Landscape Archaeology

The Section “Landscape Archaeology” of Land gathers research articles and reviews on observing, recording, and interpreting archaeological remains, traces, and sites with respect to the broader context of human activities and interactions with the environment and landscape in the past.

These include but are not limited to studies on the identification and characterization of ancient natural and human-shaped landscapes and their spatiotemporal evolution, geo-archaeological investigations, analysis of past human–environment interactions at the regional scale (e.g., settlement patterns, land use), prospection, and interpretation of buried and semi-buried geo-historical features (e.g., roads, walls, dams, canals).

Prospective submissions can focus on findings and discoveries from recent field campaigns, surveys, and/or reanalysis of existing datasets, exploitation of geospatial and geophysical data and products, use of ground, aerial and satellite remote sensing, and development of novel surveying, mapping, and monitoring methodologies.

Testing and validation of emerging analysis workflows and cutting-edge technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, machine and deep learning, neural networks, data mining, big data analytics, virtual reality, and digital laboratories) for landscape archaeology applications are key topics of interest for the research community, and the Section seeks to target them with priority, along with studies based on well-established methods.

Furthermore, in a more comprehensive timeframe of landscape evolution, the Section also welcomes studies that focus on modern and contemporary transformations, as well as anthropogenic actions and use of land, which can threaten the conservation of cultural landscapes and features.

Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary investigations, involving and combining together data, technologies, methods, and experts from a broad range of fields and with different backgrounds, are inherent components in this research domain and are therefore particularly welcome.

In addition to research articles and reviews, the Section is open to submissions of other paper types, including brief communications, case reports, technical notes, and perspectives.