Human beings have always interacted with, changed, destroyed and preserved their environment. Similarly the archaeological sites where people lived and worked in the past are not self-contained; they relate to the landscape in which they are situated. Landscape archaeology looks at how human beings have interacted with their environment by investigating clues they have left behind. These can range from roads, pathways and ditches to land boundaries, massive prehistoric earthworks and modern industrial activity.

Archaeologists can interpret a range of features evident in the landscape and discover a great deal about our past without the need for excavation. Whole prehistoric settlements or industrial complexes can be reconstructed just by looking at the banks, ditches, ‘lumps and bumps’ visible on the surface. Many new sites are first recognised by their telltale signs in the landscape and, if you know what to look for, anyone can discover a new archaeological site by using that indispensable landscape archaeologist’s tool: a map.

‘Most people assume map reading is associated with getting from one place to another, but it is much more than this. With practice a map can make you a time traveller,’ says Stewart Ainsworth, Time Team’s landscape archaeologist. ‘You can read a map almost like a book. Maps made at different times can highlight phases when different changes were made. They can also help identify the different land boundaries and field systems associated with settlements. You may be able to find similar systems in areas without settlements, indicating the possibility of previously occupied sites that have been deserted.’

By using maps, aerial photographs and interpreting where humans have changed the landscape, archaeologists can look at sites from a broader perspective, outside that of an insular excavation. Many ‘classic’ archaeological excavations have been reinterpreted as a result of the work of landscape archaeologists placing their findings within the bigger picture of the connected landscape.

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