Medieval rural settlements have been the subject of systematic research in
this country since the late 1940s, and have been located and investigated in
every part of Europe. They must be regarded as sites of the greatest
importance. Most medieval people lived in the countryside, and here we can
investigate the material culture of the whole range of society, including those
who have left the scantiest written evidence. Survey work and excavation can
reveal much about the housing, possessions, and environment of the
peasants, together with evidence for production, consumption and technology,
both in agriculture and in food preparation and in rural crafts and trade. The
distribution and layout of the settlements gives insights into social structure
and social organisation, and into medieval ideas about order and planning,
and the division between public and private space. The constant and often
sudden changes affecting rural settlements ... demonstrate the dynamic
forces at work during the period, not just the general expansion andcontraction of population and agriculture, but many developments in lordship,
politics, community organization, commerce and household life (MSRG 1996).