ABSTRACT
A central tenet of landscape archaeology is the importance of space, spatiality and constructed frameworks for the interpretation of spatial relationships. In this chapter I will outline the developments in this area with special reference to computer usage and specifically the use of Geographic Information Systems software (Wheatley and Gillings 2002). As with the term landscape so GIS is difficult to define and encompasses a range of technologies, ideas and applications. In archaeology a simplistic division can be supported between GIS applications within the area of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and those within ‘landscape analysis’, both of which are based on spatial data. The former can be seen as a concern with landscape as now, that is, the recording and management of archaeological sites usually within a legislative framework based on contemporary administrative perceptions of space and ‘what exists where’ rather than any deeper analysis. This is not to deny a potential for analysis as shown in the next chapter where CRM applications are described in more detail. The area of landscape analysis is the focus of this chapter and is more intent on landscape as then: explanation and interpretations of past landscape understandings.
