The aim of the project is to study a number of topics – from the process of deurbanisation in the late antique period to the re-urbanisation in the Middle Ages, with particular reference to the development of the city, fortification, settlement, material culture, economy, technology and anthropological characteristics of populations that inhabited the Central Balkans.

In some segments, the project also touches on the periods of Ottoman and Austrian occupation. The examination of these topics of archaeology, history, technology and anthropology is of great importance for clarifying some of the still insufficiently researched problems concerning the formation of fortified cities, defence organisation, settlement, habitation, economy, trade, technological base, local production of goods and, finally, the characteristics of the population through the analysis of human osteological material. The questions of deurbanisation and settling imply the study of relationships between citys, forts and settlements in the early Byzantine period, with special reference to the problems of great migrations and the settlement of the Germans, Huns, Slavs and Avars. A particular aspect of research involves the study of forts and monastic complexes. The interpretation of mediaeval forts in the context of the urbanisation of mediaeval Serbia is based on the research of both fortifications and fortified cities. At the same time, the study of material culture takes place through a multidisciplinary approach – from archaeological analysis to an archaeometric examination of the material, for the purpose of determining the technological base, transportation routes and cultural influences.