Settlement FAQs

what is settlement pattern in geography

by Laurel Kirlin I Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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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.

There are three main settlement patterns: nucleated, linear and dispersed. Nucleated settlements comprise of buildings that are situated close together, usually clustering around a central area such as a river crossing or road junction.

Full Answer

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.

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What is settlement of 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 4 types of settlement patterns?

Rural settlement patterns refer to the shape of the settlement boundaries, which often involve an interaction with the surrounding landscape features. The most common patterns are linear, rectangular, circular or semi-circular, and triangular.

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 does settlement mean in geography?

a place where people liveA settlement is a place where people live. Settlements can be as small as a single house in a remote area or as a large as a mega city (a city with over 10 million residents). A settlement may be permanent or temporary. An example of a temporary settlement is a refugee camp.

What are 2 main types of settlement?

Settlements can broadly be divided into two types – rural and urban.

What are the 3 patterns of settlement?

There are three main settlement patterns: nucleated, linear and dispersed.

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.

What are the main types of settlement?

The four main types of settlements are urban, rural, compact, and dispersed. Urban settlements are densely populated and are mostly non-agricultural. They are known as cities or metropolises and are the most populated type of settlement.

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 settlements short answer?

Settlements are places where people build their homes. Settlements can be permanent or temporary. The four major means of transport are roadways, railways, waterways and airways.

Who is called Father of settlement geography?

EratosthenesEratosthenes is known as the Father of Geography.

What is an example of 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 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 nucleated settlement pattern?

A nucleated settlement is a type of settlement pattern that features a close grouping of buildings. These buildings are often gathered around a central feature like a river or town square.

What is a dispersed settlement pattern?

A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a number of separate farmsteads scattered throughout the area.

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:

What is a settlement?

A settlement is a place where people live. It can range in size from an isolated dwelling to a million city. The site of a settlement is the location where it is built. It describes the physical nature of where a settlement is located. Factors such as water supply, defence, quality of soil, building materials, climate, ...

What factors were taken into account when establishing settlements in the past?

Factors such as water supply, defence, quality of soil, building materials, climate, shelter and defence were all taken into consideration when establishing settlements in the past. The situation of a settlement is the description of the settlement in relation to physical features around it and other settlements.

Where did the dispersed settlement pattern originate?

In the United States, the dispersed settlement pattern was developed first in the Middle Atlantic colonies as a result of the individual immigrants’ arrivals. As people started to move westward, where land was plentiful, the isolated type of settlements became dominant in the American Midwest.

What are the two categories of settlements?

Using as classification criteria the shape, internal structure, and streets texture, settlements can be classified into two broad categories: clustered and dispersed.

What is a scattered village?

A scattered dispersed type of rural settlement is generally found in a variety of landforms, such as the foothill, tableland, and upland regions. Yet, the proper scattered village is found at the highest elevations and reflects the rugged terrain and pastoral economic life. The population maintains many traditional features in architecture, dress, and social customs, and the old market centers are still important. Small plots and dwellings are carved out of the forests and on the upland pastures wherever physical conditions permit. Mining, livestock raising, and agriculture are the main economic activities, the latter characterized by terrace cultivation on the mountain slopes. The sub-mountain regions, with hills and valleys covered by plowed fields, vineyards, orchards, and pastures, typically have this type of settlement.

What is linear settlement?

Linear Rural Settlements. The linear form is comprised of buildings along a road, river, dike, or seacoast. Excluding the mountainous zones, the agricultural land is extended behind the buildings. The river can supply the people with a water source and the availability to travel and communicate.

What is clustered rural settlement?

A clustered rural settlement is a rural settlement where a number of families live in close proximity to each other, with fields surrounding the collection of houses and farm buildings. The layout of this type of village reflects historical circumstances, the nature of the land, economic conditions, and local cultural characteristics. ...

When was Rundlinge invented?

The current leading theory is that Rundlinge were developed at more or less the same time in the 12th century, to a model developed by the Germanic nobility as suitable for small groups of mainly Slavic farm-settlers.

Where do isolated farms live?

In the United States, the dispersed settlement pattern was developed first in the Middle Atlantic colonies as a result of the individual immigrants’ arrivals. As people started to move westward, where land was plentiful, the isolated type of settlements became dominant in the American Midwest. These farms are located in the large plains and plateaus agricultural areas, but some isolated farms, including hamlets, can also be found in different mountainous areas ( Figures 12.7 and 12.8 ).

What are some examples of planned settlements?

Sites that are not instinctively chosen by villagers themselves, planned settlements are established by governments by giving shelter, water and other infrastructural facilities on acquired lands. The plan of villagisation in Ethiopia and the canal communities in Indira Gandhi canal command area in India are some examples.

What is compact settlement?

Compact or Nucleated settlements: These settlements are those in which a large number of houses are constructed very close to each other. Such settlements grow along river valleys and in fertile plains. Communities are closely knit and share common professions.

Why is the study of human settlements important?

The study of human settlements is essential to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects a human relationship with the environment. A human settlement is defined as a region populated more or less permanently. The houses may be planned or redesigned, buildings may be remodelled, functions may change, ...

What is a linear pattern?

Linear pattern: In such settlements houses are established along a road, river, railway line, canal edge of a valley or along a levee. Rectangular pattern: Such models of rural settlements are found in plain regions or wide intermontane valleys. The roads are rectangular and cross each other at right angles.

What factors influence the location of rural settlements?

3.1 Some factors influencing the location of rural settlements are: 3.2 Rural Settlement Patterns. We all live in clumps of houses. You may call it a village, a city or a town; all are patterns of human settlements. The study of human settlements is essential to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects ...

What are the benefits of a wet point settlement?

Most water-based ‘wet point’ settlements have many benefits such as water for cooking, washing and drinking. Rivers and lakes can be used to water farmland. Water bodies also have aquatic living beings like fish which can be grabbed for diet, and traversable rivers and lakes can be used for shipping.

What is the pattern of a circular village?

Circular pattern: Circular villages grow around lakes, tanks and sometimes the village is organised in such a way that the central part remains accessible and is used for keeping the animals to guard them against wild animals.

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.

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Anthropological Underpinnings

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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:
See more on thoughtco.com

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.
See more on thoughtco.com

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…
See more on thoughtco.com

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, subsurfac…
See more on thoughtco.com

Selected Sources

  1. Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
  2. 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....
  1. Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
  2. 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....
  3. 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/...
  4. 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…

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