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.

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.

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.

The Lower Epoch of Iberian Culture, 40 years later. Symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the AEAA.

The Low Period of Iberian Culture, 40 years later. Symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the AEAA.

A round table aimed at informing the public about the latest research carried out recently in three large Andalusian megaliths (Menga, Soto and Montelirio), and the importance of their dissemination. This is a unique opportunity to delve into the fascinating phenomenon of megaliths.

In October 2015, as chance would have it, during a preliminary archaeological impact study, a Neolithic funerary structure was located, which has since been the object of study in different archaeological interventions. It has also become the backbone of a more ambitious project of research, conservation and enhancement, which is being promoted by the City Council of San Martín del Rey Aurelio (Asturias).

The different works on megalithic art by the team of the Prehistory Department of the UAH have characterised the informative potential of the study of the decorations of Iberian megalithic supports, within the framework of systematic elaborate funerary scenarios. Components of the past visible in the reuse of supports, figurines, recovery of ancient corpses…, are added to applications of artificial colour to establish some patterns of funerary rituals that extend to other areas of Atlantic Europe.

Research into the role of the first large stones in the most ancient megalithic constructions, which had been located almost exclusively in Brittany in France, offers a rich record in Iberia, which constitutes a very revealing argument for the presence of a megalithic system at least as old as the Breton one. The demonstration that the study of the paint applied to some of these pieces offers C14 dating opens up a new line of research that already has initial results in Iberia, France and the Orkney Islands, based on the results obtained in this project.

This presentation will present some of the methodological aspects that we have developed and the results already obtained.