Social Complexity in Early Medieval Rural Communities : The North-Western Iberia Archaeological Record

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.

Table of Contents

Preface (Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo)

Inequality and social complexity in peasant societies. Some approaches to early medieval north-western Iberia (Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo)

Settlement patterns and social inequality: The Duero Basin in Early Middle Ages (4th-8th centuries) (Carlos Tejerizo García)

Social inequality in Early Medieval rural settlements: The case of central-northern Portugal in the 10th century (Catarina Tente)

Faunal remains and social inequality in the Basque Country during the Early Middle Ages (Idoia Grau-Sologestoa)

Food consumption patterns and social inequality in an early medieval rural community in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Maite Iris García-Collado)

Technology and social complexity: iron tools and peasant communities in the Medieval period (David Larreina García)

Production, consumption and political complexity: early medieval pottery in Castile and Southern Tuscany (7th-10th centuries) (Francesca Grassi)

Invisible social inequalities in early medieval communities: the bare bones of household slavery (Alfonso Vigil-Escalera Guirado)

Words, things and social inequality: the village of Torrentejo (Igor Santos Salazar)

Juan Antonio Quirós Is A Professor Of Medieval Archaeology At The University Of The Basque Country, Honorary Senior Research Associate At The Institute Of Archaeology (University College London), And Visiting Fellow At All Souls College (University Of Oxford). He Is The Director Of The ‘Heritage And Cultural Landscapes Research Group’ Of The University Of The Basque Country And The 'Rural Medieval Research Group', Csic-Upv/Ehu. His Principal Interests Lie In The Study Of The Archaeology Of Landscapes, The Archaeology Of Rural Communities, Mediterranean Archaeology, Archaeology Of Architectures, And The Study Of Social Complexity. Besides, He Is Very Interested In A Multi-Proxy And Multidisciplinary Approach To Cultural Resources. Some Of His Recent Works Include ‘Arqueología De Una Comunidad Campesina Medieval: Zornoztegi’ (Bilbao, 2018); ‘Longhouses, House Biography And Social Complexity In Early Medieval Northwestern Iberia’ (Arqueología De La Arquitectura 2017); ‘Local Identities And Desertions In Late Medieval Period’ (Reti Medievali, 2017); ‘Social Complexity In Early Medieval Rural Communities’ (Oxford, 2016); And ‘Agrarian Archaeology In Early Medieval Europe’ (Quaternary International 346, 2014). Currently, He Is Preparing A Book About The Archaeology Of Medieval Peasantry.