ABSTRACT
The spectrum of sources that comes into question may be most limited with an inquiry oriented toward the materiality of spaces or with thought concerned with the surface of the earth. The emergence or transformation of a certain type of source related to space can become an object of investigation. Spaces can arise when initially sporadic practices take a more permanent shape: such instances can often be observed in connection with the emergence of religious movements or reformation movements. Beyond formation–transformation–dissolution, the history of space includes what can be called the spatialization of social processes. Spatial formations or spatial constellations are the result of social processes of negotiation, meaning an intellectual or material activity of construction, or of efforts to create order carried out by participating agents. In addition to the differentiated consideration of spatial formations and the analysis of word pairs or dichotomies related to space, another instrument exists for examining the spaces of historical societies.
