Frankish and local technological traditions in greyware pottery production at l'esquerda (Catalonia), 7th-9th centuries AD: Examining distribution patterns and exchange at the southern Carolingian border

Abstract

The archaeological site of L’Esquerda was a distinctive fortified settlement from the Late Bronze Age until the violent destruction of the medieval village in CE 1314. After several centuries of abandonment during the Roman period, peasant populations reoccupied the site. It played military role during the political struggles of the Visigothic kingdom in the 6th and 7th centuries AD and became a strategic site when the Frankish king Louis the Pious strengthened the Hispanic March against the Andalusi Muslim domains. Throughout this period, the settlement was periodically refortified, and a wall enclosing the main access to the site was built. From the time of the early medieval reoccupation of the site, greyware pottery was the primary artefact used for daily cooking purposes. We analysed one hundred samples from this site by means of thin section petrography in order to explore the changes that occurred from a diachronic perspective in accordance with the historical vicissitudes of the site. The results showed a shift towards more regionalized consumption of pottery and the abandonment of previous technological practices. Our study aims to determine whether the presence of imported Frankish products, if any, influenced changes in local pottery production, such as the use of new recipes or firing conditions.