The archaeology of peasant protagonism: new directions in the early medieval Iberian countryside
Robert Portass
Abstract The inherent complexity of early medieval rural society is now widely recognised by scholars; this in no small part thanks to the transformative effect that archaeology has had on our understanding many aspects peasant life. Yet it only last twenty years an Christian Iberia emerged challenge supremacy deeply entrenched historiographical motifs, explored detail herein, which underplay agency, confine peasants familiar contextual paradigms (poverty, risk-aversion, resistance), and treat peasantry as undifferentiated mass largely passive ‘recipients’ History. This article focuses upon a case study – northern show that, far from auxiliary discipline used bolster or reject interpretations founded documentary analysis, underpins efforts understand complex economy countryside.
Rural History-economy Society Culture|Lincoln Repository (University of Lincoln)