Milevski & Levy/Framing Archaeology, 1. Spacetime Mapping the Ancient Near East

Archaeologists have long recognized the importance of space, time and spatiotemporal scale, but with a plethora of new geospatial tools transforming examination of the ancient past the need for greater integration of new technologies and social/spatial theory has become increasingly crucial. This chapter explores tensions among interpretive and empirically-centered perspectives and emphasizes opportunities for more deeply multiscalar, seamless approaches to ancient physical and human geographies. Approaches that exploit new spatial technologies including online, 3D and qualitative GIS, Radar, LiDAR, and UAVs to address short-term local to long-term global scales of change while reflexively integrating qualitative research, spatial malleability, and landscape, social theory herald an exceptionally promising future for spatial archaeology.