A pixelated landscape survey in the forest: Merging space, time, and context at Monte Bonifato, Sicily

Abstract In this paper, we demonstrate a multi-layered, methodologically integrated landscape approach to site-specific survey. This approach augments systematic field survey methods with geospatial techniques for tight spatial control over data. Our methods build upon traditional ones to systematically explore challenging forested environments seldom subject to controlled surface surveys. We present a contrast between two different survey methods used in the initial year of fieldwork, the results of each, and our reasoning for choosing to continue with one approach over the other. The result of this work is what we are referring to as the “pixelated survey,” a combination of conventional methods and innovative, practical environment-specific techniques. This approach allows for relatively rapid spatial and quantitative analyses, facilitating a more holistic understanding of temporal changes to site boundaries and chronologically specific activity areas. Using the summit of Monte Bonifato, western Sicily, as a case study, we present preliminary results using this methodology in a wooded environment where surface visibility is limited, and occupation spanned from the Bronze Age to the post-medieval period.