ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the processes of topographic and archaeological characterisation, the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and the purposes of field survey and excavation. Indeed a recent overview has distilled three methodological strands evident in applied research across Europe: retrospective, retrogressive and chronological approaches. Using a combination of retrospective and retrogressive approaches is a standard method for identifying the names and locations of different types of administrative units. Advances in the 20th century using this kind of approach have facilitated the reconstruction of administrative units and arrangements at a local level in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. In broad terms, however, each strand of work has used GIS to draw together early and late medieval evidence from documentary sources. The chapter demonstrates that the integrated methods outlined above offer the best evaluative approach for a rigorous exploration of assembly in a European perspective. It concludes with a consideration of the limitations of certain categories of evidence.
