Medieval Archaeology

Professor Alex Pluskowski from the University of Reading discusses his groundbreaking research on the relationships between religion, environment, and human behavior in the medieval world. As a specialist in medieval and environmental archaeology, he explores how faith-driven societies—particularly those on the frontiers of Christian Europe—transformed their landscapes through conquest, colonization, and adaptation to climatic change. Drawing on decades of fieldwork from the Baltic to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, Professor Pluskowski reveals how archaeology helps us understand human resilience, environmental exploitation, and the long-term consequences of ideological and ecological transformations in the past.