Sequent Occupance

The American geographer Derwent Whittlesey is credited with first articulating the concept of sequent occupance, although he drew heavily on the theoretical work of others in the field of cultural geography, especially the ideas of Carl Sauer (see sidebar). Sequent occupance is the notion that landscapes are shaped over time by the sequential settlement, or at least sequential use, of that landscape by various groups who occupy the land. Thus, according to the proponents of this approach to landscape study, a place can be understood only through an examination of the historical impact of such occupation, and a comprehension of the nature of the culture at each stage of occupation. 

The theory had a deep influence on the approach of historical and cultural geographers in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The concept of sequent occupance has its roots in Social Darwinism, in that the landscape is seen as evolving over time due to the various influences upon it, and the condition of the present landscape contains elements from all previous occupations. Most of the proponents of sequent occupance emphasize the necessity of fieldwork to identify the ways that the land had been utilized by past cultures. Past occupancy is reflected in the presence of structures from previous cultures, alterations of the natural environment, etc. Such a reading of the landscape reveals the practices and processes that combine to form the landscape in its present condition. Sequent occupance as a theory of geographical development focuses on the relationship between human activity and the natural environment, although there is no implicit assumption that the sequence is necessarily continuous, or that successive occupations and uses are superior to those that came previously.

The theory is in almost direct opposition to the intellectual position of environmental determinism, because sequent occupance suggests that how cultures use the landscape is not predominantly determined by the physical environment, but rather is a product of the culture itself. Various cultures, in other words, interact with the landscape based on their technological capacity, and it is that capacity, not the environment, that dictates the human-landscape dynamic. Sequent occupance is a conceptual component of many contemporary studies in cultural ecology, and both emerged from an emphasis on human ecology in the work of some geographers in the early 20th century. 

In some cases the historical patterns of settlement of a place may be partially revealed through a study of the local toponymy, which frequently carries clues to the history of previous cultural occupants as well as to a place’s former function on the landscape. Sequent occupance continues to have a strong influence on studies in historical geography, and most contemporary historical geographers engaged in holistic landscape studies would subscribe to the basic principle of the theory, i.e., a landscape cannot be completely understood in a vacuum of time, and only a consideration of all past cultural uses will result in a full picture of the relationship between human activity and the physical environment.