The Impact of Water on Settlement Development in Western Europe.

The establishment or development of any settlement will require a reliable supply of fresh water. The vital nature of this resource creates a significance for water in any discussion of the interaction and relationship between humans and their landscape. During periods of transition, the importance of this relationship, and the effect it has on the development of settlements, can be examined. From the 5th century AD, following the decline of the Roman period in Western Europe, and on into the 12th century AD, the manner in which many of the water systems were used shifted, while other uses remained constant. The movement of various groups into new parts of the continent resulted in changes to the expression of the human relationship to water systems in the urban structures across Western Europe. Places such as Londinium/Ludenwic experienced a significant transition from their previous urban layouts, while others, including Cordoba, appear to continue to function within the original Roman boundaries. This paper seeks to examine the impact that the relationship between the communities that lived in these settlements, and the water systems that they used, had on the urban development of these sites. Does the change or continuity that is displayed through the sites urban development reflect this dynamic relationship? Through examining how water has impacted communities’ decisions regarding their settlements across Europe on a broader scale, wider trends during this period can be identified and understood alongside regional variation to enable a more complex understanding of the nature of the relationships between Early Medieval communities and their landscapes.