Biscós Square is located at the northern end of the historic centre of Jaca; it has been an open space for public use since the beginning of the 16th century, when it became known as Campo del Toro (Bull’s Field). It had previously housed the Main Cemetery for four hundred years, from the end of the 11th century. This space was the subject of archaeological excavations between 2005 and 2006, on the occasion of the construction of an underground car park. The work brought to light almost 900 tombs of various types, as well as the remains of the wall that had been demolished at the beginning of the 20th century. Among the findings were around twenty burials with Pecten shells that link this area to the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago de Compostela. The documentation of the Main Cemetery has recently been completed with archaeological excavations carried out in neighbouring plots (Plaza Biscós no. 2 and Plaza Ripa no. 4), documenting around fifty tombs, belonging to the first phase of use of the necropolis and which mainly housed infants and children.

I Seminar on the ancient and medieval cult image. Iconotropy is a word of Greek origin that literally means “movement/change of the image”. According to William J. Hamblin (2007), iconotropy is the cultural phenomenon whereby there is an “accidental or deliberate misinterpretation by one culture of the images or myths of another, especially to bring them into accord with the first culture”. Thus, both in the classical culture of antiquity and in medieval culture, we can identify numerous testimonies of how – on a symbolic and material level – cult images were involved in processes of misinterpretation produced by another culture. The international seminar “Iconotropy: symbolic and material alterations of the ancient and medieval cult image” aims to revitalise studies on the ancient and medieval cult image based on the concept of “iconotropy” (movement/change of the image), and to show researchers and students how the subject can still be approached from a multidisciplinary and innovative perspective that allows common denominators to be reached in defining the symbolic and material changes of these images in different chronologies, epochs and mentalities.

We usually associate monasteries with the Middle Ages. Monks, nuns, friars and canons played a fundamental role throughout this millennium, both in religious, cultural and economic life. There were different forms of monasticism, both male and female, from the diversity of the early Middle Ages to the establishment of religious orders, and monasteries were an articulating element of society, from the aristocracy to the peasantry. The desire to attain the perfection of Christian life clashed with the adaptation to society, in a tension that took the form of scandals and reforms. The relationship with the laity, between protection and abuse; the attitude to teaching and written culture; the different ways of organising the life of the monastic community; intercessory prayer for the living and the dead; and the tensions with bishops and secular clerics, all marked the evolution of the monastic life.