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In this article, I explore the characteristics of global‐change archaeology as an emerging field of research. Global‐change archaeology seeks to document and apply historical knowledge of past human–environmental interactions to the understanding of contemporary environmental problems and management and planning for future sustainability. It takes place within an interdisciplinary research structure and is situated within the explanatory contexts of historical science and humanistic history with close links to historical and political ecology. Both history and agency play important roles in the practice of global‐change archaeology. Past human decision making in the context of cultural attitudes and perceptions also has a significant role in the archaeology of global change.
Donald L. Hardesty (2007) studied this question.