Search results for ""Author Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo""

Agrarian Archaeology in Northwestern Iberia is devoted to the archaeological study of the societies and agrarian landscapes of Northwestern Iberia in the longue durée. The book brings together, for the first time, the results of some of the main projects carried out in recent decades from off-site records providing a fresh perspective for the understanding of historical landscapes. The papers evaluate the ‘manure hypothesis’ and other variables that have influenced the formation of pottery carpets in several territories of the Ebro and Douro basins. The record is interpreted through critical integration with other historical, ethnographic and archaeological evidence. In thematic terms, the processes of early medieval colonization, the transformation of rural societies between the Roman and medieval periods, the agency of subaltern groups, the transformations of agrarian practices from a social perspective, and the morphology of agrarian landscapes from prehistory to the contemporary age are analysed. In addition, singularities in off-site records in non-Mediterranean spaces are considered. In summary, this volume introduces new topics, concepts and case studies useful for developing a multiproxy agrarian archaeology.

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This book presents, in sixteen papers, recent developments and some of the main topics seen in academic Medieval Archaeology studies in Spain. The papers explore some of the emergent and consolidated topics of the discipline, such as landscapes, cities, rural spaces, bio-archaeological records, archaeology of architectures, agrarian archaeology, post-Roman archaeology, colonial archaeology in the Canary Islands and the archaeology of religious minorities, opening new lines of enquiries and providing new theoretical and methodological approaches. An overview of Medieval Archaeology studies in Spain is offered, proposing a wide range of topics for discussion. Finally, the book explores the connections between Spanish Medieval Archaeology and other European traditions, specifically, English, Italian and Portuguese Medieval Archaeology.

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Este es el primer volumen dedicado a la arqueometría de los materiales cerámicos de época medieval en España. El libro acoge un total de trece trabajos, que recogen los resultados de algunos de los principales proyectos de investigación realizados, en los últimos años, en distintas comunidades autónomas (Galicia, País Vasco, Andalucía, Canarias, Castilla y León, etc). El libro proporciona un cuadro actualizado sobre los principales enfoques teóricos, metodológicos y las temáticas que se están analizando por parte de la Arqueología Medieval en España, a partir del estudio de la arqueometría de los materiales cerámicos.

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This book presents an overview of the results of the research project DESPAMED funded by the Spanish Minister of Economy and Competitiveness. The aim of the book is to discuss the theoretical challenges posed by the study of social inequality and social complexity in early medieval peasant communities in North-western Iberia. Traditional approaches have defined these communities as poor, simple and even nomadic, in the framework of a self-sufficient economy that prioritised animal husbandry over agriculture. This picture has radically changed over the last couple of decades as a result of important research on the archaeology of peasantry and the critical analysis of ninthand tenth-century documentary evidence that show the complexity of these rural societies. These new records are discussed in the light of a new research agenda centred on the analysis of the emergence of villages, the formation of local elites, the creation of socio-political networks and the role of identities in the legitimation of local inequalities. The nine chapters of this book explore the potential and the limits of the archaeological record to tackle social inequality in rural communities. Those considerations have a wider theoretical and methodological potential and are applicable to other regions and chronologies. The different chapters explore local societies through different methodologies and approaches such as food, settlement patterns, social exclusion, consumption patterns and social practices. In addition, the book introduces some of the most relevant topics studied currently by Iberian Medieval archaeologists, which are not always accessible to an international audience.

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Arqueología de las sociedades locales en la Alta Edad Media: San Julián de Aistra y las residencias de las élites rurales presents the main results obtained in the archaeological project of San Julián de Aistra (Zalduondo-Araia, Álava) carried out between 2006 and 2020 by University College London and the University of the Basque Country. The remains of a hermitage dedicated to Santa Julián and Santa Basilisa, built in the 10th century and renovated in the Romanesque period and in the 18th century, are preserved in the deserted village of Aistra, which is documented since the 11th century. Excavation has shown that the site was occupied in prehistoric, Roman and medieval times. While prehistoric and Roman materials have been recovered in secondary contexts, four medieval phases of a domestic, productive, and funerary nature have been defined. One of the most important results of the project has been the discovery of residential spaces of elites who exercised territorial dominion throughout the Early Middle Ages. In the 14th century, the place was depopulated and, since then, the Aistra area has been managed and disputed by the nearby villages of Zalduondo and Araia, which created a community aimed at jointly managing the resources and spaces of Aistra. This community, active between the 14th and 20th centuries, broke up from the 19th century onwards, when individual management of resources became accentuated, and the commons were divided up. This collective volume brings together a large number of specialized studies and provides an interpretation of the site of Aistra in terms of socio-political practices that define the main characteristics of early medieval local societies in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

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People and Agrarian Landscapes aims to offer the reader a series of keys to understand why agrarian archaeology has become one of the most dynamic, experimental, and innovative sectors of the discipline in southern Europe, providing an overview of the driving theories, methodologies and main topics that have been addressed to date. In this way, the text is presented as an introduction for students, a critical reading guide for other scholars, and an informative instrument aimed at a wide audience. Most of the results of agrarian archaeology are to be found in highly specialized journals and venues that are not always easily accessible, and thus the volume presents the works, tools, and conceptual frameworks that have been developed by some of the main research groups active in the south of Western Europe to study rural societies throughout history, considering the materiality of agricultural activities.

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Post-medieval archaeology is currently going through a critical phase of consolidation and disciplinary redefinition across Europe, where mere proposals or ambitions are becoming tangible scientific and disciplinary realities. This renovation is most evident in Southern Europe, where, until recently, these studies have been treated as somewhat marginal. The convergence of new actors and disciplines (historical archaeology, archaeology of the post-medieval centuries, professional archaeology, ethnoarchaeology or archaeological sciences), the promotion of new patrimonialization initiatives, and the creation of new action frameworks as a result of the deep economic crisis of the years 2007-2008 are some of the factors that have shaped current approaches to the archaeology of the Modern Age. Focussing on archaeological studies of the Modern Age located in the Basque Country, Arqueología de la Edad Moderna en el País Vasco y su entorno recognises the main themes investigated (cities, rural spaces, funeral spaces, consumption and production, communications systems, maritime archaeology), detects some of the strengths and weaknesses, and proposes new lines of action and disciplinary consolidation. In short, this volume aims to provide a summary of the current archaeological framework for investigations of the Modern Age in the Basque Country, and to make proposals for developing these practices in the future.

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