The reconstruction of the spatial environment and its shaping by human beings, as well as the assessment of human adaptation to the natural environment was the main topic of research area A. In the long term, the study area comprised large parts of the Mediterranean region, the Ancient Near East, the Black Sea area and parts of the Eurasian steppe. The investigations of research area A were explored at the interface of methods and model building in the Earth Sciences and Archaeology.
Research took place within three main research groups:
(A-I) Central Places and their Environment
Focuse of the research were individual sites that had the character of central places or were located within limited regions in which networks of settlements were presented .
(A-II) Innovations
The research was focused on the interplay between technological and social changes and the dynamics of human-environment interaction.
(A-III) Archaeometry – Archaeoinformatics
The research group linked archaeometric and archaeo-informatic to investigate space-related questions.
Image above: Hydrogeographical Model |Source: Plenary Agenda Report for Research Group A-I, in: eTopoi. Special Volume 1 (2011) | © CC BY 3.0