Medieval Archaeology in the Iberian Peninsula

Recommended Prerequisites

NA

Teaching Methods

Theoretical-practical classes using PowerPoint. Some classes will be more practical, using text analysis as a base, (indicated in the first class), with a view to thematic debates.

Learning Outcomes

Students will gain an understanding of Medieval Archaeological research from a critical perspective of the socio-cultural and space/territory transformation processes, from Late Antiquity/Suevi - Visigothic period, Islamic period and reconquest (formation of peninsular Christian kingdoms). Students will gain a basic, theoretical and practical knowledge in diverse areas of archaeology such as religious and funereal, urban spaces, castellology and rural population methods through a synchronic and diachronic analysis. In addition, students will gain skills to be able to analyze structures and stratigraphic environments, thereby providing incentive for the study and interpretation of the peculiarities / diversitities that existed on the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval period.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Introduction to Medieval Archaeology
1.1. History of investigation, concepts and study methodologies
1.2. Chronological, spatial and cultural scopes
2. VIth to VIIIth centuries: the State on retreat
2.1. The historical fortune(s) of the urban sites
2.2. Rural landscapes
2.3. Militar functions, religious constructions and prestigious initiatives
2.4. Economical activities
2.5. The funerary universes
3. IXth to XIIth: times of conflict
3.1. The “ central places”
3.2. Defensive networks
3.3. Materializations of religious beliefs
3.4. Natural resources exploitation
3.5. Crafts and industries
4. XIIIth to XVth centuries: The triumph of the seigneurial social formation
4.1. The densification of the urban network
4.2. The conqueror´s architectures and the Islamic solutions resilience
4.3. The evolution at the fields
4.4. A economic structure in process of diversification: material impacts

Head Lecturer(s)

Marco António Antunes Liberato

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Synthesis work: 30.0%
Frequency: 70.0%

Bibliography

CABALLERO, L. et al (Ed.), 2009 – El siglo VII frente al siglo VIII: Arquitectura. Madrid.

CATARINO, H., 1997/98 – O Algarve Oriental durante a ocupação islâmica – povoamento e recintos fortificados, 3 vols., Al-‘Uliã, n.º 6. Loulé.

FERNANDES, I.C. (Coord.), 2002 – Mil anos de fortificações na Península Ibérica e Magreb (500-1500). Palmela.

GÓMEZ, S., 2014 - Cerámica islámica de Mértola. Museu de Mértola. Mértola.

IZQUIERDO, R., 2008 – La cultura material en la Edad Media. Perpectivas desde la Arqueología. Granada.

LIBERATO, M. 2024 - Cerâmica, povoamento e formações sociais entre Tejo e Mondego, nos séculos VI a XIV. Medievalista, n.º 36, pp. 453–472. 

LÓPEZ, J., 2009 – Arqueología del hábitat rural en la Península Ibérica (siglos V al X). Madrid.

QUIRÓS, J. A., BENGOETXEA, B., 2010 - Arqueología III: Arqueología medieval y posmedieval. Madrid.

TENTE, C., 2010 - Arqueologia Medieval Cristã no Alto Mondego. Ocupação e exploração do território nos séculos V a XI. Tese de doutoramento. Lisboa