This book presents an overview of the results of the research project DESPAMED funded by the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness. The aim of the book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social inequality and social complexity in early medieval peasant communities in North-western Iberia.

This is an overview and synthesis of the extensive and rapidly growing body of archaeological evidence for early medieval buildings, settlements, farming, craft production, and trade among the rural communities of north-west Europe.

The goal of this book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social and political inequality of local societies in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Traditional approaches have defined rural communities as passive bodies, poor and unstable in the framework of a self-sufficient economy. In the last few decades the crisis on social approaches both in medieval history and archaeology have missed the opportunity to re-evaluate the role of peasantry and other subaltern groups, even if new written ad material evidences have eroded the traditional assumptions. Conversely, scholars focused on elites and aristocracies have promoted very powerful agendas and projects. As a consequence of the 2007-2008 recession, Social Sciences have begun to be interested in social and economic inequality, opening new avenues for a reassessment of social history. The Early Medieval period has been identified by different scholars as a key term for the analysis of political complexity and social inequality in a long-term perspective. The study of local societies has become one of the most fruitful arenas to innovate medieval archaeology and history, using approaches related to the microhistory. This book, dedicated to Chris Wickham, is formed by fourteen papers centred on the study, from both written and material records, of early medieval local communities, which tend to propose a complex framework of social inequality in the local scale.

The goal of this book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social and political inequality of local societies in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages. Traditional approaches have defined rural communities as passive bodies, poor and unstable in the framework of a self-sufficient economy. In the last few decades the crisis on social approaches both in medieval history and archaeology have missed the opportunity to re-evaluate the role of peasantry and other subaltern groups, even if new written ad material evidences have eroded the traditional assumptions. Conversely, scholars focused on elites and aristocracies have promoted very powerful agendas and projects. As a consequence of the 2007-2008 recession, Social Sciences have begun to be interested in social and economic inequality, opening new avenues for a reassessment of social history. The Early Medieval period has been identified by different scholars as a key term for the analysis of political complexity and social inequality in a long-term perspective. The study of local societies has become one of the most fruitful arenas to innovate medieval archaeology and history, using approaches related to the microhistory. This book, dedicated to Chris Wickham, is formed by fourteen papers centred on the study, from both written and material records, of early medieval local communities, which tend to propose a complex framework of social inequality in the local scale.

Archaeological interventions in European rural settlements have largely focussed on villages abandoned during the last millennium. Most hamlets and villages of medieval origin remain inhabited, however, and excavations have been scarce. This book details excavations of inhabited sites in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Scandinavia and Spain.

This book explores social cohesion in rural settlements in western Europe from 700–1050, asking to what extent settlements, or districts, constituted units of social organisation. It focuses on the interactions, interconnections and networks of people who lived side by side – neighbours. Drawing evidence from most of the current western European countries, the book plots and interrogates the very different practices of this wide range of regions in a systematically comparative framework. It considers the variety of local responses to the supra-local agents of landlords and rulers and the impact, such as it was, of those agents on the small-scale residential group. It also assesses the impact on local societies of the values, instructions and demands of the wider literate world of Christianity, as delivered by local priests.

Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology turns to complex systems thinking in search of a suitable framework to explore social complexity in Archaeology. Social complexity in archaeology is commonly related to properties of complex societies such as states, as opposed to so-called simple societies such as tribes or chiefdoms. These conceptualisations of complexity are ultimately rooted in Eurocentric perspectives with problematic implications for the field of archaeology. This book provides an in-depth conceptualisation of social complexity as the core concept in archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of the past, integrating approaches from complex systems thinking, archaeological theory, social practice theory, and sustainability and resilience science. The book covers a long-term perspective of social change and stability, tracing the full cycle of complexity trajectories, from emergence and development to collapse, regeneration and transformation of communities and societies. It offers a broad vision on social complexity as a core concept for the present and future development of archaeology. This book is intended to be a valuable resource for students and scholars in the field of archaeology and related disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, as well as the natural sciences studying human-environment interactions in the past.