This volume introduces the concept of the Settlement Matrix, a heuristic model that connects the analysis of the symbolic and practical aspects of human culture by placing them both within the same spaces defined by a settlement and its support area. The settlement matrix model examines each venue of daily life from the house to the settlement to the field system as integral parts of a single cultural construct, the settlement matrix. By defining discrete spaces and a way to connect them, the settlement matrix model provides a way to combine technologies like GIS with current archaeological theory.