General issues in the study of medieval logistics : : sources, problems and methodologies / / edited by John F. Haldon.

• Superior document: History of warfare ; Volume 36
• TeilnehmendeR: Haldon, John F.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2006]; ©2006
• Year of Publication: 2006
• Language: English
• Series: History of warfare ; Volume 36.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

Logistics is a central concern for military strategists, but the study of logistics in the past entails far more than merely military aspects. The study of resources and their production, distribution and consumption in pre-modern societies, of road-networks and communications, and of transportation, is an essential precondition, so that the study of logistics is also the study of pre-industrial social, economic and spatial organisation. This volume presents a series of papers dealing with the methodological, technical and historical issues associated with the study of logistics in all its aspects, and in particular demonstrates the value of modern computer-modelling and of integrating archaeological, historical and environmental research techniques and agendas into a common project.

Table of Contents

Note from the Publisher -- Foreword -- List of Contributors -- Introduction. Why model logistical systems?, John Haldon -- 1. Who's in command here? The digital basis of historical, military logistic, Vincent Gaffney -- 2. Network analysis and logistics: applied topology, Malcolm Wagstaff -- 3. The Tiber Valley project: archaeology, comparative survey and history, Helen Patterson -- 4. Palaeoecology and landscape reconstruction in the eastern Mediterranean: theory and practice, Warren Eastwood -- 5. Land use and settlement: theoretical approaches, Johannes Koder -- 6. Predicting communication routes, Gino Bellavia -- 7. Modelling agricultural production. A methodology for predicting land use and populations, Helen Goodchild -- 8. Filling the gap: supporting landscape investigation, Steve Wilkes -- 9. Superiority of numbers: methodologies for modelling the behaviour of armies, Helen Gaffney -- 10. Modelling logistics: integrative technologies, Ron Yorston -- Conclusion, John Haldon -- Index.