Resumen de Archeological survey in Southwest Asia
During the last fifty years the purposes and methods of archaeological survey in Southwest Asia have changed from the inventory of sites and study of the distribution of ceramics, to intensive analyses of sites and their surroundings in relation to questions of population trends and organizational complexity. Survey is an efficient method of assessing archaeological resources because it can be carried out relatively quickly without destruction of the sites themselves. Survey provides data that are essential to regional approaches to human history, as isolated excavations, even of important sites, cannot. Newly developed technology, used in conjunction with modem methods of analysis of survey data, show promise of significantly enhancing the value of these data in studies of human history. To realize these potentials it is recommended that regional reviews of survey results be undertaken.
