Settlement development in the Danubian plain of northern Bulgaria during the 12th – 17th c. according to archaeological data

Abstract

This study presents an overview of information available for the layout and topography of unfortified settlements in the Danubian Plain between the 12^th and 17^th c. This information comes from previous archaeological research in Bulgaria and recent excavations along the route of the Balkan Stream pipeline, which crosses the Danubian Plain region in Northern Bulgaria from the Bulgarian-Serbian border in the west to Provadia in the east. The poor state of research on 12^th – 17^th c. unfortified settlements along the Danube in Northern Bulgaria raises a number of questions about one of the main settlement categories in this area during the Developed and Late Middle Ages.