Visigothic Period Research Articles

Long-term vegetation history of a relict birch forest (Betula pubescens subsp. celtiberica (Rothm. & Vasc.) Rivas Mart.) in the Toledo Mountains (central Iberia). Conservation implications

Understanding ecosystem resilience requires long data series provided by palaeoecological studies, the best tool for reconstructing vegetation dynamics. Here, we analyzed a continuous and well-dated record of pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, macrocharcoal remains, loss-on-ignition and magnetic susceptibility from one of the most singular peatlands in the Toledo Mountains (central Spain), in order to delineate the anthropogenic and/or climate impact on the peatland and the ecosystem’s response. La Ventilla mire is an isolated site of birch woodland dominated by Betula pubescens subsp. celtiberica (Rothm. & Vasc.) Rivas Mart. This mire, acting as a refugium for this species, is located in Cabañeros National Park and is recognized as ‘Special Area of Conservation’ according to Habitats Directive of the Natura 2000 network. We describe major patterns and trends in the development of this palaeorefugium since the mid-Holocene (∼6145 cal BP) and provide historical context for some natural and/or human-induced dynamics. Around 1500 cal BP, the lotic depositional environment with slow moving backwaters developed into a minerotrophic mire. Until the Middle Ages, macroclimate and autogenic succession appear to have been the main drivers of both local and regional development of vegetation. Between 1500 and 500 cal BP, an abrupt decline in birch cover started, coincident with the Visigothic period. The pronounced peaks in the coprophilous fungi record ca. 1000 and 150 cal BP reflect extensive pastoral activities in the area. This study shows how palaeoecological knowledge helps to explain present patterns in the composition of a valuable protected site, which may be used in prioritizing conservation.

Making loca sacra in Visigothic Iberia: The Case of Churches

Curiously, we have no previous studies that deal monographically with the question of the sacralisation of spaces in Visigoth Iberia. It is intended in the following pages to fill this historiographical gap by focusing on the particular case of the churches. By means of the compilation and exhaustive analysis of all the available documentary sources, particularly the available conciliar canons, it is aimed to identify the different prescriptions and strategies that were used to sacralise new places of worship in Iberia during the Visigothic period. Particular emphasis will be placed on ritual procedures, which are mandatory for the consecration of any church, but also on material and sensorial factors as complementary determinants in the definition of sacred space. The final result obtained provides us with a reality dominated by a heterogeneity of situations that were sometimes far from conforming to the reality desired by canon law.

Assessing place‐based identities in the early Middle Ages: a proposal for post‐Roman Iberia

Sociological models of place‐based identity can be used to better understand the social dynamics of local communities and how they interact with their surroundings. This paper explores how these theoretical models of belonging to a place, in tandem with communal cognitive maps, can be applied to post‐Roman contexts, taking the Iberian Peninsula in the Visigothic period (sixth–eighth centuries) as a preliminary case study. We argue that this approach can give us not only a more complex understanding of community agencies but also allows us to reconsider the social context for past social interactions. Furthermore, it will open a new archaeological perspective for future work on the relations between groups and individuals with their built, social, and natural environments.

The glass in early al-Andalus

The expansion of Islam in the western Mediterranean led to far-reaching changes in the conquered societies. The study of glass assemblages found in archaeological contexts dating back to the early centuries of al-Andalus, coupled with analytical research and written sources, has emerged as a valuable resource for analysing these transformations. In eighth and early ninth centuries glassmakers were forced to recycle late antique materials due to the end of raw glass imports from the East but also, they developed new glassmaking methods using locally available resources. The import of eastern finished vessels served as prototypes of the new shapes and decorations to the vessels produced in the workshops of al-Andalus. These changes resulted in the long term in the configuration of clearly “Islamised” wares, in a different system of glass production and distribution from that which prevailed from antiquity to the Visigothic period.

From Villae to Early Medieval Communities in Tarraconensis Region (Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula): Changes and Continuities in Herding Practices

ABSTRACT In recent years, archaeology involved itself in solving one of the main challenges affecting our knowledge of the Visigoth period: the lack of finds. This has led to the study of a number of different types of finds, including faunal remains that, until very recently, had been overlooked. In this paper we present an archaeozoological study focusing on animal taxa identification, anatomical categorisation and the kill-off patterns of faunal remains from seven sites in the Tarraconensis region (north-east of the Iberian Peninsula) dating from the Late Roman period to the Early Middle Ages. It allows us to provide the first evidence of changes and continuities in herding practices in this area. The results indicate that ovicaprines, especially sheep, were the basis of animal husbandry, mainly for their meat, but also for their milk and wool. We also document the disappearance of the Roman period producer-consumer centre binomial pattern. We propose that this was due to the fact that both rural settlements and urban centres would have attempted to guarantee a diverse supply of animal products to be self-sufficient, and to generate some surpluses in order to pay taxes and/or to trade.

A Late Antique Rural Community in Mérida

This paper presents the contextualized results of the latest excavations at the site of Casa Herrera (Mérida, Spain). Casa Herrera is one of the best examples of a late antique site in the Iberian Peninsula, not only because of the degree of preservation of the remains but also because of its long chronological sequence, which runs from the first to the ninth century. The excavations of the surroundings of the funerary basilica and the Roman aqueduct have unearthed the remains of a handful of buildings that could be linked to a rural monastic community from the late Roman and Visigothic periods. The site has an Umayyad phase where settlement clusters around the basilica before being finally abandoned during the ninth century.

Urban Defence and the Visigoths: New Light on Fortification Design and Technology from the Royal City of Reccopolis (Guadalajara, Spain)

THERE IS A LACK OF INDIVIDUAL AND OVERARCHING STUDIES of defensive systems after the Roman collapse in the West, as well as of urban defences in Hispania during the Visigothic period. A key site for questioning the latter is the walled royal Visigothic foundation of Reccopolis. The first excavations on Reccopolis’ circuit wall began in the 1980s, and later investigations were carried out in some areas of the defensive system. However, until now no comprehensive analysis has brought together the evidence from all of these excavations, LiDAR scans, a 3 D survey of the extant structure, and a set of new radiocarbon dates. All of these data allow us to interpret what is so far the only Visigothic defensive curtain wall whose entire layout is known, as well as to explore parallels with Byzantine military forms. This paper highlights the urban and architectural value, but also the apparent uniqueness, of the Reccopolis enceinte within the Iberian Peninsula.

De contexto religioso a contexto civil – A descoberta de um friso visigótico em Évora

In 2019, during the rehabilitation project of the building located between Rua Miguel Bombarda, Rua da Misericórdia and Travessa das Peras, in Évora, a set of archaeological materials that range from Late Antiquity to the Modern Period were collected. From this set of materials, a frieze from the Visigothic period was chosen for study, dating from the 6th to 7th centuries AD, which was found completely out of context, in the building’s courtyard. In this sense, the present study offers a formulation of an analysis and interpretation of its function, typology and evidenced morphology, in order to promote a decorative-style and chronological framwork, through parallels found and already studied on peninsular territory.

From Stories to Artefacts: the Cult of Martyrs in Hispania and their Meta-historical Value

This paper analyses the meta-historical value of the martyrs’ biographies and their cult in Hispania from the 4th century to the Visigothic period. Instead of carrying on with the intense debate on the historical authenticity of the martyrs’ lives or their political instrumentalisation, my aim here is threefold. First, I describe martyrs’ relics not only as artefacts valued because of the biography of associated martyr, but also for their inherent capacity of unlimitedly adding new stories to the martyr’s narrative through the miracles attributed to his/her relic. Second, I focus on space and the symbolic significance of a landscape, in which an area ceases to be a mere geographical entity to become the scenario of the martyr’s alleged events. Finally, I explore how the memory of martyrs was used to conceptualise time at a local level and the implications of this. The new time framework made it possible to connect important contemporary experiences in an individual’s everyday life with transcendent historical time represented by the days commemorating martyrs.

Producción, uso y reuso de la escultura decorativa altomedieval de ambiente litúrgico en El Tolmo de Minateda: criterios para su contextualización cronológica y espacial

The excavations at the site of El Tolmo de Minateda (Hellin, Albacete, Spain), especially the work carried out in the area of the religious complex from the Visigothic period, have provided an interesting set of liturgical and ornamental sculpture from the early medieval period. Most of the items recovered come from the levels of dismantling and destruction of the architectural complex. This process begins in the second half of the 8th century and increases at the beginning of the 9th offering support to the Islamic buildings, in which they were reused as a construction material. Despite this circumstance, in this paper, we will see how, thanks to a chrono-stratigraphic sequence that has been verified in several areas of the site in the last 30 years, we can clarify some chronological and functional aspects of these materials. These circumstances allow us to partially restore the elevation of the religious buildings, of which only part of its plant remains, and address, from a regional perspective, aspects of the production and distribution of this kind of ornamental architecture.

De la Tardoantigüedad al Medievo: un enfoque crítico acerca de los estudios arqueológicos en la ciudad de Saguntum y su territorio en época visigoda

El hallazgo de restos materiales de época visigoda en torno a Sagunto, no alcanza a entrevercual sería la consideración de este territorio situado a caballo de las actuales provincias deValencia y Tarragona. Con este trabajo se pretende examinar la importancia real de los materialesde este periodo cultural para individualizar los yacimientos, reconocer diferencias y poderfechar los distintos procesos culturales, contrarrestando en la medida de lo posible la escasez de intervenciones arqueológicas desarrolladas en el ámbito de los siglos V y VIII. The discovery of material remains from the Visigothic period around Sagunto gives a glimpse of the little consideration towards the territory located halfway between the current provinces of Valencia and Tarragona. The aim of this paper is to examine the relevance of the vestiges from this cultural period in order to identify the features of these sites, analyse their differences and date the different cultural processes they have gone through, counteracting where possible the scarcity of archaeological research conducted in this field during the 5th and 8th centuries.

Paleografía gallega. Estado de la cuestión

À partir d'une énumération des principales sources documentaries trouvées dans les archives nationales, régionales, écclésiastiques et locales sur la Galice, et a partir de manuscrits anciens, l'auteur essaie d'établir une synthèse de la paléogra­phie galicienne. Il insiste sur les sources documentaires qui sont les plus nombreuses et les plus variées. En suivant la ligne traditionnelle de l'évolution de l'écriture espagnole médiéva­le, il étudie les différentes étapes de son développement, depuis les traces que l'on peut trouver pendant la période romaine et wisigothe, jusqu'au début du XVIème siècle. Il étudie principalement l'écriture wisigothe pour le plus grand intérêt de ses sigularités, et ensuite les autres périodes paléographiques que les traités les plus traditionnels signalent. Il tente d'étudier, pour chaque période, le milieu culturel, les textes du Codex existants et la morphologie des écritures représentées afin de faire ressortir l'évolu­tion harmonieuse de l'écriture pendant la période étudiée.

A propósito del sepulcro de Alfonso Fernández de Vargas (S. XIV) conservado en San Juan Bautista, Burguillos del Cerro (Badajoz)

Alfonso Fernández de Vargas fue sepultado en la Iglesia de San Juan Bautista de Burguillos del Cerro (Badajoz). Su sepulcro, epitafio y testamento son un perfecto ejemplo de la importancia, y deseo, de trascender más allá de la muerte, mediante el uso del poder de la imagen y la palabra. Durante las excavaciones arqueológicas realizadas en la iglesia pudimos desgranar la evolución del conjunto arquitectónico, como lugar de culto y espacio funerario, en uso desde época visigoda, hasta época contemporánea. Con motivo de esta intervención pudimos también ahondar en la historia del personaje y contextualizar nuestro objeto de análisis.

Comunidade e representación popular na Gallaecia sueva e visigoda

En atención al tema del poder local en la Gallaecia tardoantigua, se examinan los aspectos ligados a la herencia cultural, la identidad civil y las instancias representativas de las comunidades que lo compusieron. Este estudio se adscribe fundamentalmente a los períodos suevo y visigodo, estructurándose en función de la influencia que ejercieron sobre tal entramado organizativo local las formas de organización no civil, el régimen municipal romano, las instituciones representativas germánicas y las instancias eclesiásticas. Se pone de manifiesto la diversidad cultural y jurídica que caracterizó a tales comunidades, calibrando su evolución y su tendencia hacia una paulatina uniformización civil. [gl] En atención ao tema do poder local na Gallaecia tardo-antiga, examínanse os aspectos vencellados á herdanza cultural, a identidade civil e as instancias representativas das comunidades que o compuxeron. Este estudo inscríbese fundamentalmente nos períodos suevo e visigodo, estruturándose en función da influencia que as formas de organización non civil, o réxime municipal romano, as institucións representativas xermánicas e as instancias eclesiásticas tiveron no entramado organizativo das comunidades locais. Ponse de manifesto a diversidade cultural e xurídica que as caracterizou, calibrando a súa evolución e a súa tendencia deica unha paulatina uniformización civil.

Changes in the supply of eastern Mediterranean glasses to Visigothic Spain

This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of glass compositions from Visigothic Spain using high resolution laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Major, minor and trace element patterns of 169 well-dated samples from three rural Iberian sites (Congosto, Gózquez and El Pelícano) have brought to light major chronological developments in the production, circulation and use of glass between the fifth and the eighth century CE. The data identify four distinct compositional groups of Egyptian and Levantine origin. Egyptian Foy 2.1, Foy 2.1 high Fe and so-called Magby alongside Apollonia-type Levantine I were the main glass types of the Visigothic period. Due to the tight dating of the majority of the samples, we were able to reveal fundamental changes in the geographical scope of glass supplies to the Iberian Peninsula, and to refine the chronological range of the known primary production groups. The glass group commonly known as série 2.1 or Foy 2.1 started being produced already during the second half of the fifth century. The appearance of Foy 2.1 high Fe can likewise be moved forward to the first half of the sixth century. A plant-ash group referred to as Magby was introduced around the middle of the sixth century. Egypt was undeniably the main supplier of raw glasses to the Iberian Peninsula up to the mid-sixth century CE, after which the Levantine I group became the prime glass type among the analysed assemblages. In the final stages of the Visigothic Kingdom and the early years of Islamic dominion, there is a noticeable drop in the absolute quantity of glass available, together with an increase in recycling. The implications of these transformations in the supply of glass for the organisation of Mediterranean trade are discussed.

Lost in transition: the dietary shifts from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages in the North Eastern Iberian Peninsula

The Late Antiquity to the Early Middle age transition in the North Eastern Iberian Peninsula was a historical period of cultural, social and political changes. Both Germanics and North African peoples settled in this region in successive migratory waves. The impact of these population movements on the cultural habits of the local population has been barely explored. This paper explores the dietary changes of the population who were buried in the necropolis of the Churches of Sant Pere de Terrassa (Barcelona, Spain) during the Visigoth (fifth to eighth centuries ad) and Carolingian periods (ninth to tenth centuries ad). This study investigates the δ13C and δ15N stable isotopic values in bone collagen from 68 human samples and 36 faunal remains in order to improve the understanding of dietary changes that occurred during this transition. The results indicate a human diet based on C3-plants and livestock sources. On average, the Visigoth samples exhibited an enriched isotopic signal compared to that of the Carolingian period, which may be attributed to the consumption of high trophic level of animal protein. Some δ13C results of the adult human samples suggest that C4-plants (most probably millet) made proportionately smaller but significant contributions to the diet during the Visigoth period. The paleodietary data obtained here will be important for future further studies focused on the transition from the Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula, and the attending regional scale of changes. This will also give insight about how profound a transformation in policy and economy occurred during that period affected human consumer patterns in the region.

The Christianization of Western Baetica: Architecture, Power, and Religion in a Late Antique Landscape by Jerónimo Sánchez Velasco

Reviewed by: The Christianization of Western Baetica: Architecture, Power, and Religion in a Late Antique Landscape by Jerónimo Sánchez Velasco A. T. Fear Jerónimo Sánchez Velasco. The Christianization of Western Baetica: Architecture, Power, and Religion in a Late Antique Landscape. Late Antique and Early Medieval Iberia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2018. Pp. 354. $155.00. ISBN 978-90-8964-932-4. This volume is a stimulating account of the rise of Christianity from late Roman antiquity to the Moorish conquest of Spain and its ramifications. Its focus is firmly archaeological and epigraphic. The volume itself falls into three unequal parts: a short general historical introduction (30 pages); an in-depth examination of the palaeo-Christian archaeology of the area surveyed (190 pages); and a series of conclusions drawn from that survey (65 pages). The first is a little disappointing. The material on the principate could have been omitted, allowing extra room for a longer discussion of the Visigothic period. Here more on the extent of Byzantine intervention in the peninsula, given the theories put forward in the book, would have been welcome, as would an extension of the hints about how the Church weathered the storm of the Moorish period. It is never easy to order the sections of a book, but this reader would have preferred chapter 11, a careful discussion of the types of ecclesiastical buildings found in the region, to precede rather than follow part two. Discussion of what the buildings surveyed may tell us about early liturgy is deliberately eschewed, though it is strongly argued that they show that Africa had an important influence on Christianity in the region and that Byzantine elements show the presence of a Byzantine political power. The survey is subdivided into six sections, one for each diocese, and further subdivided into a section on the episcopal seat and one on the surrounding lands. Inevitably some of these sections are larger than others. Sánchez Velasco synthesizes the archaeological material (always carefully noting problems) with the available epigraphy. A strong point here is that key epigraphic texts are quoted in full in Latin in the footnotes, making their contribution immediately accessible to the reader. Sánchez Velasco offers much food for thought. He rejects many of the current interpretations of the Cercadilla complex in Cordoba, seeing the site rather as an early episcopalium gradually evolving over a period of several centuries. He also rejects the view that the episcopalium of Seville lay near the Patio de Banderas and suggests that it lay near the Calle de Marmoles (the 2nd-century pillars here are seen as re-used elements forming part of a portico). The countryside is not neglected. In particular there is an extended discussion of basilica and the cemetery at Coracho. Sánchez Velasco is right to underline the rapidity of change to a Christianized society, and also right to stress the impact, physical and mental, that the explosion in Christian building effected. His archaeological survey shows that this process was at times speeded along by the active suppression of pagan worship. This can be seen in the deliberate dismantling/destruction of pagan artifacts in [End Page 363] both urban (Cordoba, Écija) and rural (Almedinilla, Priego de Córdoba) contexts. Sánchez Velasco sees the Church as playing a key role as the western empire disintegrated. In particular, he raises the possibility that the Church took over many of the commercial roles of the state, suggesting that this is why the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the region came to be centered on Seville rather than Cordoba. The Church is seen as presenting itself as a force with which the barbarians who invaded the peninsula could do business, and there is the suggestion that this was also the case after the Moorish invasion in the eighth century. The rise of some dioceses at the expense of others in the Visigothic period is regarded as a sign of the secular power wishing to create a more compliant Church. Ecclesiastical building is also seen as much a product of inter-diocesan rivalry as of evangelism. A little more investigation of infra-ecclesiastical politics and religious rivalry between the Church and...

Les textes sur l’alimentation à l’époque tardive et à l’époque wisigothique (ive-vie siècles)

In this article, I propose to use the text of the Hermeneumata Pseudo-Dositheana (see Dionisotti 1982, pp. 83-125), written, according to the editor, at the end of the 4th century, as evidence for the diet of a family of medium status in Gaul. The text demonstrates that the daily diet of a “middle class” Roman family was mainly vegetarian. We can observe the same continuity in the Visigothic period in Spain, according to the evidence of the slates written in Latin from the 6th-7th centuries, and other literary texts.

Magnificamus Te, Domina: Visigothic Roots of an Early Marian Prayer

Despite the considerable interest shown in Visigothic devotion to the Virgin Mary, an extended prayer addressed to her found in manuscripts of Ildefonsus of Toledo's De virginitate Sanctae Mariae has suffered neglect, most likely because it has been considered a tenth-century addition to the unique Marian liturgy celebrated in early medieval Iberia. Analysis of the prayer nevertheless reveals its closest textual parallels among the liturgical, theological, and legal materials produced in the Visigothic period. As a result, this study argues that we can best make sense of it as the product of seventh-century Iberian culture, in which the historical situation—including the recent conversion of the ruling classes from Arianism, the forced conversion of Jews, and a general desire for theological consensus—resulted in a special concern with christology. Such considerations may not just have shaped this one prayer, but the very foundation of a new Marian feast, as a way of establishing a clear and unified orthodoxy on the Second Person.

Monedas del litoral marítimo. Un tesoro Emiral compuesto por monedas de plata procedente de un asentamiento portuario del Cerro da Vila (Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal)

El Cerro da Vila se fundó como asentamiento romano de producción y puerto (“aglomeración secundaria”) al final de la época republicana. Con el tiempo, se convirtió en un pequeño asentamiento costero (“aldeia do mar”), con una actividad basada en gran medida en la explotación de los recursos marítimos, aunque es poco probable que su explotación excediera el nivel de subsistencia. El abandono del asentamiento fue probablemente resultado de un ataque violento y destrucción a finales del siglo XI / comienzos del siglo XII. Un tesoro de 239 monedas de plata y fragmentos fue descubierto en el fondo de un silo de almacenamiento de época islámica, excavado en el suelo en una zona del antiguo emplazamiento romano, donde los restos de edificios y la estratigrafía confirman la actividad de asentamiento en los periodos visigodo e islámico. la cronología de la última moneda encontrada data de 270/883-4, pero el tesoro podría haber sido enterrado algunos años después. Es probable que el tesoro represente una pequeña muestra aleatoria de la circulación de monedas en Garb al-Andalus. la mayoría de las monedas están fragmentadas. Como es típico de este período, un gran número de las monedas están cortadas y ranuradas; y algunas de éstas están conectadas con pequeñas piezas de plata. Con la excepción de dos denarios carolingios, todas las monedas identificables proceden de Córdoba, lo que demuestra un estricto control de la circulación de monedas en al-Andalus. El tesoro pertenece a una zona del sur y el sudoeste de al-Andalus en la que se han encontrado tesoros similares que fueron enterrados en los años 260, 270, 870 y 880. Este artículo discute la composición de las monedas. Estas pertenecen al período de la sublevación del terrateniente muwallad ‘Umar Ibn Ḥafṣūn entre los años 267/880-1 y 303/915-6, contra el Emirato de Córdoba.