Theme:
4. Persisting with Change: Theory and Archaeological Scrutiny
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Materialising the Invisible. The Analysis of Rural Societies in the Transition to the Early Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula
Content:
The study of the period between Roman and Medieval times (4-9th centuries) has become increasingly relevant in recent years. In fact, in many parts of the Iberian Peninsula, there is a growing renewal of lines of research related to the period. This is mainly due to the involvement of commercial archaeology and the development of research programmes linked to the period comprising the transition to the medieval world. Nevertheless, the scarcity of known data about this territory during the post-classical period still results in a rather lacunar knowledge. The identification and recognition of Late Antique archaeological evidence is still complex, as is the dating of archaeological contexts and material culture from this period. In addition, the literary sources on the fields of Hispania, and particularly of ancient Lusitania, are insufficient when it comes to outlining a diachronic reading of the Late Antique/ Early Medieval landscape. This gap still exists today in some areas. The failure to associate habitation, cult and funerary sites has created a knowledge gap in terms of better understanding these population groups and the reasons for their establishment and/or continuity in each region. Focusing on the Iberian Peninsula, this session aims to open a debate on several questions such as the following: What difficulties do we have in the characterisation of the sites of this period, both chronologically and functionally? How can the lack of theoretical analysis affect the characterisation of the archaeological sites of this period? What data can we find from the settlements and necropolises of this period about the daily life of the period? How can we deal with the archaeological gaps we face in the study of this period?
Keywords:
Late Antiquity and Early Medieval landscape, Iberian Peninsula, Settlement patterns, Material Culture, archaeological gaps, new identities
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Celtia Rodríguez-González (Spain) 1
Co-organisers:
Monica Rolo (Portugal) 2
Irene Salinero-Sánchez (Spain) 3
Leticia Tobalina-Pulido (Spain) 4
Ana Martins (Portugal) 5,6,7
Affiliations:
1. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
2. UNIARQ - Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa
3. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
4. Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio, CSIC
5. CHAIA - Universidade de Évora
6. Universidade de Granada
7. FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (2021.06047.BD)
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT