Mapping the Past: From Sampling Sites and Landscapes to Exploring the 'Archaeological Continuum

Session VIII-1 of UISPP 2018 in Paris ‘Mapping the Past’ brought together several contributions reflecting on the need to develop sustainable and reliable approaches to mapping our landscape heritage. The session was guided by the crucial concept termed the ‘archaeological continuum’. This concept can be defined as a proactive approach to landscape survey based on the summative evidence detected (or detectable) within the area under examination, reducing spatial and chronological gaps as far as possible through the intensive and extensive application of a wide variety of exploratory methods and analytical techniques. Research work across Europe as well as contributions presented in this session have demonstrated that it is now possible to explore the whole landscape of carefully chosen areas and study them as an archaeological continuum. Archaeological interpretations derived from this kind of approach can be expected to reveal different layers of information belonging to a variety of chronological horizons, each displaying mutual physical (stratigraphic) and conceptual relationships within that horizon. The raising of new archaeological questions and also the development of alternative conservation strategies directly stimulated by the radical ideas inherent in the concept of the ‘archaeological continuum’ are among the major outcomes of the session.

Table of Contents

List of Figures

General introductory text of the series

Introduction to the volume

Establishing meanings, roles and limits of ‘Archaeological Continuum’ paradigms – Stefano Campana

Mound landscape continuum. Mapping barrows (and more) in the Białowieża Forest, Poland – Michał Szubski

An integrated approach to the construction of cultural landscapes in Southwest Angola: The case of Huila – Daniela de Matos, Luiz Oosterbeek, Ziva Domingos, Christopher Miller, Nicholas J. Conard, Manuel Sahando Neto, Paulo Valongo, José B. Fernandes, and Maria Helena Henriques

Geophysical explorations of the classical coastal settlement of Lechaion, Peloponnese (Greece) – Apostolos Sarris, Tuna Kalayci, Nikos Papadopoulos, Nasos Argyriou, Jamie Donati, Georgia Kakoulaki, Meropi Manataki, Manolis Papadakis, Nikos Nikas, Paul Scotton and Konstantinos Kissas

A view from the hills. Investigating protohistoric phases in the longue durée of the Potenza Valley (Marche, Italy) – Wieke de Neef, Frank Vermeulen

Magnetic method in the study of the influence of environmental conditions on settlement activity: case study from Fayum Oasis (Egypt) – Tomasz Herbich

Michel Dabas is Senior Researcher and Co-Director of the Laboratory of Archaeology at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris (AOROC) where he develops approaches for the provision of interactive maps on the web (chronocarto.eu portal) and focuses on the application of geophysical methods for archaeological sites.