A Lasting Impression

Maybe you've seen this fascinating article floating around. The recent heat fluctuations in Wales have unveiled long-buried remains of hillforts and towns.

"The buried ramparts of Cross Oak Hillfort, Talybont-on-Usk, showing as crop marks in Powys." Credit: RCAHMW

This made me think about the effects of civilization on terrain. I'm working on vegetation cover right now, and if the conditions are right, forest will cover much of the surface of the planet. Obviously, this is affected by the current population, but it's also affected by those who have lived there before. I'm definitely going to be thinking about this more when I tackle the procedural history problem. Today, in real life, we have grassland plains and meadows caused by the deforestation of ancient peoples, where there should be woodland. This should be apparent from the ebb and flow of the terrain.

Consider how your ancient civilizations shaped the land under the unsuspecting feet of your more modern cities.