The research of the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA) studies the dynamics in cultural landscapes and social organisation on the basis of its high-quality fieldwork in which research methods are also a topic of research. GIA has in-house facilities for botanical and zoological research and GIS and material culture labs. The GIA research programme Dynamics in cultural landscapes and social organisation expresses the ambition to carry out research of international importance on site and regional level, to combine cultural and ecological archaeological approaches aimed to provide new insights in past societies in the Mediterranean, the Polar Regions and Northwestern Europe.
Data for studying different aspects of former societies, such as the subsistence economy, socio-cultural identity and political organization, are derived from the elements of material culture, including settlement and infrastructure patterns and technological innovations. Reconstructions of the landscape are based on data derived from geological, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological studies. To establish the desired holistic approach, field research comprises both settlement history (on the basis of excavations) and field surveys in order to come to grips with the surrounding landscape.
To optimize the study of the development of societies from simple to complex forms in association with their environment, research projects are organized into four clusters covering specific periods and areas. Two clusters focus on north-western
Europe
and deal with Stone Age archaeology and archaeology of the Bronze Age up to the Middle Ages respectively. The other two cover Mediterranean archaeology and Arctic archaeology. Each cluster is facilitated by the GIA laboratories, specializing in ecological archaeology and methodology. Ecological archaeology comprises the study of plant, animal and cultural remains in relation to subsistence economies and the reconstruction of the environment. Material studies include conservation and analysis of different materials, including metals, ceramics, glass and stone. The methodological studies center on the improvement of chronologies by means of radiocarbon datings, the application of prospecting methods, and cartographic analysis in GIS.
The Groningen Institute aims to maintain the coherent organization and balanced infrastructure indispensable for archaeological research. Its basic facilities include laboratories for palaeobotany, archaeozoology, conservation and material studies, a drawing office, a GIS laboratory, and extensive reference collections.
