Sustainability in Deep Time: Persistence and Inequality in Southwest Asia through Archaeology- Prof. Dan Lawrence (Durham University)

This talk examines how archaeological data from Southwest Asia can inform meaningful discussions about sustainability today. It focuses on two novel proxies for assessing sustainability in past communities, settlement persistence, reflected in the longevity and stability of settlement occupation, and inequality, inferred from variation in domestic architecture. By comparing these measures across diverse ecological and historical settings, the talk develops an empirical framework for understanding how social organization, resource use, and environmental pressures shaped the durability of ancient settlements. The approach taken emphasises how archaeological records capture real trajectories of adaptation and transformation. The aim is to show how patterns visible in the record, such as links between inequality and settlement longevity, offer evidence‑based insights into the drivers and structural dynamics of sustainable systems. Southwest Asia’s exceptionally rich archaeological record provides a foundation for identifying the conditions that enabled communities to endure in the face of change.

Dan Lawrence is a Landscape Archaeologist with a focus on Southwest and Central Asia during the Holocene. His main focus at the moment is directing the Climate, Landscapes, Settlement and Society (CLaSS) project, funded by an ERC Starting Grant, which examines the relationship between complex human societies and climate change over the last 8,000 years. he also has side interests in the emergence of inequality and urbanism, and on heritage management.