Critical Approaches to Cypriot and Wider Mediterranean Archaeology - (Volume 16) - Sturt W. Manning

Critical Approaches to Cypriot and Wider Mediterranean Archaeology - (Volume 16) - Sturt W. Manning

8. Towards a Post-survey Landscape Archaeology

Critical Approaches to Cypriot and Wider Mediterranean Archaeology - (Volume 16) - Sturt W. Manning

Michael Given [+-]
University of Glasgow
View Website
Michael Given is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of Humanities, University of Glasgow. His research interests include archaeological survey and landscape archaeology, the historical periods in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the relationship between people and the environment. Between 2002 and 2012 he was co-director of the Troodos Archaeological and Environmental Survey Project in Cyprus.

Description

Forty years after the beginning of the ‘new wave’ of intensive survey in the Mediterranean, it has become an established and widely accepted technique for the discovery and analysis of archaeological material on a landscape scale. In spite of the claims of its early enthusiasts, as well as numerous projects and large amounts of data, intensive survey has failed to engage successfully with contemporary landscape theory and wider social and environmental challenges. These concerns are heightened by a worrying decline in the number of articles published on intensive survey since 2010. To explore these issues, I present a conceptual history of survey in its political and social context. I ask what a post-survey landscape archaeology might look like, and suggest some ways in which it can be revitalised and thereby contribute to contemporary ecological and social challenges proactively and productively. Three concepts provide helpful ways forward here: a close engagement with ecological data and processes; systems theory, particularly the developing field of socioecological systems; and conviviality as a framework for understanding positive and productive relations among all social and ecological partners in past and present landscapes.

Notify A Colleague

Citation

Given, Michael. 8. Towards a Post-survey Landscape Archaeology. Critical Approaches to Cypriot and Wider Mediterranean Archaeology - (Volume 16). Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 144-160 May 2022. ISBN 9781800500594. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=42484. Date accessed: 28 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.42484. May 2022

Dublin Core Metadata