The aim of this project is two-fold; (i) to provide a clearer image of how Northern European town archaeologists from both classical and medieval archaeology currently conduct research and (ii) to understand how, and why, archaeological methods have developed, spread, or been maintained between research environments and sub-fields. This leads to a discussion of the extent of resilience in archaeological datasets and how compatible and adaptable they are for new research questions, as new methods and approaches develop.
To reach these goals, the project will utilise a combination of approaches. The chief ones will be analysing scholarly writing on optimised methodologies and interviewing a series of archaeologists to gain insight into the methods that they consider optimal. Additionally, handbooks of archaeological field practice from different times will be investigated, as these can provide an understanding of what was considered proper at the time of writing. Excavation reports will, on a case-study basis, be examined in order to tie the theoretical and the practical spheres together.
The insights gained from this project will reveal the networks that have formed between the investigators of past towns, making it possible to understand how to optimise the sharing of information and methods with the overall goal of furthering our understanding of past towns and the networks that they existed within.
