From the city to the countryside: indicators of artisanal glass production in the central Iberian Peninsula (8 th -9 th centuries)

Silvia Berrica (1) , Nadine Schibille (2)

1 UAH - Universidad de Alcalá - University of Alcalá
2 IRAMAT-CEB - IRAMAT - Centre Ernest Babelon

The current work presents the production and distribution of glass in the Emiral period in Spain. The study of the rural areas of the central Iberian Peninsula allows to identify some forms of production in large rural towns. Through the systematic study of the Dehesa de Navalvillar, including some archaeometric analyses, we have been able to establish that in the early Emiral period glass was produced in metallurgical workshops that left traces of occasional glass manufacture, probably carried out by itinerant craftsmen. With this article, we would like to contribute to the debate on glass production by introducing a new, multidisciplinary study of the rural world and the transformations that took place in the 8th century with the arrival of the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula. The findings indicate artisanal production, circulation, and recycling of materials during the Emiral Period, where for the first time we find regional production in rural centres in addition to production in urban centres.

Mots clés: Glass; Middle Ages; archaeometric analysis; Emiral period; Iberian central plateau; rural archaeology

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Silvia Berrica, Nadine Schibille. From the city to the countryside: indicators of artisanal glass production in the central Iberian Peninsula (8 th -9 th centuries). Mélanges de l’École française de Rome - Moyen Âge, 2023, 135 (2), pp.245-260. ⟨hal-04551628⟩