LANDSCAPE SURVEY

LANDSCAPE SURVEY: translation

This is the archaeological approach to the study of the whole landscape, which moves beyond particularistic studies produced by excavation in cemeteries, settlements, and cities. By studying the whole surface of the landscape, wider spatial patterns of the layout of land use and settlement can be obtained, setting detailed excavations in a broader perspective. Early studies in South Etruria by the British School at Rome (the South Etruria survey) concentrated on roads and open fields. More recent work has attempted to compensate for the bias of visibility in different types of vegetation, particularly beyond the ploughed field. Significant examples of landscape survey in Etruria include not only the South Etruria survey, but also the Albegna Valley survey, the Cecina survey, the Tuscania survey, the Nepi survey, the Cerveteri regional survey, and the surveys by the University of Siena of various map sheets in southern Tuscany. Significant urban surveys have been undertaken of the cities of Vulci, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, Veii, and La Doganella. Landscape remote sensing techniques such as LIDAR have been employed in Tuscany by the University of Siena and in the Faliscan territory by the University of Cambridge.

See also AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND DETECTION; GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY.