Books by David J Govantes-Edwards
World Archaeology 53:5, 2022
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Archaeology, Politics and Islamicate Cultural Heritage in Europe responds to the wishes of specia... more Archaeology, Politics and Islamicate Cultural Heritage in Europe responds to the wishes of specialists in the history and archaeology of Islamicate societies in Europe to explore the integration of these societies into historical narratives. In order to deal with the multiple implications and wide ramifications of the subject matter, the book offers a collection of papers that cover a broad range of topics, including historiography, gender and family studies, material culture, historical and contemporary identities, historical heritage management, and archaeological theory, while paying attention to the peculiarities of the record in European regions in which Islamicate societies have played a major historical role (and others in which this role may not be quite so obvious, such as Scandinavia). These wide-ranging subjects find their commonality in the book’s aim of challenging the dominant simplifying narratives and their stress on interruption and exception.
The impact of historical narratives in national and social identities is reflected in a wide range of issues, including school curricula, heritage management, the organisation of academic departments, the presentation of Islamicate history and archaeology in the media and the politics of identity of majority and minority groups. The volume does not avoid these questions, but tackles them head-on, challenging the unwillingness of some academics to engage in potentially disruptive political issues
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Papers by David J Govantes-Edwards
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2024
This article presents an assemblage of 36 glass samples excavated in the urban site of San Esteba... more This article presents an assemblage of 36 glass samples excavated in the urban site of San Esteban, part of the arrabal of Arrixaca (Murcia) (in al-Andalus, an arrabal was a relatively dense urbanised area outside the city walls) in contexts securely dated to the 12th and early 13th century, spanning the rule of Ibn Mardanīš, and the early period of Almohad domination in the city. The samples were analysed by electron microprobe (EMPA) for major and minor elements and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for trace elements. The results are examined within the context of glass production, circulation, and consumption in al-Andalus and the Islamicate Mediterranean more broadly. The results show that some of the glasses found in San Esteban-Arrixaca may have been imported from other Islamicate regions (Egypt and Mesopotamia), but that the vast majority can be related to previously recognised compositional Iberian glass groups. At the same time, the identification of several fragments of production waste and raw glass suggest that some glass-working facility may have existed in the vicinity of San Esteban-Arrixaca. The compositional evidence also indicates that recycling (including of imported glass objects) may have been a fairly common practice in Andalusi glassmaking, but it is suggested that some of the usual chemical markers of recycling may, in the case of al-Andalus and perhaps also elsewhere in the medieval Mediterranean, be the result of the cross-breeding of glass-and glaze-making activities.
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SPAL, 2024
El estudio de los fragmentos de vidrio procedentes del Conjunto Arqueológico de San Esteban, un s... more El estudio de los fragmentos de vidrio procedentes del Conjunto Arqueológico de San Esteban, un sector del arrabal
andalusí de la ciudad de Murcia en los siglos XII y XIII, ofrece información relevante sobre la producción de vidrio en al-Andalus,
al tratarse de un conjunto de piezas procedente de una excavación arqueológica sistemática. El análisis tipológico de los
hallazgos en las campañas de 2018 y 2019 se desglosa mediante una clasificación funcional en cinco grupos principales: vajilla
para el consumo y almacenamiento de líquidos y alimentos; recipientes de vidrio para el cuidado, ornamento y aseo personal;
objetos de vidrio relacionados con prácticas religiosas o creencias populares; recipientes pertenecientes a los sistemas de
iluminación artificial; y restos asociados con la fabricación y elaboración de objetos de vidrio, indicativos de la existencia de
un taller vidriero en las inmediaciones de las áreas excavadas. A partir del estudio se identifican patrones de las técnicas de
elaboración, se precisa la cronología y se define la posible procedencia de las piezas. Aunque la mayor parte de los objetos
habrían sido adquiridos en los talleres locales, otras piezas se importaron, probablemente, desde centros especializados situados
en la zona del Mediterráneo oriental.
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Archivo Español de Arqueología
Dentro del repertorio de la vajilla de vidrio andalusí son escasos los testimonios que se conocen... more 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...
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El Sepulcretum de Llanos del Pretorio (Córdoba – España), 2020
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The Royal Workshops of the Alhambra, 2022
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The Royal Workshops of the Alhambra, 2022
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El presente artículo hace una panorámica del estudio del vidrio en al-Andalus hasta la fecha. Con... more El presente artículo hace una panorámica del estudio del vidrio en al-Andalus hasta la fecha. Con consideración a las peculiaridades técnicas de este material y su dimensión arqueológica, se hace un repaso amplio a los tipos de evidencia a disposición de la disciplina, el tratamiento que ha recibido cada una de ellas hasta hoy y su relevancia para la extracción de conclusiones históricas, sociales, políticas y económicas amplias. En su segunda parte, el artículo presenta algunas de las principales técnicas analíticas empleadas en el estudio de vidrios arqueológicos y los resultados de dos recientes estudios desarrollados con material excavado en las ciudades de Córdoba y Málaga, así como las primeras conclusiones. The present article makes an overview of the study of glass in al-Andalus to date. With regard to the technical peculiarities of this material and its archaeological dimension, a wide review is made concerning the types of evidence available for the discipline, the research attention received and its relevance for the inference of broader historical, social, political and economic conclusions. The second part of the article presents the some of the main analytical techniques for the study of archaeological glass and the results of two recent studies carried out with materials excavated in the cities of Cordoba and Malaga.
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Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 2021
ABSTRACT How might an interdisciplinary approach involving experimental archaeology improve our k... more ABSTRACT How might an interdisciplinary approach involving experimental archaeology improve our knowledge of glassmaking in medieval Iberia? Our current limited understanding lacks an appreciation of how surviving remains were created through the actual practice of glassmaking—herein lies the biggest single gap in knowledge. Archaeological experiments show that while the infima glassmaking recipe offers a credible guide to basic glassmaking technology, it is best interpreted as a set of learned instructions rooted in, though not describing, workshop practice. Awareness of the sensory qualities of glass, the conducting of experiments, and observation of glass production practice, all combined within a theoretical framework that embraces embodied knowledge and phenomenological aspects of space and time, suggest the potential existence of an encoded “text” of past glassmaking practice within archaeological workshop remains. The authors advocate further experimental archaeology on a more ambitious scale, exploring the sensory and performative aspects of glassmaking practice, to better learn to read the distinctive handwriting of this “text” in medieval Iberian archaeology.
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Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 2020
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Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 2016
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Archaeometry, 2014
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Cuadernos de la Alhambra 51, 2022
This article briefly presents the background, methodology and first results of the “Royal Worksho... more This article briefly presents the background, methodology and first results of the “Royal Workshops of the Alhambra” project, undertaken by the universities of Granada, Bournemouth, Leicester and Newcastle in the Alhambra of Granadabetween 2015 and 2017. The article contextualises the early modern industrial facilities (16th-18th centuries) which are still
partially visible in the sector of the Secano, and presents the project’s main research approaches: archival investigation, archaeological survey (including a novel combination of geophysical and geochemical survey techniques), archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis (including archaeometric analysis). The results of this research suggest continuity in production activities between the Nasrid period and the Early Modern Age, when industrial activity, especially the production of ceramics, reached its peak, as indicated not only by the presence of the kilns but also of abundant kiln furniture, including atifles and muflas, as well as traces of the raw materials (chiefly heavy metals) used in the glazing of pottery, in both the kilns and the nearby soil. Similarly, substantial evidence for glassmaking or glassblowing has been attested, a technology with abundant lines of cross-fertilisation with glazed ceramics, the predominant type in the Early Modern Age.
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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, 2023
This paper aims to present a theoretical perspective on the use of experimental approaches to enh... more 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.
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Books by David J Govantes-Edwards
The impact of historical narratives in national and social identities is reflected in a wide range of issues, including school curricula, heritage management, the organisation of academic departments, the presentation of Islamicate history and archaeology in the media and the politics of identity of majority and minority groups. The volume does not avoid these questions, but tackles them head-on, challenging the unwillingness of some academics to engage in potentially disruptive political issues
Papers by David J Govantes-Edwards
andalusí de la ciudad de Murcia en los siglos XII y XIII, ofrece información relevante sobre la producción de vidrio en al-Andalus,
al tratarse de un conjunto de piezas procedente de una excavación arqueológica sistemática. El análisis tipológico de los
hallazgos en las campañas de 2018 y 2019 se desglosa mediante una clasificación funcional en cinco grupos principales: vajilla
para el consumo y almacenamiento de líquidos y alimentos; recipientes de vidrio para el cuidado, ornamento y aseo personal;
objetos de vidrio relacionados con prácticas religiosas o creencias populares; recipientes pertenecientes a los sistemas de
iluminación artificial; y restos asociados con la fabricación y elaboración de objetos de vidrio, indicativos de la existencia de
un taller vidriero en las inmediaciones de las áreas excavadas. A partir del estudio se identifican patrones de las técnicas de
elaboración, se precisa la cronología y se define la posible procedencia de las piezas. Aunque la mayor parte de los objetos
habrían sido adquiridos en los talleres locales, otras piezas se importaron, probablemente, desde centros especializados situados
en la zona del Mediterráneo oriental.
partially visible in the sector of the Secano, and presents the project’s main research approaches: archival investigation, archaeological survey (including a novel combination of geophysical and geochemical survey techniques), archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis (including archaeometric analysis). The results of this research suggest continuity in production activities between the Nasrid period and the Early Modern Age, when industrial activity, especially the production of ceramics, reached its peak, as indicated not only by the presence of the kilns but also of abundant kiln furniture, including atifles and muflas, as well as traces of the raw materials (chiefly heavy metals) used in the glazing of pottery, in both the kilns and the nearby soil. Similarly, substantial evidence for glassmaking or glassblowing has been attested, a technology with abundant lines of cross-fertilisation with glazed ceramics, the predominant type in the Early Modern Age.
The impact of historical narratives in national and social identities is reflected in a wide range of issues, including school curricula, heritage management, the organisation of academic departments, the presentation of Islamicate history and archaeology in the media and the politics of identity of majority and minority groups. The volume does not avoid these questions, but tackles them head-on, challenging the unwillingness of some academics to engage in potentially disruptive political issues
andalusí de la ciudad de Murcia en los siglos XII y XIII, ofrece información relevante sobre la producción de vidrio en al-Andalus,
al tratarse de un conjunto de piezas procedente de una excavación arqueológica sistemática. El análisis tipológico de los
hallazgos en las campañas de 2018 y 2019 se desglosa mediante una clasificación funcional en cinco grupos principales: vajilla
para el consumo y almacenamiento de líquidos y alimentos; recipientes de vidrio para el cuidado, ornamento y aseo personal;
objetos de vidrio relacionados con prácticas religiosas o creencias populares; recipientes pertenecientes a los sistemas de
iluminación artificial; y restos asociados con la fabricación y elaboración de objetos de vidrio, indicativos de la existencia de
un taller vidriero en las inmediaciones de las áreas excavadas. A partir del estudio se identifican patrones de las técnicas de
elaboración, se precisa la cronología y se define la posible procedencia de las piezas. Aunque la mayor parte de los objetos
habrían sido adquiridos en los talleres locales, otras piezas se importaron, probablemente, desde centros especializados situados
en la zona del Mediterráneo oriental.
partially visible in the sector of the Secano, and presents the project’s main research approaches: archival investigation, archaeological survey (including a novel combination of geophysical and geochemical survey techniques), archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis (including archaeometric analysis). The results of this research suggest continuity in production activities between the Nasrid period and the Early Modern Age, when industrial activity, especially the production of ceramics, reached its peak, as indicated not only by the presence of the kilns but also of abundant kiln furniture, including atifles and muflas, as well as traces of the raw materials (chiefly heavy metals) used in the glazing of pottery, in both the kilns and the nearby soil. Similarly, substantial evidence for glassmaking or glassblowing has been attested, a technology with abundant lines of cross-fertilisation with glazed ceramics, the predominant type in the Early Modern Age.
of view of technical literature, especially recipe books and
alchemical treatises, in an attempt to assess to what extent this
literary genre (if it is to be defined as such) may have affected, or
have been affected by, technological developments in
glassmaking between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. Iberian
technical literature on the making of glass is put in connection
with broader European and Mediterranean trends in the
transmission of technical knowledge, the nature of scribal culture
and the impact caused by the dissemination of the printing press.
Ultimately, the paper aims to review the relationship that exists
between the authors of technical literature and contemporary
workshop practice, not only taking the written word as evidence,
but also using the understanding provided by other fields of
research, such as the study of the chemical characterization of
medieval glass.
Rethinking the minimi of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands in late antiquity by Ruth Pliego
Quintana place-names as evidence of the Islamic conquest of Iberia by David Peterson
Territories and kingdom in the central Duero basin: the case of Dueñas (tenth–twelfth centuries) by Daniel Justo Sánchez & Iñaki Martín Viso
“Neither age nor sex sparing”: the Alvor massacre 1189, an anomaly in the Portuguese Reconquista? by Jonathan Wilson
Riots, reluctance, and reformers: the church in the Kingdom of Castile and the IV Lateran Council by Kyle C. Lincoln
Squire to the Moor King: Christian administrators for Muslim magnates in late medieval Murcia by Anthony Minnema
Glassmaking in medieval technical literature in the Iberian Peninsula by David J. Govantes-Edwards , Javier López Rider & Chloë Duckworth