Graduate Student, Archaeology
Ustinov
|
Professor Tony Wilkinson
Professor Graham Philip Professor Danny Donoghue |
About
In order to understand a past landscape in the present, it is vital to recognise and take into account what has been lost in the intervening periods. My research consequently focuses on the landscape transformation processes, both natural and cultural, which have affected the archaeological record, as well as long-term change in regional settlement patterns. I am using a combination of satellite imagery and survey and excavation data from across the Fertile Crescent, including the North Jazira Survey in Iraq, the Kurban/Titrish, Amuq plain and Homs areas in Turkey and the Tell Sweyhat/Hadidi, Tell Beydar, Carchemish and Balikh Valley areas in Syria. By collating the archaeological evidence with satellite imagery, it is possible to consider how post-occupational (or use) - processes such as ploughing may have resulted in the differential attenuation of the record across the region, resulting in landscapes of destruction and preservation. This can then be factored into the consideration of changes in landscapes and settlement patterns over time, including, in this case, the relationship between nomadic pastoralists and settled farmers, long distance communication and trade networks and the social development of nucleated centres.
