Archaeology and Spaces in Medieval and Modern Times

Xosé-Henrique Costas González

Juan M. Carrasco González

Other Researchers in the Group (non Ph.D.)

Alexandra Cerveira Pinto Sousa Lima
Ana Rita Figueira Santos
Amadeu José Ferreira
Clara Maria Guerreiro Rodrigues
Cristina Alexandra Tété Garcia
Filipa Maria Cristovão Medeiros
Isabel Cristina Ferreira Fernandes
Jacinta da Conceição Marques Bugalhão
Ligia Isabel da Silva Rafael
Maria da Conceição Alves Amaral
Maria de Fátima Gomes da Costa Rodrigues Palma
Maria José da Silva Gonçalves
Maria Moreira Baptista de Magalhães Ramalho
Marina Afonso Vieira da Silva
Nádia Ferreira Torres
Virgílio António Martins Lopes

Objectives and Achievements

General Objectives

Within the multidisciplinary spirit which presides at the CAM, the intention was to develop several autonomous lines of research which are linked in various ways.

Area 1. Within the context of historical and archaeological research, the objectives of the working party were specifically related to the following themes:

- The study of Mértola in the late ancient world and its development into an Islamic society, with a view to explaining the phenomena of continuity and/or rupture in urban structures, forms of habitation and studies of the territory.

- Archaeology, history and architectural heritage, with the aim of identifying the influence on the archaeological heritage of changes to the historic centres and their recent evolution as a result of the recovery of the architectural heritage.

- Within the context of documentary research, continued research into the town of Mértola and its surrounding territory in medieval and modern times.

Area 2 – Within the context of the study of the material culture and heritage from the medieval and modern era, the objectives of the group encompassed:

- the daily life of medieval and modern populations

- techniques and technologies for the production of ceramics during the Islamic period

- the conservation and restoration of archaeological collections from the Islamic period

- techniques for displaying the archaeological collections

Area 3 – Within the context of physical anthropology, the objective of the research group was to develop two separate but complementary lines of research

- An osteological study of the collections preserved in the physical anthropology department of Mértola Museum.

- A genetic analysis of the population of the Mértola region from a comparative perspective based on present-day circumstances and the remains preserved in the archaeological records.

Area 4 – Within the context of linguistic research, the objectives cover the border area between Portugal and Spain and aim to acquire a deeper understanding of its historical and linguistic development.

Main Achievements

The main results obtained by the research group may be classified into four principal areas:

a) The production and publication of studies

b) Participation in and presentation of advanced training sessions

c) The fostering of research networks

d) The fostering of actions to promote/disseminate scientific activities within civil society

The first of these included reports on archaeological excavations, articles, chapters in books and books published by members of the team in Portugal and abroad. The second included the participation of team members in advanced training (two doctorates were completed in foreign universities, in addition to two Masters degrees) and the involvement of the Universities of Coimbra and Porto in several Masters and PhD degrees. The fostering of research networks (third point) was achieved through international projects (such as PATNIME and DIA – see below) and the organisation of international seminars (with published abstracts). It also included both the ongoing development of the UC Institute of Archaeology and the recent opening up to the academic community of the new CAM premises and document centre. Special mention should also be made of investment in new forms of communication, evident in the research data which is being made available on an increasing number of websites (see below). Finally, reference should be made to exhibitions and involvement in educational projects, involving ongoing interaction with civil society through which the essential aspects of the research are presented to a broader public.

www.camertola.pt

www.patnime.net/

Productivity

Publications in peer review Journals

1. MACIAS, Santiago – Islamização no território de Beja: reflexões para um debate. Análise Social. Lisboa ISSN 0003-2573. (Inv. 2005) 807-826

CHAPOULIE (C), DÉLÉRY (C), DANIEL (F), VENDRELL-SAZ (M), «“Cuerda seca” ceramics from al-Andalus, Islamic Spain and Portugal (10th-12th C. AD). Investigation with SEM-EDX and cathodoluminescence ». Archaeometry, 47 (3), Ed. Oxford University, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, 2005, p 519-534.

GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana – New perspectives in the study of al-Andalus ceramics, Mértola (Portugal) and the Mediterranean maritime routes in the Islamic period, Al-Masāq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean. Ed. Dionisius A. Agius. University of Leeds (in press).

DÉLÉRY (C), « Contribution to the evaluation of trade and cultural relations between Christian countries and Islamic al-Andalus using cuerda seca ceramics as a historical source (tenth to thirteenth century AD) ». Al-Masāq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean. Ed. Dionisius A. Agius. University of Leeds (in press).

GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana & Torres, Cláudio – Mértola, Vila Museu. Un proyecto cultural de desarrollo integrado in mus-A Revista de Museos de Andalucía, in press.

FERREIRA, Manuela Barros (2005) «A formação da escrita mirandesa», Alazet. Revista de Filología, nr.17, Huesca, p. 11-26 [revista lançada em 2007]

6. FERREIRA, Manuela Barros (2005) «A formação da escrita mirandesa», Alazet. Revista de Filología, nr.17, Huesca, p. 11-26 [revista lançada em 2007]

Other International publications

BARROCA, Mário; FERNANDES, Isabel Cristina Ferreira, ed. – “Muçulmanos e Cristãos entre o Tejo e o Douro (Séc. VIII a XIII). Actas do Seminário Internacional” Porto/Palmela: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto/Câmara Municipal de Palmela, 2005

BARROCA, Mário – Terena - O Castelo e a Ermida da Boa Nova. Lisboa: IPPAR, 2006.

MACIAS, Santiago – Mértola. Société et vie matérielle à l’époque almohade dans le Gharb al-Ândalus. In Averroès et l’averroïsme. Un itinéraire historique du Haut Atlas à Paris et à Padoue. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 2005. p. 29-38.

MACIAS, Santiago – Mértola, o último porto do Mediterrâneo. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2006. 3 vol.

Arqueologia Medieval, 8. Ed. Afrontamento. Porto, [2003]- . ISSN 0872-2250

Arqueologia Medieval, 9. Ed. Afrontamento. Porto, [2005]- . ISSN 0872-2250

GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana; MACIAS, Santiago - La especificidad del Garb al-Andalus y su expresión en la vajilla almohade. In Los almohades: problemas y perspectivas. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 2005. vol. I, p. 387-409.

GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana - Cerámica Islámica de Mértola: producción y comercio, [Recurso electrónico]. Madrid, Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2006. 4041 pp. ISBN: 84-669-2568-6. http://cisne.sim.ucm.es/search*spi~S7/X?SEARCH=susana+gomez+martinez&searchscope=7&SORT=D

GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana (coord.) - Actas do Seminário Internacional “Al-Ândalus Espaço de Mudança”, Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2006, 317pp. (ISBN 972-9375-26-7).

LOPES, Virgílio – Mértola na Antiguidade Tardia. A topografia histórica da cidade e do seu território nos alvores do cristianismo, Mértola, Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2004.

TORRES, Cláudio: O vaso de Tavira Uma proposta de interpretação; Mértola; 27 pp., 2004

SOEIRO, Teresa - História e património vernacular/Vernacular heritage and history. In AGUIAR, Fernando Bianchi de (coord.) – Alto Douro Vinhateiro. Património mundial/ Alto Douro wine region. World heritage. Porto. (em col. com Gaspar Martins Pereira, Lúcia Maria Cardoso Rosas, Natália Fauvrelle Ferreira e Susana Pacheco Barros), 2006.

SOEIRO, Teresa - Introdução. In Arte e cultura na Galiza e Norte de Portugal: Etnografia. Vigo, Nova Galicia Edicións, v. 1, 2006, p. 26-40 (versões em galego, castelhano e português), 2006..

SOEIRO, Teresa - Rota do Castro de Monte Mozinho. In SER QUIJANO, Gregorio del (coord.) - Rota dos castros e berrões de Ávila, Salamanca, Miranda do Douro, Mogadouro e Penafiel. Ávila, Institución “Gran Duque de Alba” – Diputación de Ávila, 2006, p. 207-240 (versões em castelhano e português).

SOEIRO, Teresa - Terras de vinho e milho. In Arte e cultura na Galiza e Norte de Portugal: Etnografia. Vigo, Nova Galicia Edicións, v. 1, p. 154-206 (versões em galego, castelhano e português), 2006..

CATARINO, Helena e FILIPE, Sónia, “Madinat Qulumbriya: arqueologia numa cidade de fronteira”, Al-Ândalus espaço de mudança. Balanço de 25 anos de história e arqueologia medievais, Livro de Homenagem a Juan Zozaya Stabel-Hansen, Ed. Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2006, pp. 73-85.

CATARINO, Helena, “Notas sobre o período islâmico na Marca Inferior (Tagr al-Gharbí) e as escavações na Universidade de Coimbra”, in Muçulmanos e Cristãos entre o Tejo e o Douro (sécs. VIII a XIII), Câmara Municipal de Palmela/Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Ed. Colibri, Lisboa, pp. 195-214, 2005.

3. GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana – New perspectives in the study of al-Andalus ceramics, Mértola (Portugal) and the Mediterranean maritime routes in the Islamic period, Al-Masāq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean. Ed. Dionisius A. Agius. University of Leeds (in press).

4. DÉLÉRY (C), « Contribution to the evaluation of trade and cultural relations between Christian countries and Islamic al-Andalus using cuerda seca ceramics as a historical source (tenth to thirteenth century AD) ». Al-Masāq: Islam and the Medieval Mediterranean. Ed. Dionisius A. Agius. University of Leeds (in press).

5. GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana & Torres, Cláudio – Mértola, Vila Museu. Un proyecto cultural de desarrollo integrado in mus-A Revista de Museos de Andalucía, in press.

6. FERREIRA, Manuela Barros (2005) «A formação da escrita mirandesa», Alazet. Revista de Filología, nr.17, Huesca, p. 11-26 [revista lançada em 2007]

Master and Ph.D. thesis completed (3000 ca.)

PhD GÓMEZ MARTÍNEZ, Susana – Cerámica Islámica de Mértola: producción y comercio, Madrid Faculdade de Geografia e História da Universidade Complutense de Madrid,

PhD MACIAS, Santiago – La kura de Beja et le territoire de Mértola entre l’Antiquité Tardive et la Reconquête Chrétienne. Lyon: Université de Lyon2. 2005. 1050 f.

PhD DÉLERY, Claire – "Dynamiques économiques, sociales et culturelles d’al-Andalus à partir d’une étude de la céramique de cuerda seca (seconde moitié du Xe siècle-première moitié du XIIIe siècle)". Toulouse, Universidade Toulouse II.

Master, LOPES, Virgílio – Mértola na Antiguidade Tardia. A topografia histórica da cidade e do seu território nos alvores do cristianismo, CAM, Mértola, 2003.

Master, TORRES, Nádia – O desenho na cerâmica Islâmica de Mértola, Tese de Mestrado em Desenho - Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa. 2005.

Organization of conferences

The research group, either individually or collectively, has been involved in an important series of activities, of which the following deserve special mention:

National coordination of the Discover Islamic Art (www.discoverislamicart.org) project, whose end result was the presentation, via the Internet, of research work covering 1,275 items and monuments from all over the Mediterranean region. Catalogue published in nine languages, including Portuguese.

Coordination of the Portuguese network for the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, based in Alexandria and funded by the Euromed programme (http://www.euromedalex.org/En/AboutUs.htm).

Involvement in the organisation of conferences on Medieval Ceramics in the Mediterranean promoted by the International Association for the Study of Medieval Ceramics in the Mediterranean (AIECM2), the seventh and latest of which was held in Ciudad Real in 2006.

Fostering of the international PATNIME (Património de Mértola e Niebla) project for the study and dissemination of the heritage from the territory belonging to the two Islamic cities (catalogue and bilingual website available: www.patnime.pt).

Participation in international project “Route des Marchands, Villes des Marchés en Méditerranée Connaissance et valorisation des anciennes routes commerciales maritimes et terrestres dans le Bassin Méditerranéen depuis la période romaine jusqu'à nos jours – MERCATOR“, in collaboration with Mértola Municipal Council, funded by the Interreg IIIB Medoc programme (in progress) www.mercator.meta.cpr.it

Participation in the international project "Archeo-culture – Safeguarding and valuing archaeological, heritage and cultural resources" promoted by Mértola Municipal Council, Moura Municipal Council and the Ayuntamiento de Aroche (Huelva, Spain) and funded by the EU INTERREG IIIA programme (in progress).

On an individual basis, the following achievements should be noted:

Cláudio TORRES – was, from 1996 to 2007, Chairman of the Portuguese National Committee for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites) and since 2003 has been a member of the teaching staff on the Masters course in Museumology at the University of Seville, MARPH (Máster de Arquitectura y Património) and Mediterranean Coordinator for the collective project directed by Professor José Mattoso on Portuguese Monuments in the World.

Tribute to Professor Doutor António Borges Coelho, held on 17 May 2007 in Mértola.

International seminar Trade in the Ancient Mediterranean: Objects of Exchange, held on 11 and 12 May 2007 in Mértola.

Collaboration in the organisation of VIII International conference on Medieval Ceramics in the Mediterranean held in Ciudad Real in 2006 and promoted by the International Association for the Study of Medieval Ceramics in the Mediterranean (AIECM2).

International seminar Al-Ândalus: a changing area, promoted by the CAM and held in Mértola on 16 - 18 May 2005

Internationalization

The research group, either individually or collectively, has been involved in an important series of activities, of which the following deserve special mention:

On an individual basis, the following achievements should be noted:

Santiago MACIAS – was a conference speaker on the Archaeological Institute of America Lecture Program (USA – April/May 2004) – papers presented at conferences held at the University of Pittsburgh, Whittenberg University, Brown University and Worcester Art Museum.

Juan ZOZAYA and Susana GÓMEZ are members of the Scientific Committee of the International Association for the Study of Medieval Ceramics in the Mediterranean (AIECM2).

Future Research

Objectives

The objectives of this research group are to continue the activities undertaken during 2003/2006 by extending and intensifying actions in strategic areas. Intervention in the following areas is therefore considered crucial:

a) Scientific research

Development of archaeological projects, with particular emphasis on the following:

The study of settlement strategies and models of territorial organisation between the 8th. and 13th. centuries;

The study of the dynamics of rural and urban areas, everyday life and the different "material cultures" which distinguish it, with the aim of obtaining a better understanding of the archaeology of the several medieval and modern territories.

A systematic survey of documentary sources;

A linguistic, toponymic and microtoponymic analysis of selected areas:

An analysis of architectural remains (military architecture in particular, but also religious architecture).

b) Scientific debate – evaluation and expansion of the critical corpus

Promotion of activities aimed at discussing the approaches developed by the group (in the form of seminars and international conferences). The group will also invest in organising presentations of work in progress by Masters and PhD students supervised by members of the research team.

c) Internationalisation

This should be enhanced by extending the existing joint activities involving foreign universities and creating international programmes for the study and dissemination of archaeology;

Development of advanced studies in foreign universities (e.g. post-doctoral studies and habilitation procedures in French universities);

Extension of contacts with a view to expanding research networks in the Mediterranean and Atlantic zones.

d) Postgraduate activities

Introduction and implementation of advanced studies in the following fields:

I. Second and third cycles of higher education, in conjunction with various entities in the CEAUCP.

II. Open courses and university summer schools (open to the public) on specific themes

III. Opportunities for national and foreign PhD and Masters students to undertake research for theses and develop the Unit.

e) Publications and dissemination

The continuation of publishing activities and an increase in the number of works in English in order to establish dialogue with countries outside the world of Latin-based languages;

The publication of works with supplementary CDs, DVDs and the continuation of the programme to create websites (in Portuguese and English) related to research areas in medieval and modern archaeology.

Previous publications in the area

1. BARROCA, Mário; FERNANDES, Isabel Cristina Ferreira, ed. – “Muçulmanos e Cristãos entre o Tejo e o Douro (Séc. VIII a XIII). Actas do Seminário Internacional” Porto/Palmela: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto/Câmara Municipal de Palmela, 2005

2. BARROCA, Mário – Terena - O Castelo e a Ermida da Boa Nova. Lisboa: IPPAR, 2006.

3. MACIAS, Santiago – Mértola. Société et vie matérielle à l’époque almohade dans le Gharb al-Ândalus. In Averroès et l’averroïsme. Un itinéraire historique du Haut Atlas à Paris et à Padoue. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 2005. p. 29-38.

4. MACIAS, Santiago – Mértola, o último porto do Mediterrâneo. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola, 2006. 3 vol.

5. FERREIRA, Manuela Barros (coord.); GONZÁLEZ SALGADO, José Antonio; CARRILHO, Ernestina; COSTAS, Henrique; FERREIRA, Amadeu;; NAVAS SÁNCHEZ-ELIS, M. Victoria; RAMOS, Elisabete (2007); VIUDAS CAMARASA, Antonio. Bibliografia Língua e Historia na Fronteira Norte-Sul /Lengua e Historia en la Frontera Norte-Sur. Mértola: Campo Arqueológico de Mértola. Disponível em http://www.camertola.pt/ e http://www.camertola.pt/lhf/1.pdf

<< voltar aos Grupos