EVOLUTION OF THE NORTHERN CAUCASUS CULTURAL LANDSCAPES (THE END OF XVIII - THE BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURIES)

Abstract

We present a review of evolutionary changes in the structure of cultural landscapes of the Northern Caucasus, which are treated as complete cultural-centered geo-systems of natural and public elements. Their main types - since the beginning of the entry of the Northern Caucasus into the sphere of direct influence of the Russian civilization till present - are described. As time-invariant types, we consider traditional ethnocultural landscapes having the features of an ethnocultural substratum both closely connected in structure and functioning with the natural and sociocultural environment.