Structural Changes in Traffic as a Research Problem of Medieval Archaeology – the hypothesis of changes in traffics during the Staufian period
Based on written sources historian Thomas Szabó postulated major changes within traffic and transportation during the Staufian Period (12th/13th c.). He recognised changes in the ways of orientation, commercial hospitality, efforts on security and on improvements of roads and river crossings. This article shows the archaeological possibilities to deal with this thesis and to check them.
Major methodological problems are present in the chronological specification of technical innovations. This makes it impossible to correlate archaeological observations with the written record and to gain reliable statements on causal relationship. However it can be shown that there are interesting effects of innovations on environment and economy which deserve further archaeological – and historical – research.