Cadastral documents

Cadastral documents describe property, usually in a fairly systematic manner, and sometimes relate this information to a population listing. Most are concerned with landed property (fields, houses, commercial and industrial premises), but some will also give details of livestock, crops and debts. Land may be listed geographically with each property given a number which relates to a parcel on a map. Alternatively, the description may proceed by owner, with the property for each person listed under his or her name. A few surveys use both methods together.

A cadastral survey would have been made at a particular time, although the compilation may take several months. Therefore, it shows the state of property at a single point in time. This limits the use of such documents in areas of anthropological research because there is no information about property transmission but this is not always the case. Some cadasters will have marginal notes which give details of sales or inheritance which affected the property over a number of years following the date of the survey. Several surveys may exist for one geographical area which may be close enough to allow conclusions to be drawn about changes. Some cadasters formalise the updating process by noting each transmission that takes place.

Where a cadastral map exists, this may be very useful for examining a number of themes such as ecological studies, examining the relationship of family, kinship and space, or urban development. Using cadastral information in conjunction with computer software such as a Geographical Information System can be of great benefit here. The amount of data, though, can be enormous. Maps will also have to be digitised. One solution may be to work on a small geographical area, perhaps one where the researcher has good fieldwork data.

Cadastral surveys are commonly found for towns and villages in south western Europe but are not limited to those societies. Other documents, such as surveys of private or public estates may be found elsewhere and have similar potential uses. While common in the 19th and 20th century, property surveys exist from the 14th century for some areas.

Two examples will serve to illustrate different types of survey. The Catasto Onciario made 1742 - 54 for the Kingdom of Naples, southern Italy, lists property by owner. It has an integral population listing but no map. A different form of survey can be seen in the 19th century French Ancien Cadastre. Books of tabular data relate to a series of maps by way of parcel numbers and information was updated until a complete new survey was made this century.