The social and political role of pyrotechnology in the Iberian Middle Ages and transmission of technology: glass and glazed ceramics

La presente tesis doctoral tiene como objeto el examen de la producción de vidrio en la Península Ibérica entre la Antigüedad Tardía y el siglo XV. Este examen incluye el examen de las fuentes literarias y arqueológicas además de contar con el examen inédito de varios cientos de muestras de vidrio de fechas que oscilan, sobre todo, entre los siglos V y XVI, analizadas por medio de Electro Microprobe Analysis (EMPA) y Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Glass Spectrometry. El objetivo fundamental de este examen es tratar de dilucidar las líneas de transmisión del conocimiento técnico relacionado con la producción de vidrio, y el impacto de las transformaciones tecnológicas experimentadas por estos procesos en la Península Ibérica durante la Edad Media. Esta aproximación, además, aspira a romper con tradicionales inercias investigativas comunes en el estudio de la tecnología y derivar las correspondientes implicaciones teóricas de los resultados obtenidos. Estas distintas vías de examen y los resultados y conclusiones serán puestos en relación con el contexto Mediterráneo y peninsular, para tratar de ubicar la posición de la Península Ibérica, y su particular configuración geopolítica (las peculiaridades historiográficas de la investigación hasta la fecha también serán incorporadas al análisis), en un rango de procesos tecnológicos y técnicos más amplios.This doctoral thesis aims to examine glass production in the Iberian Peninsula between Late Antiquity and the 15th century. This will include the examination of literary and archaeological sources as well as the interpretation of the unpublished analysis of several hundreds of glass samples mostly dated to between the 5th and 16th centuries by means of Electro Microprobe Analysis (EMPA) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Glass Spectrometry. The main target of this study is to reveal the lines of transmission of technical knowledge related to glassmaking and the impact of the technological transformations undergone by these processes in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. I shall also aim to break with traditional research inertias related to the analysis of past technologies and explore the associated theoretical implications. These various avenues of research will be set against the backdrop of the wider Mediterranean and Iberian contexts, in order to place the Iberian Peninsula and its peculiar geopolitical configuration (including its unique historiographical implications) in a broader setting of technological change

Recipientes islámicos de vidrio dorado encapsulado: evidencias en al-Andalus

Within the repertoire of Andalusian glassware, there is little known evidences of gilded glass. For this reason, we have carried out a morphological and comparative analysis of a group of fragments, most of them unpublished, found in well-documented archaeological contexts, specifically from Madinat Ilbira (Granada), the northwestern suburb of Qurtuba (Córdoba) and the Archaeological Site of San Esteban (Murcia). The aim is to determine their importance and to provide data on some general questions about the context and dating. The results have confirmed the existence of the two typologies known to date, bowls/vessels and bottles, all made using the technique of gold encapsulated between two layers of glass. The similarity of the decorative designs would indicate a common origin for all the pieces, possibly in the eastern Mediterranean area. The contexts also point to a pattern of consumption in Andalusian domestic environments with a chronology between the 9th -12th centuries AD, with an important presence in the capital of the Caliphate.Dentro del repertorio de la vajilla de vidrio andalusí son escasos los testimonios que se conocen de vidrios dorados. Por este motivo, se ha procedido al análisis morfológico y comparativo de un conjunto de fragmentos, la gran mayoría inéditos, hallados en contextos arqueológicos bien documentados, concretamente de Madinat Ilbira (Granada), el arrabal noroccidental de Qurtuba (Córdoba) y el Conjunto Arqueológico de San Esteban (Murcia), con el objetivo de determinar su importancia y aportar datos sobre algunas cuestiones generales sobre su contexto y su datación. Los resultados han permitido confirmar la existencia de las dos tipologías hasta el momento conocidas, cuencos/vasos y botellas, todos ellos elaborados mediante la técnica de oro encapsulado entre dos capas de vidrio. La similitud de los diseños decorativos indicaría un origen común para todas las piezas, posiblemente, en la zona del Mediterráneo oriental. Los contextos señalan, además, un patrón de consumo en los ambientes domésticos andalusíes que abarcan una cronología entre los siglos IX-XII d. C., con una destacada presencia en la capital del califato

The glass workshop of the 4th-5th Centuries in the Insula II of the Molinete (Cartagena, Spain): archaeological analysis and interpretation

La excavación arqueológica de la denominada Insula II del Molinete (Cartagena, provincia de Murcia, España) permitió documentar un santuario isiaco activo desde finales del siglo I al III. Tras su amortización y abandono, sus estructuras fueron ocupadas entre el segundo cuarto/mediados del siglo IV y la primera mitad del V por sendos talleres artesanales dedicados a la fabricación de vidrio y hierro. En este trabajo se caracterizan dichas instalaciones productivas, poniendo especial énfasis en el taller vidriero y su contexto arqueológico. Se estudia su organización topográfica, la estructura de sus instalaciones e infraestructuras (en particular sus hornos), así como algunos indicios materiales asociados a la actividad productiva. Asimismo, los equipamientos, en especial los hornos, se confrontan con otros similares documentados en diversas regiones del occidente romano, lo que junto con el estudio de algunos desechos de producción procedentes del entorno inmediato del taller permite vincularlos con ciertas garantías a la producción vidriera. También se hace una primera presentación y discusión de los resultados del análisis químico de un conjunto de muestras de vidrio recogidas de los contextos vinculados a la actividad del taller y a algunos niveles de su entorno posteriores al cese de su actividad. La documentación de este nuevo ambiente productivo abre nuevas perspectivas de análisis de la Carthago Spartaria de los siglos IV-V y contribuye a perfilar su carácter artesanal y comercial.The archaeological excavation of the so-called Insula II of the Molinete (Cartagena, province of Murcia, Spain) documented an Isiac sanctuary active from the end of the 1st to the 3rd century. After it was abandoned, its structures were occupied by craft facilities dedicated to the manufacture of glass and the working of iron between the second quarter/ middle of the 4th century and the first half of the 5th century. This paper characterises these production facilities, laying special emphasis on the glass workshop and its archaeological context. Its topographical organisation, the structure of its production facilities and infrastructures (in particular its furnaces) are studied, as well as some of the material evidence associated with production activity. In addition, the facilities, especially the furnaces, are compared with other similar features attested in various regions of the Roman West, which, together with the study of some production waste, allows us to link them with the manufacture of glass. A first presentation and discussion of the results of the chemical analysis of a set of glass samples collected from the contexts linked to the activity of the workshop and some levels of in its vicinity, after the activity of the workshop had ceased, is also presented and discussed. This new evidence opens up new perspectives for the analysis of Carthago Spartaria in the 4th-5th centuries and contributes to outlining its artisanal and commercial character

Los talleres artesanales de la Alhambra. Espacios y materiales

The aim of this publication is to present the preliminary results of the analysis of the medieval and modern pottery from El Secano in the Alhambra of Granada. Specifically, the pottery found during the excavations undertaken by “The Alhambra Royal Workshops project’s” team

Medieval technical texts and experimental approaches. A theoretical perspective on the value of technical recipes as sources to reconstruct the history of medieval glassmaking practices

This paper aims to present a theoretical perspective on the use of experimental approaches to enhance the value of medieval «technical» recipes as sources for the study of broader craft practices in the past. After presenting the nature of some of these texts and reviewing previous experimental studies related to medieval glassmaking, we explain several experiments based on the Epistola Abbreviatoria, a glassmaking-focused late medieval text from the Iberian Peninsula, to illustrate the potential of combining the study of these recipes and the experimental approach for a better understanding of wider glassmaking practices in the Middle Ages.This paper aims to present a theoretical perspective on the use of experimental approaches to enhance the value of medieval ’technical’ recipes as sources for the study of broader craft practices in the past. After presenting the nature of some of these texts and reviewing previous experimental studies related to medieval glassmaking, we explain several experiments based on the Epistola Abbreviatoria, a glassmaking-focused late medieval text from the Iberian Peninsula, to illustrate the potential of combining the study of these recipes and the experimental approach for a better understanding of wider glassmaking practices in the Middle Ages