Landscape archaeology refers to a method of studying past people and their material culture in the context of the wider environment they inhabited and interacted with. The landscape may be large, such as a wide marshy river delta or small, like a back garden. It is often employed in cultural resources management to recognize exposed sites. Landscape archeology addresses the difficult issues of the behavior that people intentionally and deliberately shaped the land around them.

The inquiry of what exactly constitutes a site has been discussed at length by generations of archaeologists. By adopting a landscape archaeology viewpoint, the concept of a discrete 'site' becomes less important. Areas of examination are not restricted to the boundaries of an excavation but can instead stretch for many miles. Excavation is usually impractical on such a scale and landscape archaeologists focus on the visible features that can be identified and recorded on the ground surface to create a picture of human activity across a region.

Archaeological features covered just below the surface often leave tell-tale 'lumps and bumps', plough action in fields can lift archaeological material to the surface, in areas of restricted human activity, worked flint scatters can survive untouched for many centuries and standing buildings and field boundaries can be of great antiquity yet archaeologically unexamined. Survey of these sorts of features across huge areas, through measured walkovers or aerial photography, can produce a new perspective on the archaeological record and identify areas requiring better management or areas where excavation could be advantageous. Such survey is usually accompanied by documentary and historic research to better inform the findings. Advances in survey technology have allowed the rapid and exact analysis of wide areas by relatively untrained personnel making the process an efficient way of learning more about the historic environment. 3D laser scanning, Total stations and digital photography have helped reduce the time and cost involved in such work.

Closely examining areas using archaeological techniques has resulted in large numbers of new archaeological sites being revealed. Landscape archaeology has also been adopted on a smaller scale in parks and gardens for example where relatively modern planting and landscaping have been surveyed to provide information on the historic form of gardens. Hedges have been shown to preserve the lines of medieval boundaries and prehistoric ritual landscapes have been recognized apparently separate from more day-to-day areas of past activity.

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