Dr. W. Christopher Carleton

My research examines the long-term dynamics of human–environment interaction, with particular focus on how settlement systems emerge, transform, and generate detectable signatures in the Earth system. I integrate archaeological fieldwork with quantitative modeling, Bayesian chronology, and complex systems theory to understand the coevolution of cultural processes, land use, and infrastructure over centuries to millennia.

A central aim of my work is to advance archaeological contributions to the Institute’s research themes Great Acceleration Observatory and Technosphere as a Complex System. I investigate how urban and agrarian settlement systems function as technospheric agents—reshaping landscapes, hydrology, and social–ecological resilience across deep time.

My current fieldwork consists of innovative, model-directed projects conducted in close collaboration with national research partners. At Koh Ker (Cambodia), I use targeted coring, magnetic susceptibility screening, and process-based chronological modeling to reconstruct the tempo and spatial dynamics of urban development. At Polonnaruwa (Sri Lanka), I am building a geoarchaeological program focused on land-use change, hydraulic infrastructure, and long-term settlement trajectories. These projects are deliberately structured to generate the specific kinds of high-resolution, spatial–temporal datasets required for process-based models, rather than applying modeling post hoc to legacy data.

Methodologically, I am developing a modern, data-science-forward archaeological research pipeline that links field data acquisition, open-access data infrastructure (e.g., URBank), and process-based radiocarbon and settlement modeling. Through this integrative approach, I aim to establish a coherent evolutionary and systems-theoretical framework for understanding how human settlements scale, interact with their environments, and contribute to long-term technospheric change.