The talk will consider various aspects of early medieval economy, especially trade/exchange, in Europe, based on the archaeological record. What are the material groups that can provide evidence, and how can we decipher this information? Which main long-distance trade routes do we think of and which ones do we not? What is in the background of this selective perception? What does the world of emporia reflect about early medieval economy, and what can we know about economic dynamics beyond this relatively well-defined set of sites? How does the currently available archaeological evidence relate to the much debated thesis of Henri Pirenne on early medieval long-distance connections and economy?