Session: #599

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The Early Medieval period in Europe and its significant political, social and economic changes, present an interesting set of challenges for researchers. These challenges are multi-scalar and go beyond the remit of any one discipline. Questions surrounding the catalysts and progress of such changes are complex, and the integration of scientific techniques alongside, historical, linguistic and archaeological methods may elucidate these developments.
Areas such as the British Isles, the Frankish Empire, Iberia, the Baltic and Scandinavia all see major shifts in material culture during the second half of the first millennium, much of which is strikingly similar despite major environmental and cultural differences. What is it about this period that makes it so universally dynamic across Europe? And how can or should we approach these questions of transition in a broader sense?
This session addresses the methodological and theoretical challenges and in studying transitions in the Early Medieval period. From the Late Antiquity through to the turn of the first millennium AD there are rapid socio-political and economic changes throughout Europe. Language, religion, trade, burial practice and urbanism are all in flux. This raises questions about the spread and rate of Christianisation, the changes in urban and rural life during the period, mobility across and between regions, access to resources and trade routes, and much more. We wish to bring to the fore different approaches to these questions of social versus material change and the archaeological record, particularly in terms of interdisciplinary and trans-national methodologies.

Session: #599

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