Ancient Lines in the Landscape: A Geo-archaeological Study of Protohistoric and Roman Roads and Field Systems in Northwestern Gaul

In recent decades, archaeological research in north-west Europe has developed a keen interest in the total landscape that was inhabited and used by man in ancient times. The present study of paleo-landscapes constitutes an important contribution to the reconstructuring of the morphology of protohistoric and roman landscapes. By means of combined geo-archaeological methods and computer technology researchers from Ghent University have tried to understand the structure of pre-medieval landscape of northwestern Gaul. Intensive use of remote sensing techniques and application of Geographic Information Systems, combined with more traditional fieldwork and analysis open the way to a new approach of man’s delineated environment during the early formation stage of the European landscape.