This book is the result of a research project that was a part of my postgraduate thesis. As the book is published several years after the end of that project, there was time to refine and modify some parts of the thesis. In particular, I improved the methodological foundations and procedures on which the entire research was based. Although the explanation of the theoretical foundations, methodology and objectives is not extensive, I attempted to introduce a theory that is supported by a functional methodology. Therefore, I consider it essential to combine both parts in one text. I would like to ask readers to consider the book as a whole. Several aspects of the book concern topics of a more global nature, such as the relationship of settlement and the natural environment, social and economic relationships of early medieval centres to their surroundings, etc. However, its primary ambition is to present a focused case study and use it to answer specific questions. This book does not aspire to define universal patterns; on the contrary, I attempt to interpret and understand relationships in a specific geographical area at a particular moment time. However, it is the space (the Morava region) and the time (9thâ10th century) in which one of the most prominent economic and political units in contemporary Central Europe existed. This fact highlights the importance of such a case study in relation to the global issues mentioned above.
In other words, the primary objective of the book is to present an archaeological model of socio-economic relationships in the hinterland of one of the most significant Great Moravian centres, the MikulÄice-Valy fortified settlement, during the 9th century. This model is based on data from long-term archaeological research of the region of MikulÄice, which was carried out by several institutions during the second half of the 20th century. The creation of the final interpretative model would therefore be impossible without a thorough review and subsequent analysis of these archaeological sources. This step has not yet been made in the studied area. An important step in the research was the addition of new data to an archaeological database. The new data was obtained through a predefined methodology, which ensures the verifiability of the research findings. The second pillar of the presented archaeological model is environmental data from the studied area. The book puts great emphasis on the reconstruction of the natural environment at the heyday of Great Moravia in the 9th century, mainly using archaeobotanical and palynological data obtained from the archaeological contexts in the region. Both sets of data were compared and analysed using multidimensional statistical methods in the GIS environment. The resulting mathematical and geoinformational models were the basis for an interpretative archaeological model.