A British Tradition? Mapping the Archaeological Landscape

Abstract

There is a long-held belief among British field archaeologists that their approach to the study of the landscape is different from that of colleagues in most other parts of the world. This paper is an attempt to explore the validity of that belief and to discuss possible reasons for it. The argument put forward is that there is a distinct tradition of archaeological fieldwork within the British Isles which is qualitatively and methodologically different from styles of fieldwork that take place elsewhere, with exceptions in Scandinavia and Germany. This 'British tradition' comprises close observation and interpretation of the ground surface, direct measurement of all significant features, detailed analysis of the relationships between features and the production of a plan that illustrates the interpretation arrived at. The paper explores the history of this tradition and in particular the contribution of the Ordnance Survey. It concludes with a few remarks on future directions, which the authors hope to develop in a further paper.