Archaeology of early medieval peasantry in the Basque Country: Landscapes, economic trends and societal change in Álava (original) (raw)
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The aim of this paper is to discuss key aspects of domestic economies in the early Middle Ages, taking into account a particular case study: the present-day territory of the Basque Country. This region is considered one of the simplest and least hierarchical in Southern Europe and thus provides a unique opportunity to explore the complexity of domestic economies and their social implications from a fresh perspective. Particular emphasis is placed on the notion of local societies considered both as a scale of social analysis and the ‘small worlds’ around which micro politics and significant links between the different households are woven. From a theoretical point of view, it is intended to contrast practices based on the political and moral economies that define the forms of equilibrium and transformation of both households and local societies. From this perspective, the connectivity, redistribution, accumulation and consumption patterns of domestic economies will be considered, as well as the social practices that derived from them between the 8th and the 10th centuries. To do this, bioarchaeological evidence, domestic records and material culture will be taken into consideration. In this way, it is intended to reveal patterns of rationality in the domestic economies of local societies, questioning both the ‘primitive opulent’ and the primitivist models that accentuate the poverty and simplicity of early medieval local societies. It is argued that domestic economies changed substantially over time, challenging the static and traditional nature of medieval rural societies.
Quaternary International
This paper presents the results of a series of studies conducted in two villages located in the region of Asturias, north of the Iberian Peninsula. These studies explore medieval settlements as well as agricultural and cattle farming activities in these villages, with a special focus on areas still inhabited today as well as surrounding productive spaces. An interdisciplinary methodology was used, which involves pollen and sedimentological analyses, physical and chemical soil analyses, and includes micromorphological studies and radiocarbon dating. These data are combined with the interpretation of stratigraphic information derived from archaeological excavations. The areas of study in the village of Vigaña comprise the necropolis and a nearby meadow, which provided a stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic era to the present day, and are characterized by the continued significance of farming activities. In Villanueva, meanwhile, both village areas and productive spaces were excavated, which provided information from the Roman period, and revealed the existence of combined agricultural and farming activities since the early medieval era.
Elsevier, 2014
ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of a series of studies conducted in two villages located in the region of Asturias, north of the Iberian Peninsula. These studies explore medieval settlements as well as agricultural and cattle farming activities in these villages, with a special focus on areas still inhabited today as well as surrounding productive spaces. An interdisciplinary methodology was used, which involves pollen and sedimentological analyses, physical and chemical soil analyses, and includes micromorphological studies and radiocarbon dating. These data are combined with the interpretation of stratigraphic information derived from archaeological excavations. The areas of study in the village of Vigaña comprise the necropolis and a nearby meadow, which provided a stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic era to the present day, and are characterized by the continued significance of farming activities. In Villanueva, meanwhile, both village areas and productive spaces were excavated, which provided information from the Roman period, and revealed the existence of combined agricultural and farming activities since the early medieval era.
Archaeology of Peasantry in Northern Iberia. Medieval Landscapes
During the last 15 years a deep renovation on the study of medieval landscapes has taken place in the north of the Iberian Peninsula as a consequence of the boost of preventive archaeology, the execution of large projects and the development of integrated geo- and bioarchaeological researches. In this context it has been possible to build up a holistic approach to landscapes that has meant the overcoming of the traditional limits of individual sites and the incorporation of the analysis of the productive spaces and the systemic relations between different kinds of available records. The aim of this communication is to briefly present the theoretical and conceptual bases the GIPYPAC has been working on in different areas of the north-western Iberian Peninsula, integrating both applied research on preventive contexts and investigations focused on the transversal analysis of palaeoenvironmental records. For doing so, two case studies from Madrid and Basque Country will be analysed and a synthetic comparative discussion between these two examples will be done, assessing the implications in historical and heritage terms. Emphasis will be specifically put on peasantry as a key agent in the modelling of historical landscapes.
Imago Temporis 14, 2020
The archaeology of the medieval peasantry in Spain and Europe has attracted renewed attention in recent decades. This article is an overview of the research carried out in the last 30 years into the peasantry and their cultivated areas in the early-medieval societies in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and al-Andalus. Special attention is paid to the interpretations archaeologists make of the archaeological record. Approaches from two distinct perspectives are analysed, these being the excavation of settlements, and the archaeology of agrarian spaces. Both approaches do not usually come together in the research. It is increasingly clear that the 8 th century was a turning point in the forms of peasant settlement and the creation of new cultivated areas. The consolidation of the migration in al-Andalus or the new forms of peasant settlement that arose from the end of the 7 th century in the north of the Peninsula were essential for the later urban development. This development is closely linked to the changes in the production of artefacts and tools, as well as how these were distributed (in markets increasingly controlled from the city) and the patterns of consumption by the population, both rural and urban. Ethnic origins and religion have little to do with this process. keywoRds Peasant archeology, Medieval Archaeology, Agrarian Archaeology, Al-Andalus. cAPITAlIA veRbA Archaeologia agricola, Archaeologia mediaevalis, Archaeologia agraria, Iberia Arabica. Imago TemporIs. medIum aevum, XIV (2020):