It is based on work carried out in 11 countries in eastern and southern Africa under the Human Responses and Contributions to environmental change in Africa and Sri Lanka programme 1995-2000.

It will be argued that archaeology has a significant role to play in the understanding of the human dimension of global change. New theoretical developments in archaeology and associated disciplines which view environments as being both bio-physically and socio-culturally constituted as well as taking a multi-scalar focus on long term landscape dynamics hold promise for the future.

About Paul J.J Sinclair
Prof. Paul J.J. Sinclair is Professor in African Archeology at the Department of Archeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University.

Professor Paul Sinclair has worked for more than 30 years throughout Africa as an archaeologist excavating at Great Zimbabwe and Manyikeni in Mozambique and has carried out field work in Comores islands, Jenne Jenno, Mali and the Nile Delta.

His interests include GIS applications and spatial archaeology, urbanism and socio environmental interactions and landscape dynamics. He was the scientific coordinator of the Urban Origins in Eastern Africa programme and the 11 country Human responses and contributions to environmental change in Africa and Sri Lanka programme.

He has together with Thurstan Shaw and Bassey Andah and Alex Okpoko produced The Archaeology of Africa 853pp. London Routledge 1993.Current interests include urbanism and landscape dynamics in riverine contexts throughout the tropics.