Early Medieval

Abstract

• This early medieval chapter deals with the period around AD 350–1058 and will follow a new structure which aligns with those used for the medieval and post-medieval chapters. In the past the period was often viewed as ‘the Dark Ages’ at the end of ‘prehistory’. The emphasis was on the ‘otherness’ of the period, and about how much information was simply unknown, either through archaeology or history. However, increasingly there is an emphasis on the parallels between the early medieval and the rest of the Middle Ages.