Settlement archaeology (German:Siedlungsarchäologie) is a branch of modern archaeology. It investigates former settlements and deserted areas, forms of housing and settlements, and the prehistoric settlement of entire regions. For this purpose, the forms, functions and developments of individual habitats and settlement systems are explored by means of archaeological surveys and excavation. Settlement archaeology has developed in close cooperation with settlement history and settlement geography. Settlement sequences of several centuries or millennia are explored in individual areas. Changes and consistent elements can be studied and compared with other researched settlements. Archaeological methods are used including archaeobotany and -zoology and spectroscopic phosphate analysis to resolve archaeological questions, mostly in the field of prehistory and early history.