Large-scale Excavations in Europe. Fieldwork Strategies and Scientific Outcome: Proceedings of the International Conference Esslingen am Neckar, Germany, 7th 8th October 2008

During the last decades, the number of large-scale excavations has increased significantly. Such excavations became an important element of archaeological cultural heritage management. This kind of large-area fieldwork offers not only new data, finds and additional archaeological sites, but also gives new insights into the interpretation of archaeological landscapes as a whole. Our view of the results of older excavations and our ideas on settlement structures and land use in the past has changed dramatically. New patterns concerning humanoff site activities, e.g. field systems, or types of sites which were previously underrepresented, can only be detected by large-scale excavations. Linear projects especially, such as pipelines and motorways, offer the possibility to extrapolate and propose models of land use and environment on the regional and macro-regional scale.