My aim in this chapter is to introduce non-destructive methods used for discovering, investigating and recording archaeological sites and landscapes. Much can be learned about individual sites from surface observations alone, without the irreversible physical intervention of excavation (the subject of chapter 3), which should be used as a last resort. In densely populated, intensively cultivated countries well-preserved ancient sites and landscapes still survive, but are easily damaged; indeed, many prehistoric sites in western Europe must already have been ploughed flat before the end of the Roman period. In these circumstances any approach that can 'see beneath the soil' has a particularly important role, from broad-scanning aerial photography that takes in extensive landscapes to geophysical devices that detect buried structures on individual sites.
I will present these topics in the following sequence:
1. a definition of site and its relationship to landscape;
2. field archaeology: methods of observing, surveying and documenting surface traces of sites;
3. remote sensing, including the use of aerial photography and satellite images to discover and interpret sites, whether visible on the surface or buried, and geophysical instruments to locate buried sites by measuring the electrical resistance, magnetism or other physical properties of the soil;
4. Geographical Information Systems: using computers for an integrated analysis of maps, images, sites and finds;
5. placing sites into a wider context through landscape archaeology.
RETURN TO CHAPTER 2