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The Tappino Area Archaeological Project, initiated in 2013, investigates ancient settlement dynamics in Molise, Italy. Ancient literary sources suggest a unique, non-urban settlement system for this mountainous region. Preliminary surveys for the Hellenistic period indicate a concentration of rural settlements on hill plateaus, suggesting a societal organization based on rural clusters. However, we must rigorously assess whether this pattern reflects genuine settlement organization or a research bias, a frequent challenge in landscape archaeology. This paper applies standard survey techniques with a proportionate stratified sampling approach, incorporating less-studied landscape areas. Additionally, we examine how factors like archaeological visibility, land use, and lithology may influence our understanding of settlement patterns and demography, using a statistically adequate framework to strengthen the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries mention the presence of numerous quilombos on the Tinharé island, on the coast of the state of Bahia, in Brazil. However, the white men who wrote the documents did not know the exact locations and generically called them forests. Currently, the island has three self-recognized quilombola communities, but the places where those quilombola communities are currently located do not necessarily correspond to the settlements in the past. Therefore, identifying these archeological sites poses a challenge involving theoretical and epistemological debates. From the archaeological and ethnographic work carried out in partnership with residents of the quilombola community of Galeão, in Tinharé Island, some of the settlements in the interior of the island were found and excavated. Through community-based archeological research, this article shows the work developed together with members of the quilombola community to find these sites, understand the present materiality, and the pattern of the places chosen by their ancestors to form remote settlements in the insular forest. The landscape is modeled as a structure of resistance to keep the quilombola territory safe over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a detailed archaeological analysis of the Battle of Mallorca, an impactful yet understudied aspect of the Spanish Civil War, framed within the "Espais de la Batalla de Mallorca (2017–2022)" project. Conducted in the summer of 2019, the excavation at Son Carrió focused on a key area to understand the dynamics and consequences of this significant early military defeat for the Spanish Republic. Through the integration of archaeological data, historical documentation, and ethnography, the study employs a multifaceted approach that enriches our understanding of both the military strategies employed and the everyday realities faced by individuals during the conflict. The research highlights how the combination of landscape archaeology, memory studies, and heritage studies can provide profound insights into the way battles shape physical and cultural landscapes. These theoretical frameworks help articulate how material remnants and spatial configurations from the battle contribute to ongoing cultural memory and heritage preservation efforts. By examining the material culture and defensive structures discovered at Son Carrió, the study offers new perspectives on the combatants' experiences and the broader sociopolitical implications of the war. This comprehensive examination not only deepens the historiography of the Spanish Civil War but also advocates for the integration of diverse theoretical perspectives in reconstructing historical events. The findings demonstrate the value of archaeological studies in revealing nuanced narratives that contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of past conflicts, emphasizing the role of archaeology in bridging the gap between historical events and contemporary collective memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape-oriented approaches in archaeology have moved beyond site-based research to interpret how people have engaged with, modified, and constructed the environment and how the legacies of these activities continue to influence land use. In the Maya Lowlands, landscape archaeology is related to the analysis of settlement patterns, households, agricultural intensification, and water management. The increasing availability of LiDAR data has revolutionized the mapping of archaeological landscapes under vegetation, especially in tropical environments like the Maya Lowlands, but researchers still emphasize site-oriented settlement densities and infrastructure. Furthermore, the accessibility of drone-based LiDAR platforms has the potential to collect data across several seasons or years to facilitate change detection. In this paper, we compare three LiDAR datasets collected from 2018 to 2023, using both occupied and unoccupied airborne systems. The landscape surrounding the archaeological site of El Infiernito, Chiapas, Mexico near the Classic period (AD 250–800) dynastic capital of Piedras Negras, Guatemala was selected to compare these LiDAR datasets in the context of prior, extensive ground-based fieldwork. These data were used to interpret the built environment, land use, hydrology, landscapes of movement, and other infrastructure constructed and modified by several communities beginning in the Late Preclassic period (400 BC–AD 250) to the present. When used alongside systematic survey and ground verification, the combination of several LiDAR platforms to collect data across different seasons at El Infiernito enhanced the understanding of the spatial distribution of archaeological sites and features across the karst landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical photographs are commonly available in landscape archaeology; however, they are rarely used systematically for the maximum benefit in terms of spatial and temporal information. In the framework of the al-ʿŪla Cultural Oasis Project (funded and steered by the French Agency for AlUla Development on behalf of the Royal Commission for AlUla), photographs taken at ground level by the Dominican Fathers Antonin Jaussen and Raphaël Savignac in the early 20th century a.d. were geolocated by identifying mountain peaks in the background and comparing distance ratios (on the photos) with angle ratios (on GIS). These locations were then visited in the field to re-take the photographs. This work demonstrates the value of recontextualized ground-level photographs to improve our knowledge of archaeological landscapes when cross-referenced with data from a systematic archaeological survey. We also propose a reproducible methodology for geolocating historical photographs in similar or other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last seven years, PlanetScope satellites have started near-daily imaging of parts of the Earth's surface, making high-density multitemporal, multispectral, 3-m pixel imagery accessible to researchers. Multitemporal satellite data enables landscape archaeologists to examine changes in environmental conditions at time scales ranging from daily to decadal. This kind of temporal resolution can accentuate landscape features on the ground by de-emphasizing non-permanent signatures caused by seasonal or even daily changes in vegetation. We argue that the availability of high spatial and temporal resolution multispectral imagery from Planet Inc. will enable new approaches to studying archaeological visibility in landscapes. While palimpsests are discrete overlapping layers of material accumulation, multitemporal composites capture cyclical and seasonal time and can be used to interpret past landscape histories at multiple scales. To illustrate this perspective, we present three case studies using PlanetScope imagery in tropical environments on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Zanzibar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper explores the application of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) technology in the investigation of the medieval Norman site of Castel Fenuculus, in the lower Calore Valley, Southern Italy. This research aims to assess the actual potential of the ALS dataset provided by the Italian Ministry of the Environment (MATTM) for the detection and visibility of archaeological features in a difficult environment characterised by dense vegetation and morphologically complex terrain. The study focuses on improving the detection and interpretation of archaeological features through a systematic approach that includes the acquisition of ALS point clouds, the implementation of classification algorithms, and the removal of vegetation layers to reveal the underlying terrain and ruined structures. Furthermore, the aim was to test different classification and filtering techniques to identify the best one to use in complex contexts, with the intention of providing a comprehensive and replicable methodological framework. Finally, the Digital Elevation Model (DTM), and various LiDAR-derived models (LDMs), were generated to visualise and highlight topographical features potentially related to archaeological remains. The results obtained demonstrate the significant potential of LiDAR in identifying and documenting archaeological features in densely vegetated and wooded landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's rapid economic development, marked by industrial growth, expanding transportation networks and urbanization has brought many benefits but also poses a significant threat to the nation's cultural and natural heritage. A recent NIAS Policy Brief highlights the urgent need for clear regulatory boundaries and effective enforcement to protect cultural heritage sites from urban sprawl and degradation. Citing examples such as Nalanda, Halebeedu, Srirangapatna and Bodh Gaya, it emphasizes that unchecked development can erode the historical integrity of heritage landscapes. It advocates for a multi-tiered approach using modern technologies like geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing, along with community engagement and stricter land-use controls, to ensure sustainable preservation. Thotlakonda and Bavikonda, two significant Buddhist heritage sites in Andhra Pradesh, were declared protected by the Government of Andhra Pradesh on 2nd May 1978. However, imprecise descriptions of the protected area have led to conflicting interpretations, fuelling litigation between parties aiming to preserve the sites and parties pushing for development. This study utilizes remote sensing and GIS to examine these sites and their surrounding landscapes, identifying potential archaeological features and assessing the impact of recent land-use changes in preserving these historically important areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractLarge-scale archaeological surveys in coastal areas can be challenging. Factors such as remoteness, logistics, accessibility, and weather conditions can render fieldwork time-consuming and expensive in rugged archipelagic settings. Remote sensing encompasses several methods that can be used for increasing the survey area and promoting new archaeological insights. Moreover, it can be an affordable option. Google Earth (among others) collects aerial and satellite imagery from third parties and makes them freely available from anywhere in the world. In southern Tierra del Fuego, clusters of ring-shaped shell middens are conspicuous archaeological features. They are abundant in the central part of the Beagle Channel, but it has not been feasible to study their distribution across the Fuegian archipelago because we lack data from many remote areas where fieldwork is not easily conducted. Remote sensing provides a viable option for large-scale surveying due to the general visibility of these midden clusters. In this study, we establish confidence in open access satellite imagery identifications of ring-shaped middens in Tierra del Fuego based on comparisons with UAV LiDAR and conventional ground surveys, arguing that the results are appropriate for studies of large-scale trends. We provide the results from a full desk-based survey of satellite imagery provided by Google Earth, ESRI, and Microsoft Bing, covering 3000 km of coastline up to 1 km inland in southern Tierra del Fuego. Moreover, we determine the geographical distribution of ring-shaped middens and explore large-scale trends in coastal settlement patterns and landscape use—showing that ring-shaped middens are not evenly distributed across the Fuegian archipelago but strongly related to the sheltered areas of the Beagle and Murray Channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tepe Gawra has long been seen as an essential site for late prehistoric and early historic periods, not only in Iraq but for the entirety of northern Mesopotamia. This importance stems from its long sequence, and its implications for understanding the development of societal complexity. Despite its small size, Tepe Gawra has produced evidence of highly specialized practices that overshadowed farming. This has led to the suggestion that the site was a "center" at the top of an administered network. Some scholars have challenged this assertion and suggested that the site had a lower town, which acted as the source of agriculture goods for the site. Since the area had been closed off to archaeological work this debate has not been resolved. Through recent survey work around Tepe Gawra, the authors show that there was an extensive lower town dating to the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age stages of occupation. These findings show that Tepe Gawra was a large self-sustaining settlement exploiting its own agricultural hinterland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the evolution of human settlement in ancient Macedonia from the Neolithic to the Late Roman periods, based on the results of a new multi-disciplinary and multi-scale archaeological survey in northern Grevena (NW Greece). Building upon an unpublished (legacy) survey, we developed a GIS-structured workflow that integrates site-revisiting and surveying strategies (material collection and test pits) with multi-temporal remote-sensing analyses, offering analytical information about site distribution, characterisation, dating, and taphonomy. Notably, the new study led to a 64% increase in the number of known sites. The combined results indicate that prehistory is less represented in the surface record than historical periods, likely due to the impact of soil erosion episodes. The Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age saw increased site numbers and the emergence of a settlement structure that characterised the area until the Hellenistic period. During the Roman period, the pattern shifted from a seemingly limited use of the landscape towards a model of more extensive habitation. This was driven by the appearance of new rural sites that introduced a land-use regime designed to support agricultural intensification by implementing anti-erosion measures, such as field terraces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mount Akraia, located in the northeastern Greek Peloponnese, hosted an open-air worshiping site beginning in the tenth/ninth c BCE. The space gained popularity and was quickly transformed into a monumental sanctuary known as the Argive Heraion. The sanctuary is elevated and easy to spot from a distance; it provides unobstructed views of the surrounding region. The location is historically significant as well, overlying a Mycenaean cemetery and settlement. Ancient authors frame the Argive Heraion as a touchstone sacred landmark; contemporary scholars echo these descriptions. This article synthesizes the textual and material record, questioning which of the Argive Heraion’s visual characteristics captivated worshipers’ senses, and if worshipers’ perceptions shifted over time. My complete dataset spans the tenth–second c BCE and considers all other places where group worship happened in the Argive Plain. Using GIS and text analyses, I measure and compare an array of viewing experiences that were culturally meaningful for Greek worshipers. The resultant models compare the Argive Heraion’s visualscape over time, framed against the broader sacred landscape. I also look to the present day. Using contemporary tourist reviews, I unpack nuances that are missing in the archaeological and historical record. Personal histories shift what we see and how we see it.

This article is introducing a method for the analysis of landscape visual coherence. Inspired by landscape and architecture research, the landscape chambers method is based on quantitative analysis of visibility networks, modelled in a digital environment. It relies on an algorithm for the detection of closely connected subgroups within an intervisibility network, in order to isolate visually distinct areas or landscape chambers. This approach is applied to prehistoric landscapes in the Parisian Basin (2000–500 BCE), where funerary monuments reveal complex relationships between past populations and their visual landscape. The analysis uncovered that these monuments were typically placed in visually exposed locations, with preference, in certain cases, for visually coherent landscape chambers. The proposed approach thus offered insights into the semiosis of the prehistoric landscape, i.e., the production of new meanings through visual discourse. More generally, the proposed method aims to provide a conceptual and methodological bridge between the study of physical and mental spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article collects the preliminary results of the SEXLAVES project focused on the archaeological study of the materialities generated by the sexual exploitation of women in the northwest of Spain. Using landscape archaeology and the archaeology of architecture, we study ruined brothels that were in use between the 1980s and the 2000s. These archaeological remains show in all their crudeness the impunity of a mafia and criminal business that it is based on the kidnapping, coercion and control of women. This archaeology of the recent past makes public spaces originally intended to be made invisible, searches for the material trace of women who are truly socially disappeared, and denounces a model of capitalist predation that exploits bodies, landscapes and territories in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian South Sea Islanders are a distinctive cultural group comprising descendants of over 60000 labourers who came to Australia from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the Western Pacific between 1863 and 1904. "Blackbirded" labourers were commonly referred to as victims of a slave trade, though many also came voluntarily to work in the sugar plantations of northern New South Wales and Queensland. The advent of racist exclusionary immigration policies introduced from 1901 further forced South Sea Islanders to the margins of colonial society. Yet many Australian South Sea Islanders would argue their untold history speaks to resilience and overcoming adversity. Australian South Sea Islanders have a distinctive cultural heritage, including material culture, oral traditions embedded in the landscape and connections to places – from sugar mills to domestic sites – revealed archaeologically. This heritage must be approached sensitively given its association with sometimes difficult histories but is crucial to understanding the contributions of Australian South Sea Islanders to Australian society, contemporary communities and identities, and historical and social significance across multiple scales. Collaborative research with Australian South Sea Islanders pushes the boundaries of "community archaeology" by taking a slow approach to research, reframing ethnographic objects and cultural landscapes, and producing an archaeology that can include many voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne lidar (light detection and ranging), which produces three-dimensional models of ground surfaces under the forest canopy, has become an important tool in archaeological research. On a microscale, lidar can lead to a new understanding of building shapes and orientations that were not recognized previously. On a medium scale, it can provide comprehensive views of settlements, cities, and polities and their relationships to the topography. It also facilitates studies of diverse land use practices, such as agricultural fields, roads, and canals. On a macroscale, lidar provides a means to comprehend broad spatial patterns beyond individual sites, including the implications of vacant spaces. A significant challenge for archaeologists is the integration of historical and temporal information in order to contextualize lidar data in the framework of landscape archaeology. In addition, a rapid increase in lidar data presents ethical issues, including the question of data ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monumental scale agricultural infrastructure systems built by Andean peoples during pre-Hispanic times have enabled intensive agriculture in the high-relief, arid/semi-arid landscape of the Southern Peruvian Andes. Large tracts of these labor-intensive systems have been abandoned, however, owing in large measure to a range of demographic, economic, and political crises precipitated by the Spanish invasion of the 16th century CE. This research seeks to better understand the dynamics of agricultural intensification and deintensification in the Andes by inventorying through the semantic segmentation of active and abandoned agricultural fields in satellite imagery across approximately 77,000 km2 of the Southern Peruvian Highlands. While manual digitization of agricultural fields in satellite imagery is time-consuming and labor-intensive, deep learning-based semantic segmentation makes it possible to map and classify en masse Andean agricultural infrastructure. Using high resolution satellite imagery, training and validation data were manually produced in distributed sample areas and were used to transfer-train a convolutional neural network for semantic segmentation. The resulting dataset was compared to manual surveys of the region and results suggest that deep learning can generate larger and more accurate datasets than those generated by hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the long-term occupation of the Perputxent Valley with the purpose of exploring the factors that could explain the long-lasting and trans-cultural occupation of resilient sites and landscapes for nearly two millennia. The first part describes the archaeological research carried out based on remote sensing and intensive coverage survey methods and geoarchaeological analysis. The characterisation of the intensive agricultural uses has been studied from the geochemical analysis of the soil and sedimentary record. The objective is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental processes and the possible evidence of the agricultural practices. This research has identified the residential spaces, the sites and the agrarian land-uses, especially intensive farmlands. The second part analyses the evidence of this long-term settlements in the context of the archaeological, ethnographic and historical record of the region. Understanding these practices of agriculture and land-use can contribute to understandings of what makes societies sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses elite continuity and settlement pattern change in Zagori (NW Greece) from the late fourteenth to the nineteenth century. The peaceful assimilation of the regional and local elites into the Ottoman Empire (1430) led to adaptations in the montane landscape. Imperial and local archival research, ethnography, and landscape archaeology reveal that the Ottoman administration divided large decentralized settlements into smaller villages to accommodate local elites and new timariots. This topography of division (fifteenth to sixteenth centuries) gave way to a topography of adaptation (seventeenth to nineteenth centuries) when local elites influenced settlement patterns in forming the administrative unit the Zagorisian League. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Gulf of Manfredonia has, for millennia, been the primary water feature of the coastal wetland of Northern Apulia, Italy, although modern reclamation works make writing its long-term history challenging. Our recent paleoenvironmental research has reconstructed the evolution of the southern half of this lagoon since the Neolithic period. Here, we write a history of water management and environmental change in this landscape from the perspective of two key urban sites: pre-Roman Salpia vetus and Roman Salapia. The Roman architectural historian Vitruvius recounts the abandonment of Salpia vetus and the refoundation of Salapia. We employ his narrative as a frame for a more complex environmental history, starting from a historiography of this landscape's study and a summary of our interdisciplinary research agenda, which unifies environmental, topographical, remote sensing, and archaeological approaches. Resilience in this changeable wetland environment was only possible through an integrated and intentional management of water among rivers, the lagoon, and the Adriatic Sea. While Salpia vetus exploited this wetland and thrived for centuries, the settlement eventually collapsed due to human and environmentally impelled factors. Roman Salapia subsequently emerged with a different approach, new infrastructure, and a new location. This blueprint would sustain urban life in this wetland for six centuries and lay the groundwork for the Medieval town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of ancient disused mining contexts in the Mediterranean region is particularly challenging due to the impact of modern reclamation works and the presence of dense vegetation, which impede the application of conventional archaeological research methods. Pivoting on the multidisciplinary approach driven by the ERC nEU-Med project to the study of historical landscapes, and thanks to a new LiDAR survey promoted by the project in 2019, new investigations were carried out in ancient and modern mining contexts in the territory of Colline Metallifere (southern Tuscany, Italy). The district is renowned for its important metal deposits characterized by copper, lead, zinc and silver vein bodies that have been mined since the Bronze Age, with a particularly intense phase of exploitation during the Medieval period. The primary objective of the LiDAR DTM analysis was to map features and delineate the characteristics of the archaeo-mining landscape in five densely vegetated contexts. The analysis revealed numerous novel evidence related to mining activities (574 within the five territorial samples analyzed in this contribution), of which 72% were also inspected through fieldwalking surveys. These features have been interpreted by means of archaeological surveys, documentary research and statistical and spatial analysis. A particular focus was placed on the study of the most prevalent type of feature, which is the mining shaft. The development of reliable parameters of interpretation, including the dimensional aspects of each individual mining shaft (area, diameter and depth of the basin), the distances between shafts, and presence or absence of dumps, played a crucial role in disentangling the complex topography of the mining sites. The favourable results achieved through this study will enable the application of the method on a larger scale to other nearby mining contexts, overcoming the constraints of accessibility and visibility that have so far significantly influenced the analysis of mining territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape research in archaeology has greatly benefited from the increasing application of computational methods over the last decades. Spatial statistical methods such as point pattern analysis have been particularly revolutionary. Archaeologists have used point pattern analysis to explore spatial arrangements and relations between 'points' (e.g., locations of artefacts or archaeological sites). However, the results obtained from these techniques can be greatly affected by the uncertainty coming from the fragmentary nature of archaeological data, their irregular distribution in the landscape, and the working methods used to study them. Furthermore, the quantification of uncertainty in spatial data coming from non-systematic surveys has never been fully addressed. To overcome this challenge, archaeologists have increasingly relied on applying advanced methods from statistics, data science, and geography. While the application of advanced methods from formal sciences will provide robustness to models based on uncertain datasets, as with uncertainty, robustness must be assessed in relation to the case study, the regional context, and the methods used. These issues are of great importance when the models from advanced methods are directly used to create narratives about past landscapes. In this paper, we gather previous research on uncertainty quantification in archaeology and formalize its best practices into a framework to assess robustness and uncertainty in spatial statistical models, particularly focusing on one commonly used in the discipline, i.e., the Pair Correlation Function. This framework allows us to understand better how incomplete data affect a model, quantify the model uncertainties, and assess the robustness of the results achieved with spatial point processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing livestock in uplands was a widespread practice in late Medieval and early modern Europe, but there can be uncertainty about the date and function of archaeological sites associated with herding. This paper reviews fieldwork on such sites in northern and northwestern Europe and reports on the excavation of a hut and enclosure in the mountains of southwestern Ireland. The hut was found to have been built in the 16th or 17th centuries a.d. and was probably used to oversee dairy animals (likely cows). The enclosure was dated to the early 18th or early–mid-19th century a.d. and is more likely associated with goat milking. The excavations demonstrate that construction dates can be obtained for pastoral sites in uplands of northwestern Europe. Furthermore, with careful reading of features in the surrounding landscape and consideration of documentary and ethnographic evidence, fieldwork can help determine the nature of pastoral economies over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Airborne laser scanning (ALS), commonly known as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), is a remote sensing technique that enables transformative archaeological research by providing high‐density 3D representations of landscapes and sites covered by vegetation whose analysis reveals hidden features and structures. ALS can detect targets under trees and grasslands, making it an ideal archaeological survey and mapping tool. ALS instruments are usually mounted on piloted aircraft. However, since the mid‐2010s, smaller laser scanners can be mounted on uncrewed aerial vehicles or drones. In this article, we examined the viability of drone‐based ALS for archaeological applications by utilizing a RIEGL VUX‐UAV22 sensor to capture point clouds with high spatial resolution at the archaeological site of Heloros in Southeastern Sicily, founded by the Greeks in the late eighth century bce. Using this laser scanner, we surveyed over 1.6 km2 of the archaeological landscape, producing datasets that outperformed noncommercial airborne ALS data for the region made available by the Italian government. We produced derivative imagery free of vegetation, which we visualized in GIS using a modified Local Relief Model technique to aid our archaeological analyses. Our findings demonstrate that drone‐based ALS can penetrate the dense Mediterranean canopy of coastal Sicily with sufficient point density to enable more efficient mapping of underlying archaeological features such as stone quarries, cart tracks, defensive towers and fortification walls. Our study proved that drone‐based ALS sensors can be easily transported to remote locations and that in‐house lab staff can safely operate them, which enables multiple on‐demand surveys and opportunistic collections to be conducted on the fly when environmental conditions are ideal. We conclude that these capabilities further increase the benefits of utilizing ALS for surveying the archaeological landscape under the Mediterranean canopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a pilot landscape‐scale seismic survey undertaken in Apalachee Bay, Florida, across a submerged landscape that contains dozens of Pre‐Contact sites. In addition to the goals of improving the geophysical and remote sensing ground model for this submerged landscape, the survey also sought to undertake the first independent scientific test of the contentious ‘HALD’ methodology, an acoustic resonance method that it is claimed to identify knapped lithic artefacts at and/or below the seabed through the identification of distinct ‘haystack’ responses. The results of this work indicate that the HALD method, as currently described, produces results that could not be scientifically replicated in this survey. We conclude that any HALD ‘haystack’ signal should therefore not be considered as an example of detection of human‐modified lithic material but rather as a geophysical anomaly that requires additional constraints before it can be used to reliably identify human‐modified lithic materials. Thus, although the authors note that laboratory studies have successfully produced an acoustic signal in human‐modified lithics, the field‐based methods remain yet to be reliably determined. In addition to these results, the landscape mapping survey also recorded valuable information on buried and previously unrecorded landscape features that have archaeological significance and that may guide future site prospection. We therefore conclude that despite the results of the HALD test, the well‐preserved submerged landscape of Apalachee Bay region provides a highly useful testing ground for methods that can be deployed elsewhere globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the discovery of megalithic tombs in the Ahlen-Falkenberger Moor in Germany. As part of a research project, three passage graves were examined, in which well-preserved elements of the burial constructions were found. Various burial activities of the Funnel Beaker Culture could be identified and dated. The excavations and scientific analyses provide insights into the complex architecture and use, as well as the environmental development around the megalithic grave Wanna 1592. Various identifiable phases are presented, including the construction of the monument, the burial level and activities in the entrance area, human impacts in the surroundings, destruction and sealing of the chamber, disturbance of the outer stone packing, and the disappearance in the bog. The text describes archaeological finds and soil analyses at a burial mound in Wanna. Two deposits were found, one outside the chamber and one inside the chamber, which can be dated to the Late Bronze Age. Ceramic fragments and flint artifacts were also discovered. The soil analyses show that the burial mound was built on a Luvisol surface, which has transformed into a Podsol outside the mound. Micro-morphological analyses were also conducted, revealing further details about the soil development. The article describes the results of an investigation of megalithic graves in Ahlen-Falkenberg, Denmark. It is noted that the graves have similar construction features and fit into the regional distribution of passage graves. It is speculated that the graves were built in a continuous working process, with social aspects playing a role in the choice and construction of the megaliths. The graves were likely built within a short construction period, and the materials came from the immediate surroundings. The graves were used during the Early Neolithic period and later abandoned in the Late Neolithic period. In Schleswig-Holstein, the entrance of a dolmen was destroyed in the Late Neolithic period. With the continuous rise of the bog water level, Wanna 1591 and 1592 were situated in wet contexts at the end of the Neolithic period, and Wanna 1588 at the latest in the EBA. Human activities increasingly focused on the higher Ahlen Geests, which included landscape clearances. The last practices were carried out during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Wanna 1588, when pottery vessels were placed between two capstones. In conclusion, it can be said that the megalithic landscape of Ahlen-Falkenberg has been well-preserved thanks to peat growth over the past thousands of years, providing insights into the original building elements and techniques, as well as burial practices of the FBC megaliths in the Neolithic period. Further excavations are necessary to clarify open questions. [Extracted from the article]

Reverend Thomas Bridges' Yagan-English dictionary (1879) has hitherto been little explored outside of linguistics but is highly valuable as a complementary source to archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic records in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile). The dictionary contains 22,800 entries and yields rich information concerning the marine lifeways of the Yagan and their and intimate knowledge about Fuegian seascapes. The idea behind this paper is that environments have strong bearings on linguistic vocabularies. Treating words as archaeological objects that map onto landscapes, we identify important landforms for Yagan marine foragers and Norwegian fisher-farmers in a comparative study of word frequencies in Bridges' dictionary and Ivar Aasen's Norwegian dictionary (1850). Moreover, we explore in detail how marine lifestyles and Fuegian seascapes emerge in Bridges' dictionary and discuss the dictionary's relevance for historical archaeology in Tierra del Fuego. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within a landscape, boundaries are the physically or socially defined lines that mark the limits of spaces. They can appear static and binary, and therefore analytically restricted. Yet it is argued here that while space is often analyzed in archaeology to inform social, economic, or institutional interpretations of a landscape, the analysis of boundaries is a complimentary method that captures movement, control, and prohibition mechanisms. Analyzing boundaries is shown to reveal aspects of change – sometimes diachronic and sometimes ephemeral – and a malleability that is often linked to materiality. The examination of the early nineteenth-century historical boundaries of Point Puer, a juvenile convict prison (1834–49) located in lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia, is used as a case study to illustrate their common archaeological forms. It is reasoned that the analysis of boundaries contributes dynamic interpretations of historical landscapes by theorizing boundaries as spatial frameworks to examine social and experiential elements of space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Funded by an American Battlefield Protection Program grant, LiDAR and KOCOA, guided a systematic metal detector survey to identify, and evaluate levels of preservation and battle pattern signatures from the Battle of Buckhead Creek, the largest American Civil War battle site in Southeast Georgia untouched by development. In November 1864, during Sherman's March to the Sea, Confederate and Union cavalry forces waged a running battle across Jenkins and Burke County, Georgia. These actions were ephemeral events in an archaeological sense, in time-depth and their impact on the archaeological record. However, this paper demonstrates that the application of conflict archaeology methodologies can identify and evaluate these sites, despite their wide-ranging geographical context, short-time spans, and the impacts of illicit metal detecting on the battle site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental health influences personal wellbeing through direct experience. Despite this, the focus of the literature on the regeneration and reuse of postindustrial sites considers them as biophysical spaces studied conceptually rather than as places of physical engagement. The literature lacks an embodied perspective and presents such landscapes as sensorially impoverished. Narrative scholarship counters this shortcoming by employing phenomenology, thick description, and immersive walking. Although landscape archaeology, autoethnography, and anthropology apply these approaches, the methodology has rarely been applied to environmental "restoration" projects. This article reviews the literature and proposes a methodology for studying post-industrial sites based on sensorial "mind walking." The approach enables a better understanding of the reclamation process and offers lessons for professionals building restorative experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The case study area is a small but typical prehistoric landscape in the Kras Plateau on the north coast of the central Mediterranean. The Late Bronze and Iron Age Kras Plateau was an emblematic Mediterranean archaeological landscape dotted with numerous hillforts. Since the mid‐20th century, the landscape had been overgrown with some of the most archaeology‐hostile vegetation, severely impeding landscape archaeology until archaeological LiDAR revealed thousands of archaeological features that attest to a carefully constructed and managed agro‐pastoral landscape. However, these discoveries were hampered by insecure chronology typical of any LiDAR guided analysis. This case study meticulously documented two prehistoric hillforts and a previously unknown agro‐pastoral landscape with hundreds of archaeological features. The focus of the article, however, was on establishing a more precise and objective dating method. We proposed a multiproxy method to date the archaeological landscape. It combines relative dating using remote sensing data and historical maps; dating based on historical context; relative stratigraphic dating; indirect dating based on associated archaeological finds; and dating by association. Particularly, we focused on the association‐based dating of archaeological features. We proposed a method based on the concept of taskscapes that relies on kernel density estimation. Using these methods, we objectively demonstrated that agro‐pastoral landscape features documented with archaeological LiDAR were contemporaneous with Late Bronze Age and Iron Age hillforts and have no connection to the post‐medieval landscape. The latter has important methodological implications for the prehistoric archaeology of Mediterranean karst landscapes, where backdating post‐Medieval landscapes is a common practise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Settlements and dwellings related to pastoral communities in mountainous areas speak to the adaptation strategies of people to this specific environment. This paper describes unprecedented archaeological features found in the Nuratau Mountains of Uzbekistan, dated between the 18th-early 20th centuries AD, and interpreted as living places of pastoralist groups. Preliminary statistical and spatial analyses provide information on the intra- and inter-site organization and the settlement patterns of these communities. We document some variability in patterns of social and spatial organization of the dwellings and campsites and we discuss the interweaving of the ecological and cultural factors governing the settlement systems. When studied as both physical structures and social spaces, the Nuratau campsites contribute to highlight the choices made by pastoral communities in the past and to investigate the integration of human activities in mountain landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a peculiarly Nigerian valence of crisis and disorder ubiquitously referenced within cultural forms, the term Wahala offers an important vantage point for understanding contemporary narrativizations of crisis. This article takes the phrase Wahala dey like Bicycle, a slang expression popularized in the country in 2020, as a starting point from which to rethink crisis, chaos, and adversity as narrated in the Nigerian social imaginary. I argue that Wahala provides the conceptual hinge with which to theorize crisis, not only as a condition of social debilitation that pivots between disorder and agency, but also as an instrument of social mobility that derives from endemic disorder as its propellant. Placing this discursive idiom and its echoes in the Nigerian slang-scape in conversation with Wole Soyinka's Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, I trace how it illuminates debilitations of endemic crisis, as well as the juncture of incapacitation, spatial contingencies, and agentic action that Nigerian subjects navigate within and transcend in their everyday lives through modes of improvisation. In mapping a geography of crisis, Soyinka's novel demonstrates how endemic disorder and social unease manifest across the landscape in a conflict-prone social environment, allowing us to understand the itineraries of subjects who must invent meaning, control, and survival within such social geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Urbanization is one of the milestones in the development of human society. Many regions in the southern parts of ‘the old world’ demonstrating an early emergence of agriculture also witnessed the flourishing of some of the earliest cities. Recent, yet still sparse, archaeological evidence appears to indicate a relatively later time for early urbanism in central Eurasia. However, given its vital geographic location and cultural nexus between East and West, more attention should be paid to the sedentary communities and their cities in oases amid the vast droughty desert, particularly in light of the rapidly increasing number of publications on early pastoralism and related communication routes along mountain chains and rivers. This study reveals the trajectory of urbanization and its role in the establishment of an exchange network in Xinjiang’s oasis region via reconstruction of the chronological sequence of the local societal history of the Baiyang River Basin along the southern piedmont of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains. A thorough archaeological investigation and refined radiocarbon dating programme was carried out and coupled with information from historical documentation within a Bayesian statistical framework. The results indicate three pulses of local urbanization during: the Early Iron Age, Tang–Yuan period, and Qing Dynasty, respectively. Combining this with evidence from other parts of Xinjiang, we re-evaluate the role of oasis urbanism in the promotion of trans-regional exchange.

The Dacian fortress at Cucuiș- Dealul Golu (Hunedoara County) is a lesser-known fortified hilltop situated not far from the capital of the Dacian Kingdom. Discovered in the 1970s, it underwent several systematic research campaigns in the 1990s; however, the published information remains scarce. There is no record of a published plan, and the research reports do not include any visual documentation. The entirety of Hunedoara County is now covered by ANCPI’s recently released digital terrain model, which was generated from LiDAR data. This offers a remarkable potential for conducting archaeological landscape research, particularly with regard to the Dacian era. By utilizing the most recent data, this article presents a fresh viewpoint on the layout of the Dacian fortress at Cucuiș, specifically highlighting the terraces, fortifications, and pathways.

This paper represents an attempt at a detailed analysis of woodland presence and dynamics during the Middle Ages (AD 500-1500), as a contribution to the current debate on large-scale reforestation in the Netherlands. Palynological data for this particular period are scarce and allow only global reconstructions. To widen our search for historical woodland proxies, we investigated the potential of archaeologically excavated tree-trunk wells. We carried out a nation-wide inventory of this type of well, in which the shaft is formed by hollowed-out tree trunks, typically large oak trees. Our suspicion that such trees indicate the local presence of (old) woodland in the past was confirmed by a marked positive correlation with spatial reconstructions based on other sources of information: archaeological (charcoal kilns) and non-archaeological (place names and historical references). The observed correlations suggest that mapping the distribution of precisely dated tree-trunk wells can indeed contribute to achieving fairly detailed reconstructions of medieval woodland cover.

Highlights: • The research contributes to a better understanding of the forms of settlement in the ancient landscape of Alto de Toche, influenced by Cerro Machin Volcano disaster risk. • A terrain modelling reconstructed a geoarchaeological mountain landscape, composed of massive systems of terraces at Alto de Toche Wax Palm cloud forest. • From digital photogrammetry in fieldwork, three sites were detailed. A DEM of the settlement pattern projected 37 possible new terraces. The resulting map is accessible in an ArcGIS-online web application. Abstract: The enhancement of the archaeological terraces on the Alto de Toche and the Wax Palm forest is unprecedented. The Toche region in Colombia contains an outstanding anthropised ecosystems presence (8000 BP), characterised by complex inherited cultural patterns, according to the evidences on the eastern margin of the Andes Central Cordillera. The research focused on i) the cultural landscape of the Premontane and Montane Cloud Forests of the Alto de Toche, built by the Toches; ii) its high-altitude settlements, interpreted as a strategy of ecological knowledge, deeply linked to their symbolic understanding of the landscape. Fieldwork in three sets of tambos (terraces for habitational settlements) in La Carbonera, Gallego, and Las Cruces sites was analysed using remote sensing, drone digital photogrammetry, and on-site data. Their interpretation projected a settlement pattern; a typological-topological tambos classification inferred its possible functions such as sighting, funerary, and dwelling, from 2600 MASL to biggest sites at 3000 MASL, related to the sun-moon proximity presumed for gatherings. The authors conclude that the patterns respond to a territorial understanding of its resources and the vertical exploitation of the agricultural thermal floors and micro-watersheds, associated with the east-west solar illumination over both sides of the Tochecito River basin; linked with the transit between ridges and steep slopes, through the network of pathways that originated the Quindío Trail. Data were projected crossing field-data photogrammetry with GIS spatial analysis; this resulted in a terrain model that reconstructs a geoarchaeological landscape composed of massive systems of tambos. Thirty-seven new sites were classified, twenty of them above 2800 MASL. The resulting terrain model facilitates a non-invasive previous prospection for fieldwork planning and a more feasible knowledge of accessibility, due to on-site transit difficulties (steep slopes and very unstable soil due to cattle ranching). Finally, the terrain model was uploaded in an easy-to-access ArcGIS-online web application for sharing with community stakeholders and visiting scientists.

The aim of this paper is to present the archaeological data that allows us to characterise the agrarian practices of Roman farmers through the study of cultivated fields. To undertake this research, we designed an analytical strategy combining spatial analysis, microstratigraphic analysis through soil micromorphology and physical-chemical analyses of bulk soil samples, and archaeobotanical analyses including palynology, phytoliths and geochemical analysis. All this has allowed us to obtain data of interest for the reconstruction of agrarian land use and to establish a methodological basis for developing future research. This high-resolution, multiscalar, and multianalytical approach pursues to characterise these archaeological contexts to singularize intensive agricultural practices developed in terraced field. The creation of this Roman peasant landscape is related to a specific models of socioeconomic organisation of agricultural work based on the household and its workforce as a determining vector in agrarian intensification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Landscape‐scale LiDAR‐based studies are becoming increasingly prevalent in archaeology, mainly focusing on detecting archaeological sites to create datasets for spatial analysis. However, the representativeness of these datasets in accurately reflecting the surviving distributions of archaeological sites has often been overlooked. This paper discusses issues of sampling and representativeness in LiDAR‐derived datasets, particularly within the scope of large‐scale landscape studies in Mediterranean contexts. Drawing insights from the Ancient Hillforts Survey, which analysed 15 296 km2 in south‐central Italy, the study examines the variability in the visibility of different site typologies in open‐source but low‐resolution LiDAR data. Through an examination of hillforts, platform farms, settlements, field systems, traces of Roman centuriation, and transhumance routes, the paper highlights significant variability in the identification and mapping within and across different site types. Recognizing the need to account for this variability in the development of spatial analysis, the paper discusses the use of sampling areas to address this variability. This approach aims to effectively mitigate potential biases in analysis, emphasizing the necessity for nuanced methodologies in interpreting LiDAR data for archaeological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is one of the milestones in the development of human society. Many regions in the southern parts of 'the old world' demonstrating an early emergence of agriculture also witnessed the flourishing of some of the earliest cities. Recent, yet still sparse, archaeological evidence appears to indicate a relatively later time for early urbanism in central Eurasia. However, given its vital geographic location and cultural nexus between East and West, more attention should be paid to the sedentary communities and their cities in oases amid the vast droughty desert, particularly in light of the rapidly increasing number of publications on early pastoralism and related communication routes along mountain chains and rivers. This study reveals the trajectory of urbanization and its role in the establishment of an exchange network in Xinjiang's oasis region via reconstruction of the chronological sequence of the local societal history of the Baiyang River Basin along the southern piedmont of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains. A thorough archaeological investigation and refined radiocarbon dating programme was carried out and coupled with information from historical documentation within a Bayesian statistical framework. The results indicate three pulses of local urbanization during: the Early Iron Age, Tang–Yuan period, and Qing Dynasty, respectively. Combining this with evidence from other parts of Xinjiang, we re-evaluate the role of oasis urbanism in the promotion of trans-regional exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mountain area bordering Mesopotamia witnessed remarkable transformations to the human and cultural landscape starting from the end of the 2nd millennium. Stone hilltop structures began to spread and became the most distinct settlement form. Moreover, there was a dramatic increase in metalworking and weapons production, showing how the local social structure shifted towards militarization of society. These heavily fortified settlements have usually been labeled as "cyclopean fortresses" due to their similarity to European defensive structures. However, being built with large stones on strategic hilltops, they played different political and economic roles, and some were likely the seat of important local political entities. Fortresses from the southern Caucasus have attracted the attention of several distinguished scholars and studies, especially structures in present-day Armenia and northern Iran. This paper aims to present the evidence currently available regarding cyclopean structures in Western Azerbaijan, combining both remote sensing and soviet-era publications. A remarkable culture flourished during the Late Bronze–Early Iron Age in this area, generally known as "Hochdali-Kedabeg". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological prospection is continually expanding into new frontiers, examining increasingly large areas, diverse environmental contexts and varying site types. One area that has received only limited focus is historic battlefields. This paper presents results from large‐scale geophysical surveys (> 100 ha) at the Napoleonic battlefield of Waterloo (1815) in Belgium, using fluxgate magnetometry and frequency‐domain electromagnetic induction. Despite its international historical significance, professional archaeological research at the battlefield is still in its infancy. We demonstrate how important insights can be gained by using geophysical methods for identifying features and artefacts related to the battle and for developing an understanding of the various influences acting on the present landscape. The largest survey of its kind undertaken on a single battlefield site, this approach holds particular potential for battlefield archaeology, given the subtle and low‐density nature of the sought‐after targets and the extensive area of the site. Such an approach can mitigate (though not entirely resolve) challenges of resolution and scale associated with other methods of investigation. Using a representative range of examples from Waterloo, we consider successes and challenges in undertaking geophysical surveys on battlefield sites. An integrated approach that incorporates targeted sampling and other forms of ancillary data is emphasized for a more robust interpretation of noninvasive sensor data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the shifting locations and social significance of agricultural spaces through analyses of intensive pedestrian survey results, multi‐spectral remote sensing data, and Medieval Period inscriptional records around the site of Maski (Raichur District, Karnataka). In doing so, it challenges a longstanding historiographical trope about the social history and essential "fertility" of the Raichur Doab, a region of the central Deccan of southern India that was ostensibly contested for its rich agricultural resources by numerous imperial polities throughout the Medieval and Early Modern Periods. The results suggest that cultivation was extended into the region's more marginal production environments between the 11th and 14th centuries. Moreover, the process of agricultural expansion appears to have partly contributed to fomenting social concerns about the effects of temple patronage as many of the region's underclass farmers faced multiple modes of precarity, including those engendered by new labor and cultivation conditions in the semi‐arid Deccan. In that sense, the paper also expands on contemporary notions of precarity and highlights the significance of a variety of ways through which conditions of precarity might emerge in other historical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spring tunnel is an ancient water installation used to artificially increase the water yield of a spring through a subterranean tunnel. We have developed a database of 216 spring tunnels documented in the central region of the Southern Levant (present‐day Israel), constructed between Iron Age II and the modern era. The study focuses on the evolution of this water installation over a period of 2500 years, examining these constructions from technological, typological, spatial, and cultural perspectives. Within the larger database, 132 spring tunnels have been mapped, from which we present 36 examples selected to outline the typology and chronology of this type of water installation. The findings of the study indicate a diachronic correlation between the distribution of settlement in the mountain region and the number and geographical distribution of spring tunnels. Ethnic and religious changes, and the complexity of the mountain region's population, are also reflected in the use of these water installations. The comprehensive water structure database presented in this article, from a peripheral, yet strategically located region in relation both to the Far East and to West Mediterranean Empires, is used for initial consideration of local initiatives versus the knowledge‐transfer process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early human habitation of the arid to semiarid Central Iranian Plateau was strongly connected to the availability of water and associated natural hazards, such as flooding and drought events. In this geoarchaeological study, we focus on the occupation at the prehistoric site of Ajor Pazi within the formerly active fluvial environment of the Varamin Plain. Through radiocarbon and luminescence‐dated sediment cross‐sections, we apply multivariate statistics to sedimentological characteristics of bulk samples collected during a rescue excavation in 2018. Based on facies interpretations, we differentiate depositional processes and present their implications for the environs of Ajor Pazi. Our results show evidence of settlement activities between 6.4 and 5.6 ka cal B.P. (4.4–3.6 ka cal. B.C.E.). Phases of reduced geomorphodynamics can be distinguished when soil‐forming processes take place. Our findings provide insights into the hitherto scarcely explored Transitional Chalcolithic II period during which the site of Ajor Pazi emerged and began to shape its environs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context throughout Latin America, where power groups and the market are increasingly interested in the natural and cultural resources of indigenous territories, indigenous peoples are once again being denied, and their identities, preexistence in the territories, and rights are being questioned. As archaeologists, we must recognize that our work is not merely about investigating past landscapes but also about conducting archaeology in territories currently intersected by recurring conflicts. This article proposes and discusses the conceptual and theoretical-methodological foundations of a committed and activist archaeology, one that contributes to social justice and the emancipation of historically subordinated minorities, such as indigenous peoples. This archaeology must be based on two fundamental premises: the recognition of indigenous peoples as subjects of rights and the implementation of interculturality. Based on these principles, two lines of work are proposed, each involving specific methods: (1) the development of demand-driven research that produces knowledge serving the projects and struggles of indigenous peoples, and (2) the creation of multivocal products where indigenous voices appear in the first person, contributing to their internal processes and their articulation with various societal and state actors. This article advocates for a transformation of contemporary Latin American archaeology, both in its relationship with the social environment where research is conducted and in the way knowledge is produced, placing the discipline at the service of the projects, causes, and struggles of subjugated minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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