homes together for: companionship, safety and to share services. Over a long period of time, many villages grow as more people want to live in them. This creates a distinct shape or pattern of land use:
Why are rivers important to humans?
Rivers are an important source of fresh water. They have been used for irrigation for thousands of years.
What is the arrangement of buildings in a settlement called?
The arrangement of buildings in a settlement is known as a settlement pattern.
What is an urban settlement?
An Urban settlement refers to a settlement that is more developed and is involved mainly with secondary economic activities such as banking and manufacturing.
Why did the first humans move from place to place?
The earliest humans moved from place to place to find food. Eventually, some people stopped roaming and began to settle in one place.

Anthropological Underpinnings
Patterns Versus Systems
- Archaeologists refer to both settlement pattern studies and settlement system studies, sometimes interchangeably. If there is a difference, and you could argue about that, it might be that pattern studies look at the observable distribution of sites, while system studies look at how the people living at those sites interacted: modern archaeology can't really do one with the other.
History of Settlement Pattern Studies
- Settlement pattern studies were first conducted using regional survey, in which archaeologists systematically walked over hectares and hectares of land, typically within a given river valley. But the analysis only truly became feasible after remote sensing was developed, beginning with photographic methods such as those used by Pierre Paris at Oc Eobut now, of course, using sat…
New Technologies
- Although systematic settlement patterns and landscape studies are practiced in many diverse environments, before modern imaging systems, archaeologists attempting to study heavily vegetated areas were not as successful as they might have been. A variety of means to penetrate the gloom have been identified, including the use of high definition aerial photography, subsurfa…
Selected Sources
- Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
- Feinman, Gary M. "Settlement and Landscape Archaeology." International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences(Second Edition). Ed. Wright, James D. Oxford: Elsevier, 2015. 654–58, doi:10....
- Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
- Feinman, Gary M. "Settlement and Landscape Archaeology." International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences(Second Edition). Ed. Wright, James D. Oxford: Elsevier, 2015. 654–58, doi:10....
- Golden, Charles, et al. "Reanalyzing Environmental Lidar Data for Archaeology: Mesoamerican Applications and Implications." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports9 (2016): 293–308, doi:10.1016/...
- Grosman, Leore. "Reaching the Point of No Return: The Computational Revolution in Archaeology." Annual Review of Anthropology45.1 (2016): 129–45, doi:10.1146/annurev-anth…