ABSTRACT
In helping society both understand its past and design a sustainable future, the landscape archaeologist’s role is widely inclusive. If all society matters, then all landscape matters and all stories have relevance. All disciplines and all actors are drawn in.
Focusing on how landscape archaeology is practised in the UK, this paper explores how we currently tease out and present those myriad stories and how we might adjust our methods to extend our range. Inquisitive, theoretical, empirical and phenomenological approaches all contribute much while their methods are rigorous and transparent and their outputs are clear.
In addition, characterisation generalises from and so extends the benefit of more particular landscape archaeology while creating a scheme of provisional interpretation that serves as a framework for further research. Historic landscape characterisation developed alongside the drafting of the European Landscape Convention and shares many of its principles and aims. It encourages inquisitiveness, debate and argument over stories and their interpretations, and over strategies and plans.
