"Late Antiquity" is used by those with a pro-Roman bias, viewing the period as the fag end of the Classical era. "Early medieval" better represents the actual historical process in which civitates morph into small kingdoms, and these gradually evolve (mostly by wars) into the larger kingdoms of the High Middle Ages.
Just finished a proseminar on Medieval history: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
"Late Antiquity" is used by those with a pro-Roman bias, viewing the period as the fag end of the Classical era. "Early medieval" better represents the actual historical process in which civitates morph into small kingdoms, and these gradually evolve (mostly by wars) into the larger kingdoms of the High Middle Ages.