Critical beginnings of the early medieval rural habitat in Catalonia: the 5th century in the light of archaeology

Abstract

An archaeological analysis is presented of the transformations that affected the rural world in the context of the crisis of the Roman state in the fifth century, which led to the emergence of the early medieval habitat. To this end, three specific archaeological phenomena and their material contexts are described, compared and interpreted: the end of the late roman villae, the cave occupations and the hilltop settlements.