In 2017, at the invitation of UNESCO-Myanmar, the IRAW@Bagan project initiated a settlement archaeology project at the “Classical” Burmese (Bama) capital of Bagan, Myanmar (11th to 14th centuries CE). This research is focused on the peri-urban (mixed urban-rural) settlement zone immediately surrounding the walled and moated royal city. Its aims are to generate an integrated socioecological history for residential patterning, agricultural practices, and water management across a range of significant ecological, climatic, economic, socio-political, and religious changes. This presentation outlines the overarching motivations and goals for the research program, discusses the theoretical and methodological basis for the study, details specific field applications, and summarises some of the preliminary findings.