Dark Age Economics: Origins of Towns and Trade, A.D.600-1000 / Edition 2

by Richard Hodges

Overview

It was in the second half of the first millennium A.D. that northern Europe took on the basic configuration that it now presents. Recently a wealth of new archaeological evidence has emerged to enable historians to assess the growth of international trade and the evolution of towns in this crucial period. This book analyses models of economic evelopment in the light of this new evidence to evaluate not only the changing character of the first post-Roman urban centers but also the organization of the countryside which supported them. Boat remains, coins and trade artifacts are all examined. Finally, a general account is offered of the role of towns and trade in the creation of Western Europe. This is the first synthesis of its kind for the medieval period, and confirms the importance of archaeology as a major source of evidence for an understanding of the economic history of the Dark Ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780715616666
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/25/1989
Series:	New Approaches in Archaeology
Edition description:	2ND
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	788,502
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Richard Hodges is Director of the Institute of World Archaeology, School of World Art Studies, University of East Anglia, and Scientific Director of the Butrint Foundation. He is series editor of the Duckworth Debates in Archaeology series and author of many books, including Dark Age Economics, The Anglo-Saxon Achievement and Villa to Village.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition Introduction
1. The Shadow of Pirenne
2. Trading Systems from Theodoric to Charlemagne
3. The Emporia
4. A Gazetteer of Emporia: in Ottar’s Footsteps
5. Dark Ages Argonauts and their Craft
6. The Objects of Trade
7. Subsistence Strategies
8. Systemic Change: the Ninth Century
9. Market Places and Principles
10. The Evolution of States Notes References Index

Editorial Reviews

"An important scholarly book." -- The Times

From the Publisher