What Is Not on the Map? Counter-Mapping Archaeological Landscapes

By Piraye Hacigüzeller (University of Antwerp, Department of Heritage)

Date: Thursday, November 4, 2026

Time: 1730-1900

Room: C-Block Amphi

Abstract: Archaeological maps help us locate sites, record archaeological remains and interpret landscapes. But what do they leave out, and what difference do those omissions make? This lecture explores counter-mapping as a way of questioning familiar cartographic conventions and opening archaeology to other experiences, memories and forms of knowledge. Beginning with the contrast between a dot on a map and the lived landscape of an archaeological mound, it considers how mapping shapes what we recognise as significant. Examples from archaeology, feminist mapping and community initiatives show how maps can challenge dominant narratives and support people whose relationships with places are overlooked. The lecture also asks when making people and places visible can create risks rather than recognition. Drawing on a recent book chapter, it invites discussion of how archaeologists might map differently, combining the practical value of conventional mapping with attention to embodied experience, political agency and the ethical responsibilities of representation.

About the speaker: Piraye Hacigüzeller is an associate professor in the Department of Heritage at the University of Antwerp and a member of the Antwerp Cultural Heritage Sciences (ARCHES) research group. Trained in civil engineering and archaeology, she holds a bachelor’s degree from Middle East Technical University, a master’s degree in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology from KU Leuven, and a doctorate in history, art and archaeology from the Université catholique de Louvain. She carried out postdoctoral research at KU Leuven, Ghent University and the University of Oxford. Her research brings together digital archaeology, heritage studies and cartographic theory. She investigates how digital technologies shape the production, interpretation and sharing of archaeological knowledge, with particular attention to the assumptions embedded in maps, data models and algorithms. Her interests include geographical information systems (GIS), spatial analysis, semantic information modelling, counter-mapping and the politics of heritage digitisation. Her work combines the development and application of digital methods with critical reflection on questions of representation, uncertainty, local knowledge and the politics of knowledge.

Organized by the Department of Archaeology