The concept of transformation or simply reshaping contains the
elements of what remains, the conservative, the kernel of what
continues, as well as the elements of what changes, the innovative. In
the framework of this publication of articles from a conference in 2016
on Transformations of City and Countryside in the Byzantine Period, we
draw attention to this dichotomy and investigate the social dynamics
behind changes in urban and rural life in the Byzantine period that can
be detected by archaeology, history and art history.