Mohammed, Charlemagne, and the Origins of Europe: The Pirenne Thesis in the Light of ArchaeologyThe archaeology of the period A. D. 500 1000 has taken off in the Mediterranean (where prehistoric and classical studies formerly enjoyed a virtual monopoly in most areas) and in the Islamic world. Here, as in northern Europe, field survey, careful excavation and improved methods of dating are beginning to supply information which now is not only more abundant but also of much higher quality than ever before. The 'New Archaeology', pioneered in the