ABSTRACT
The previous chapters have sought to illustrate some of the complex archaeology and related data available for reconstructing the human settlement of Italy in the period between the late Roman Empire and the renewal of a western Empire under Charlemagne. As stressed at various points, this assemblage of information is one that is both expanding (in terms of finds, excavations, analyses of churches, sculpture, and so on) and evolving (in terms of re-evaluations of documentary data, new approaches to reading the archaeological, architectural and art historical materials). A tremendous leap forward has been made in being able to view and discuss the post-Roman archaeology in particular, but, as seen, what we currently possess is very much a skeletal archaeology. The greatest advances appear to be coming from urban contexts, although this is perhaps misleading, since it is here that the numbers of questions are greater; arguably it will be the study of rural sites and burials that will provide a fuller indication of lifestyles across time. Demographics in particular remain too poorly understood, and the study of buried groups and larger populations are a prime research need, with DNA and stable isotope analysis offering much potential.
