Digital Analysis of the Natural and Cultural Interface

Powerful digital technologies support innovative new analyses of the interface between nature and culture, an interface that profoundly influences site distribution, landscape evolution, and ultimately the sustainability or degradation of our habitats and surroundings. In this session, we examine and analyze the natural/cultural landscape at many scales, from site to region. We draw attention to a widening array of technologies and approaches, such as the analysis of data collected by satellite and aerial platforms, including drones; increasingly sophisticated applications of geographic information systems; on-ground geophysical methods; and incorporation of geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmental investigations, ethnohistory, and archival research. Contributors have utilized diverse technologies and approaches to explore the dialectic between nature and culture, the understanding of which grows more crucial as our landscapes everywhere on earth are being modified at an ever-increasing pace. Case studies offer perspectives from many geographic locations, environments, and social settings.