Climatic fluctuations and changes in settlement and land usage in medieval Norfolk, c. 500 AD - c. 1500 AD

该项目将调查中世纪气候条件的变化如何影响诺福克的聚落和土地使用的模式和分布。中世纪的聚落和土地使用的特点是它们的流动性，在中世纪的过程中不断改变位置。对中世纪聚落的解释承认了环境因素在决定聚落转移中所起的关键作用，但没有认识到气候条件的短期和长期波动，如温度、降雨量、太阳辐照度水平和平均海平面的变化对中世纪聚落的性质和分布所起的关键作用。这个项目将试图填补现有文献中的这一空白，揭示一个长期研究不足的热门主题，这将增强我们对气候波动如何影响中世纪聚落和土地利用的模式和分布的理解。

This project will investigate how changing climatic conditions in the Middle Ages effected the pattern and distribution of settlement and land use in Norfolk. Medieval settlement and land use are characterised by their fluidity, constantly shifting location over the course of the Middle Ages. Explanations of medieval settlement have recognised the pivotal role played by environmental factors in determining settlement shift but have failed to recognise the crucial role short- and long-term fluctuations in climatic conditions, such as temperature, rainfall, levels of solar irradiance, and changes in mean sea-level had on the nature and distribution of medieval settlement. It is this gap in the existing literature that this project will seek to fill, shedding light on a topical and chronically under-researched subject that will enhance our understanding of how climatic fluctuations influenced the pattern and distribution of medieval settlement and land use.