WORKSHOPS

Over the past several decades, landscape archaeology has emerged as a critical counterpoint to site-based and environmentally deterministic models of the past. Within this framework, landscapes are understood not merely as spatial backdrops for human activity, but as socially produced fields of meaning in which economic practices, political authority, memory, and cosmology are materially and conceptually entangled.

This workshop will guide participants in analyzing landscapes as integrated socio-spatial systems rather than as isolated archaeological “sites.” Participants will learn how to use a landscape approach to frame research questions and to employ GIS methods to examine patterns of settlement, movement, resource use, and symbolic space across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Core concepts from landscape archaeology, including ritual landscapes and settlement ecology, will be paired with applied GIS techniques such as viewshed analysis, least-cost path modeling, spatial clustering, and environmental analysis.

The workshop is designed for researchers and heritage practitioners from all levels seeking to move beyond site-based analysis toward a holistic understanding of landscapes as socially produced, historically contingent, and analytically powerful. Prior to the workshop, we will accept two to three individuals interested in one-to-one mentorship from July to November 2026. Priority will be given to individuals working in Southeast Asia who have access to their own GIS datasets yet seek guidance on data framing and analysis in a methodologically rigorous, theory-driven manner. Selected participants will contribute to demonstrations and discussions during the in-person workshop itself and will present their case studies and relevant GIS workflows. The end goal of the workshop is to equip participants with both conceptual and technical tools to operationalize a landscape approach in their own research.