The paper at issue presents an analytical revision of the conceptual framework and the scientific boundaries of environmental history in comparison to historical ecology. For this matter we evaluate and discuss influences, founding ideas as well as the incorporation of different concepts from other areas like anthropology, history, geography, archaeology, ethnobiology, etc. Conceptual parameters such as landscape, territory (paleo-territory), scales (spatial and temporal) and region constitute as more or less important guidelines. The main goal of this paper is to comprehend and differentiate environmental history and historical ecology as well as identify the unifying concepts and understand the role of geography to join the two disciplines that both in their way try to comprehend the complex interrelation between human beings and the physical environment that surrounds them.
Environmental history; Ecological history; Geography; Landscape; Human-nature dichotomy