The volume edited by Laury Sarti and Helene von Trott zu Solz comprises the proceedings of a 2022 conference held at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, examining modes of travel and mobility in Western and Central Europe during the early Middle Ages. Published via open access by De Gruyter, the collection maintains a distinct methodological focus necessitated by the fragmented and uneven distribution of traditional primary sources for the period. This evidentiary challenge requires the development of innovative research trajectories to address significant lacunae in existing scholarship. While the constituent essays are notably heterogeneous in their geographic and temporal scope, they adhere to this programmatic intent with varying degrees of consistency. To assist the reader in navigating such multifaceted material, the editors have organized the contributions into two primary thematic frameworks: the mobility of people and objects, and the analysis of landscape and infrastructure.

The first thematic grouping assembles eight articles that utilize both written records and archaeological data. While the dual engagement with textual and material evidence is commendable, the lack of a truly integrated methodology – one that synthesizes these distinct datasets – is unsatisfactory. Furthermore, apart from Abel de Lorenzo Rodríguez’s study, this section focuses almost exclusively on the mobility of early medieval elites, such as the aristocracy, pilgrims, envoys, and ecclesiastics. Consequently, limited advancements regarding the subaltern mobility of low‑ranking individuals during this period are offered.

Marco Cristini investigates sixth-century exchanges of exotic gifts as a vital facet of international diplomacy. He illustrates how the delivery of technological curiosities frequently entailed a transfer of knowledge mediated through specialized workforce mobility. Michel Summer offers a perspective on the mobility of Irish missionaries toward and within northwest Francia and south to Rome in the seventh and eighth centuries. He emphasizes how both overseas and localized movements contributed to the integration of missionaries while simultaneously maintaining their identitarian specificity. Shigeto Kikuchi provides an overview of the motivations underpinning long-distance travel among secular and ecclesiastical elites within the Carolingian Empire, showing how voluntary devotional journeys and state-sponsored political missions could often overlap.

Tobias Gärtner’s essay addresses the contentious role of archaeology as an epistemological framework for tracing mobility by examining shelly ware (Muschelgrusware), a category of handmade tableware traditionally associated with Frisian merchants. While acknowledging the interconnected commercial networks evidenced by these finds, Gärtner highlights the inherent limitations of employing material goods as definitive ethnic markers. Abel de Lorenzo Rodríguez’s contribution shifts the analytical focus to local and regional mobility by examining the penal confinement of individuals in ninth- through twelfth-century northwestern Iberia. Rodríguez offers compelling insights into the early medieval perception of spatiality, demonstrating how a displacement of only a few kilometers could be perceived as exile to a foreign land within a face-to-face society.

Laury Sarti evaluates the potential of epistolary collections as a quantitative source for mobility, specifically the corpus of Gerbert of Reims. Through a relational database, personal movements and retinues are quantified, though Sarti acknowledges that granular data regarding the social composition of these groups remains elusive. Finally, Russell Ó Ríagáin’s study stresses the limitations of using elite records as a proxy for lower socio-economic strata. Building on Irish and English chronicles, he reconstructs the biographies of Scandinavian leaders, hinting at wider migratory patterns of associated groups, such as slaves and hostages, whose sociocultural profiles are omitted in the records.

The second thematic framework analyses traditional datasets through the lens of emerging digital technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Least Cost Path (LCP) analysis, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). While the recourse to digital humanities is welcomed, this technical integration is not always matched by a corresponding theoretical sophistication. Furthermore, several contributions utilize later periods as diachronic comparanda for the pre-millennial era and computational modelling to supplement lacunae in the contemporary record.

Michael Kahle and Rüdiger Glaser investigate the impact of climatic hazards on mobility between 1000 and 1500, identifying 600 climatic events affecting transport infrastructure. Their findings indicate a peak in cold-weather events impacting travel networks during the Medieval Climate Anomaly. While contributing to the nascent field of climate-mobility interactions, the study remains primarily descriptive in its approach. A similar tendency is observable in Bart Holterman’s contribution, which concludes that late medieval maritime records remain inadequate as proxies for projecting mobility patterns into earlier, less-documented periods.

Pierre Fütterer employs spatial analysis via GIS to examine Ottonian-era settlement patterns, revealing logistical patterns in the positioning of royal residences at strategic intervals of approximately 15 kilometres – effectively the midpoint of an average one-day journey. Irmela Herzog integrates LCP methodology with traditional evidence to investigate pre-modern road systems near Cologne, demonstrating that safety was often prioritized over ease of transit, with ridgeway routes preferred over valley floors. This observation is further corroborated by Anna Swieder and Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart et al., who utilize LiDAR data to investigate the Harz Mountains in Saxony‑Anhalt and a small region nearby Utrecht in the Netherlands. Although establishing the absolute chronology of road networks identified via LiDAR remains a significant challenge, the ability to survey densely forested terrains represents a transformative advancement for the field.

Ultimately, the volume edited by Sarti and von Trott zu Solz succeeds in highlighting the potential of interdisciplinary and digital methodologies. While the emphasis on elite actors and the occasional prioritization of description over deep theoretical analysis leave certain gaps, the collection provides a valuable, open-access foundation for future research. It serves as an important stepping stone toward a more integrated history of the post-Roman landscape through the lens of human mobility and communications.