Beyond the Archetypes. Social Hierarchies in Rural Medieval

[yrwanel]

Beyond the Archetypes. Social Hierarchies in Rural Medieval Halland, SW Sweden

https://www.academia.edu/10298295/Beyon ... _SW_Sweden

This article tries how to research the different social contexts of the medieval village, by analyzing settlement structure, architecture and artefacts with emblematic symbolism. A hierarchy of five settlement groups, based upon a study of 45 excavated farms, indicates a socialy stratified society in the Early Middle Ages, but a wide range of status must be considered within every social group. The villages were incorporated in a feudal reorganisation of the landscape in the 11th century, resulting in a village landscape with one larger Bryt farm and surrounding tenant farms.