This paper outlines some key transformations in rural society and settlement patterns in the 4th to 7th c. western Mediterranean, as revealed by archaeological evidence. An overview of discernible trends and current debates about their socio-political contexts is illustrated with examples of well-investigated sites. From this data, two contrasting patterns emerge: intensive, and partly state-stimulated, cultivation of land; systematic animal breeding and specialised production up to the end of the 4th c.; and much more varied patterns of exploiting the landscape, including changes in animal husbandry, changes in land use and crops, and increasing use of uncultivated areas, in the 5th–7th c. This overview is intended to provide a broader framework for the detailed examination of environmental evidence which follows in this volume.