The Social Archaeology of Residential Sites

This work aims to set up a research agenda to show how archaeology can contribute to an interdisciplinary study of society in the later Middle Ages, in this case in terms of a survey of the possibilities of using archaeology to study Hungarian nobility from the point of view of their living conditions and the functions of their residences. The author, drawn to this theme through an excavation in Pomáz (west of Budapest) in 1995, investigates the co-existence of various settlement types from the point of view of manorial buildings. Contents: Introduction; Terminology; Case studies (Pomáz and the Cyko, Kisnána and the Kompolti, Nyírbátor and the Báthori); Interpreting the noble residence; Conclusion.