Description

The present volume is dedicated to the different approaches and research strategies of medieval roads and tracks. It is mainly based on historical and archaeological source materials from East-Central Europe, but the research problems are discussed in a wider European context. Roads have never been isolated features in the landscape, but formed the backbone of the settlement system in all times. Being the veins of social and economic life, the history of roads is inextricably connected with the growth and decline of towns, settlements, agriculture and trade. The book introduces its readers into the wide range of sources and methods available for the investigation of this noteworthy, but so far regrettably neglected and understudied topic. The social, political and economic factors as well as the physical landscape created different types of medieval roads in terms of function and physical properties. The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the variability of these roads through East-Central European examples, and stimulate further investigations both within and outside the region. At the same time, it offers a well-selected collection of features, archaeological sites and historical representations with the relevant research methods on the means and ways of medieval communication networks.