Theme:
7. Archaeology of Sustainability through World Crises, Climate Change and War
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Archaeology Against Rural Abandonment: Rethinking Medieval and
Post-Medieval Rural Settlement in The Light of The Challenges of
the 21st Century
Content:
The depopulation of rural areas is a reality throughout Europe. Although at different rates in each country, the first symptoms were observed in the 18th century and intensified in the second half of the 20th century. In some countries, it is nowadays a central theme in political agendas and a regular topic of debate in the media. In parallel, rural archaeology has experienced intense development in recent decades, generating complex readings on the diachronic transformations of these areas. One issue of this archaeological approach to rural areas is the dynamism of rural settlement over time, in which foundations, profound transformations and abandonment of settlements follow one another.
This session is dedicated to analysing changes or continuities in rural settlement networks in the medieval and post-medieval periods. The theme is open to different approaches, with the central objective of delving into the processes that trigger changes in different regions and periods. Multidisciplinary approaches that build horizontal dialogues between archaeology and other humanistic or environmental disciplines will be particularly welcome.
On the other hand, we propose this session to debate on the role of archaeology in the face of the current depopulation processes. The abandonment of rural areas cannot be separated from other major problems, such as the sustainable management of resources, the loss of biodiversity or the increasing incidence of natural disasters such as fires and floods. Faced with this challenge, can archaeology be a useful tool against depopulation? And if so, how?
Keywords:
Rural Abandonment, Rural Archaeology, Medieval and post-medieval settlements
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Andres Menendez Blanco (Spain) 1
Co-organisers:
Laura Gago Chorén (Italy) 2
Rafael Millán Pascual (Spain) 3
Affiliations:
1. University of Oviedo
2. University of Genoa
3. Institute of Heritage Sciences (CSIC)
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