Organized planning or mere coincidence? An assessment of the development patterns of village, farm and boundaries in Jutland Denmark.

The aim of this paper is to examine patterns and development of the topographical locations of villages and single farms throughout the middle Age. Are significant sociological and political changes recognizable in the pattern of topography, or in peoples desires to live secluded or to be a part of a community? The common thesis rests on the belief that the building of masonry churches in the 12th century made the people – and thus the villages – stationary. Is that image recognizable in the excavated material?
How are the natural boundaries used in different periods and how does the medieval settlements relate to possible nearby Iron Age settlements? Did the needs of the Iron Age farmer correlate to those living of the land 1000 years later? In the southernmost part of Denmark the excavated material is vast, well documented and well dated. In this paper we use this area as guideline and examine whether that regional pattern reflects itself as one moves further north into Jutland.