ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the many legends of villages lost to the dunes, including several examples from countries in Europe. Using diverse data from archeological excavations, carbon dating, and historical sources, this chapter analyzes the facts behind such stories, illustrating how people have struggled against windblown sands since ancient times. The data also indicate an increase in dune mobility between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Scientists have long connected this phenomenon to the climatic conditions of the Little Ice Age. However, less has been said about the human impact. This chapter provides historical information from different regions to advance the idea that local populations and their activities—such as deforestation, agriculture, and cattle grazing—contributed to the destruction of dune vegetation cover and the onset of transgressive coastal dune behavior.
