The Evolution of Natural Landscape Through Toponimy: Lillo (La Mancha, Toledo)
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Abstract
This work deals with the study of the landscape evolution in the vicinity of the town of Lillo (La Mancha, Toledo) through the analysis of toponyms contained in various documentary sources (Cadastre of the Marquis of Ensenada, 1752 and Rustic, 1944) and cartography for different scales and years. The studied period is thus extended over a wide temporal space (mid-eighteenth century to the present). The determination and typology of place names, persistence or disappearance become the working methodology for evolutionary study of the environment. Only 3% of the names have been preserved over time. Wetlands from Lillo that are, like many others characterized by seasonality and salinity were scarcely considered by the people belonging to their environments. Their buckets often served as places where garbage and other waste were disposed, and only occasionally were exploited to obtain salt; at present those which have been preserved are the focus for various projects aimed at their restoration and/or preservation.