Despite being a fundamental element in the life of human communities, plants have attracted little interest in medieval archaeology. However, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in gaining a detailed understanding of the role of plants in medieval communities and this project responds to this interest. This project, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, aims to: a) investigate the variety of plants used in the Iberian Peninsula in medieval times (6th-11th centuries AD); b) determine the introduction of new species and, c) study the interaction between human groups and plant species through different practices.
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for Civic Engagement
Multimedia
Mining in Al-Andalus is a subject with many interesting facets. Heir to Roman and Visigoth mining, it will also open its own paths in mining practice thanks to the technological advances experienced in the Arabian Peninsula between the 6th and 9th centuries. Arabic written sources will be analysed, covering topics such as property, mining, the manipulation of metals and the alchemical uses of minerals.
Relevant issues such as the relationship between mineral wealth and the manoeuvres of conquest, the link between mining and the forms of population of the territory, the expansion and commercialisation of these mining materials in the Andalusian period, as well as their legal forms of exploitation will be dealt with.
The University of Salamanca, like other European centres, was constituted before the process of royal concession of c. 1218, so that the knowledge preserved in the cloisters would be the seed of the cultural recomposition.
In addition to the books identified and other elements that provide information on the cultural universe in which the protagonists who would eventually make up the Estudio General de Salamanca moved, it is the preserved sculptural representations that confirm the relevance of the knowledge within its walls, by recognising the personification of the Liberal Arts in several Romanesque capitals in its battered cloister.
According to what has been analysed to date, these are the most remote figurations located on the Peninsula, a milestone in close agreement with those observed in the rest of Europe.
These cultural manifestations confirm that, prior to the foundation of the Studio, a powerful and highly qualified cultural elite existed in the Cathedral during the 12th and 13th centuries and that knowledge was given great importance.
The southern doorway of Jaca Cathedral is much less well known than the western entrance to the church, with its famous chrism and inscriptions. However, it was one of the first historiated doorways in the Romanesque style in the Iberian Peninsula. The alterations suffered over the centuries and the loss of original elements have undoubtedly contributed to this historiographical neglect.
A hypothesis for the reconstruction of the ensemble, based on the study of components still in situ and other decontextualised elements, will make it possible to highlight its singularities and propose new keys for reading its images. In this sense, the cathedral doorway is revealed as an important milestone in the creation of visual discourses and the configuration of entrance typologies at the end of the 11th century.
The archaeological site of Los Hitos (Arisgotas -Orgaz-, Toledo) is an important rural and sacred complex related to the Late Antique elites of the capital of Toledo. The archaeological and documentary records reveal the process of monumentalisation of Toledo and its territory throughout the 7th century, and allow us to understand the collapse of the Roman territorial model based on uillae (e.g. Carranque), and its replacement by a genuine Visigothic model in which monastic, sacred and funerary complexes, as in the case of Los Hitos, constituted new references in territorial planning. The architecture documented in this area is particularly valuable in this sense and context and, consequently, served to transform the image of the cities, territories and landscapes linked to kings, aristocracies and religious elites.
Video of the permanent exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum. Protohistoric Area: Celtic peoples.
Following organisational models that are well documented in Andalusian citadels, the Salobreña citadel is divided into three enclosures that had very different uses. The layout of the three gates that mark its perimeter corresponds to a very sophisticated design for the relationship and control of the surrounding territory: the port, the medina and the countryside. Inside, there is a complex system of checkpoints designed to guarantee maximum security, especially that of the enclosure at the top of the mountain, which is none other than the palatine area. In the latter we can identify the very scant remains of the main residence and a tower-qubba which, in addition to housing the throne room, served to stage Nasrid power in front of the jetty at its foot. Attached to the palace and at a lower level, we have exhumed a bath that conserved part of its original glazed floor tiles. The remains of both buildings are sufficient to affirm that their articulation and the presence of the tower-qubba correspond to the existing model in the palace of Comares in the Alhambra.
Video of the permanent exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum. Protohistoric area: Celtic peoples.
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.
This conference will bring together leading specialists in the field of music and sound in Prehistory and Protohistory. Sound is one of our sources of perception, which is why its importance is universal and timeless. We cannot pinpoint when and how music arose, but archaeological remains show that it has been with us since our most remote past, at least as long as we have been sapiens.
Through the analysis of both the preserved pieces and their archaeological context, and with the support of ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology, iconographic sources and, where possible, also written sources, we approach the soundscapes of Prehistory and Protohistory, times when music and sound formed part of the daily and ritual life of their societies.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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