Cerámica Medieval Islámica

In the first part of this article I attempted to outline the historical and technological background to the production of “Fusṭāṭ Fāṭimid sgraffito” wares (“FFS”) between the 11th and 12th centuries, trough a selection of material now kept in the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza (from the so-called “Martin Collection”) and in other important museum collections worldwide. Based on the same material, I shall discuss here the technical, morphological, and stylistic aspects of “FFS” within a plausible chronological framework. The third part of this article, still to be published, will deal with the trade of “FFS” within Egypt and across the Mediterranean, and with the impact that this distinctive production had on the Syrian and Iranian incised frit-wares of the 12th century and beyond.

In the first part of this article I outlined the historical and technological background to the production of “Fusṭāṭ Fāṭimid sgraffito” wares (“FFS”) between the 11th and 12th centuries, trough a selection of material now kept in the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza (from the so-called “Martin Collection”) and in other important museum collections worldwide. In the second part I discussed the technical, morphological, and stylistic aspects of “FFS” within a plausible chronological framework, based on the same material. In this third and final part, I will concentrate on the evidence for trade of “FFS” within Egypt and across the Mediterranean, and on the impact that this distinctive production had on the Syrian and Iranian incised frit-wares of the 12th century and beyond.

The Archaeological works done in Rodenas (Teruel, Spain) between 2009 and 2012 have
allowed major advances in the research of the area. This article is focused on 2011 and 2012
campaigns, done in Moricantada and the Castle of Rodenas, promoted by the Arrodenes Cultural
Association. These campaigns have been located in Moricantada, a village dated in palaeo-andalusian
period (8-9th centuries AD). In the Castle, a little village dated in Final Bronze period (9th century BC)
was found in the heights; also some ceramics , dated in Emiral Period (9th century AD), and several
stratified garbage dumps dated in Golden Andalusian Period (11-12th centuries AD) were found in the
Castle. Four radiocarbon datings allow to refine the chronologies. The whole research in three sites
(included Villarpardo) , allow to establish a sequence for these dark ages between Late Roman and
Early Medieval Periods (450-900 AD) in the area of Sierra Menera and Sierra de Albarracín.
KEYWORDS: Rodenas, Castle of Rodenas, Moricantada, Villarpardo, Final Bronze, radiocarbon, Sierra de
Albarracín, Sierra Menera, late roman, early medieval, andalusian.*

Localizada no sudoeste da Península Ibérica, Cacela Velha é uma pequena povoação algarvia protegida pelo cordão dunar do complexo natural da Ria Formosa. Durante o período medieval, Cacela Velha teria sido parte do território costeiro do Gharb al-Andalus, sendo, portanto, território islâmico.
Devido a sua localização estratégica, entre o Rio Guadiana e a cidade de Faro (atual capital do Algarve) e de frente ao oceano, tornou-se um importante porto, tendo um forte construído para a sua defesa no século X. Bem povoado até o século XII, o forte de Cacela Velha passou por modificações durante o período almóada, sendo uma verdadeira alcaçova, com a presença de muralhas, estruturas bem edificadas e silos para cereais.
No âmbito arqueológico, Cacela vem sendo alvo de estudos desde o século XIX. Em 2007, o largo de sua fortaleza foi escavado em campanha arqueológica, onde se encontraram um conjunto de silos com materiais islâmicos, dentre os quais exemplares cerâmicos, cujo estudo foi o objetivo deste trabalho.
Palavras-chave: Cacela Velha, cerâmica islâmica, arqueologia medieval

ABSTRACT
The springs that give rise to Tarafa River, the main tributary of Vinalopó River, have favored intensive and continuous occupation along the time of the terraces and spaces linked to the middle reaches of the river by Islamic peasant communities, at least from the Almohad period.
The location at different points on both sides of the riverbed of new settlements with califal-taifal ceramic materials contexts, assignment by the archaeological analysis of hidraulic systems of Aljau, Fauquí and Mayor irrigated gardens -especially tracking its existence during the Andalusian period- allows us to open a new way of research that addresses for the first time archaeological characterization of the occupation and exploitation styles of the territory around Aspe, before its postconquest theoretical foundation in the mid-thirteenth century.
KEY WORDS
Tarafa River, Aspe, andalusí irrigated garden, hydraulic system, Islamic peasant communities, almohad, taifa, caliphate, Islamic Archaeology, Fauquí, Aljau, Mayor Garden, Vinalopó.

RESUMEN
Los manantiales que dan origen al río Tarafa, principal afluente del Vinalopó, han favorecido la ocupación intensiva y continuada en el tiempo de las terrazas y espacios vinculados al curso medio del río por parte de comunidades campesinas islámicas, cuando menos desde el periodo almohade.
La localización en diferentes puntos a ambos lados del cauce de nuevos asentamientos con contextos materiales cerámicos de probable adscripción califal-taifal, junto al análisis arqueológico de los sistemas hidráulicos de las huertas del Aljau, Fauquí y Mayor -rastreando especialmente su existencia durante el periodo andalusí- nos permiten abrir una nueva vía de investigación que aborde por primera vez la caracterización arqueológica de los modos de ocupación y explotación del territorio existente en torno a Aspe previos a su teórica fundación posconquista a mediados del siglo XIII.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Río Tarafa, Aspe, huerta andalusí, sistema hidráulico, comunidad campesina, almohade, taifas, califato, Arqueología islámica, Fauquí, Aljau, Huerta Mayor, Vinalopó.

RESUMO La representación del cuerpo humano es un tema controvertido en el arte y la arqueología islámicas. Contrariamente a la creencia, popularmente bastante extendida, de que la representación de los seres vivos era prohibida en en el Islam Medieval, son muchas las representaciones que encontramos, tanto en las expresiones artísticas eruditas y palaciegas, como en las manifestaciones populares de la más diversa índole. Esta comunicación pretende aportar algunas ideas destinadas a la sistematización de la imagen humana en los objetos del día a día del medievo islámico, con especial incidencia en la cerámica del Garb al-Andalus, procurando desvendar el valor simbólico, ritual o vivencial de las representaciones. ABSTRACT The representation of the human body is a controversial theme in Islamic art and archaeology. Contrary to the wide held belief that the portrayal of the human being was not allowed in Medieval Islam, we have found many examples of artistic expressions, both regal and erudite, as well as popular examples of a diverse nature. This paper aims to contribute some ideas to the systemization of the human image in Medieval Islamic everyday objects, especially in the ceramics from the Garb al-Andalus. It is an attempt to uncover the symbolic value of the representations as well as their experiential and ritual worth.

Il presente contributo intende ripercorrere le tappe salienti che hanno riguardato studio e gli approfondimenti sul tema dei Bacini ceramici partendo dall'apporto e dalla spinta propulsoria che è venuta attraverso il susseguirsi dei Convegni del Centro Ligure per la Storia della Ceramica.
Questa sintesi è occasione per fare il punto della situazione sullo stato degli studi degli ultimi anni al fine di tracciare alcune linee di ricerca rispetto a quanto fatto in passato e quanto ancora può essere fatto in futuro.
Il lavoro così impostato servirà per comprendere l'evoluzione degli studi ceramici su tecnologia, commerci, morfologie e altro, tematiche per le quali lo studio dei Bacini ha permesso negli anni il sistematizzarsi della ricerca e una comprensione globale di questi oggetti: non più considerati solo per il loro valore artistico ma anche come espressione ampia di più culture e come merce di scambio legata alla politica e all'economia del tempo in cui furono fabbricati.

No decorrer da intervenção arqueológica de minimização de impacte do projecto de arranjo urbanístico do Largo das Mouras Velhas e ruas adjacentes em Faro (2017), foram identificadas novas sepulturas de inumação pertencentes à necrópole norte de Ossonoba. Apresenta-se o contexto estratigráfico, a tipologia e arquitectura das sepulturas e o respectivo mobiliário funerário recuperado, procurando-se integrar estes novos achados no panorama global dos espaços sepulcrais ossonobenses já conhecidos.
Nesta intervenção foram ainda identificados, pela primeira vez nesta zona noroeste da cidade, vestígios de época medieval islâmica. Este contexto testemunhado por uma simples fossa detrítica colmatada entre os séculos XII/XIII permite relançar a discussão acerca da estratégia de ocupação periurbana de Ocsonoba.

During the archeological intervention survey to mitigate the impact of Largo das Mouras Velhas and surrouding streets urban project in Faro (2017), a few new burial graves belonging to the northern necropolis of Ossonoba were identified. It is presented the stratigraphic context, the typology and architecture of the graves and the related funerary furniture retrieved, as it is sought to integrate these new findings in the overall picture of the Ossonoba’s burial spaces already known.
In this intervention it was also identified, for the first time in this northwest part of the city, traces of Medieval Islamic times. This context, witnessed by a simple detritic pit sealed between the 12th and 13th centuries, allows us to relaunch the discussion about Ocsonoba's peri-urban occupation strategy.

T he article presents one group of Islamic vases in the Col- lection of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, which are dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most impressive piece is the bowl inv. no. BXM 23450 (Figs 1 and 2), which was formerly in the possession of the Armenian collector Dikran Kelekian. Decorating the bottom of the bowl, on a coat of white slip, are rotating fish painted in white as if in relief. The bowl belongs to a category of ce- ramics of Sultanaban type, a name linked with the homony- mous city in Persia. Modern research attributes Sultanabad ware to workshops in Kashan, during the period of domina- tion of the Mongol Ilhanid rulers, who in the mid-thirteenth century conquered territories in Iran, Asia Minor and Iraq. The Iranian vases were traded in the markets of Egypt and Syria during the period of domination by Mamluk officials and had a considerable influence on local ceramic produc- tion, mainly of the first half of the fourteenth century, which was in vogue. The diffusion of the style of Iranian ceramics is exemplified by three sherds donated by Antonis Benakis to the Byzantine and Christian Museum, and which are possi- bly products of Egyptian workshops. They belong to the technique of painted pottery with deep blue and black deco- ration under a transparent glaze, in the Panel Style (with ra- diate panels on the bottom), and are dated in the fourteenth century (Figs 3 and 4).
In the period of the military oligarchy of Mamluk officials
(1250-1517), large quantities of ceramics with incised or sgraffito decoration, alluding to creations in metalwork, were produced in Egypt. Fragments of sgraffito vases have been found in abundance in excavations at Fustat, which are represented in the Byzantine Museum and are dated to the fourteenth century. Predominant in the decoration of Mam- luk sgraffito vases are inscriptions (Figs 6, 8, 9 and 10), fre- quently combined with emblems-coats of arms (Fig. 10), while pictorial decoration is rather restricted. It should be noted that in the insignia of high-rank and low-rank officials, as also in the inscriptions with honorary titles, the strict or- ganization of the Mamluk State and the court’s insistence on social order and hierarchy are expressed. In the fifteenth- century Egyptian workshops, production of sgraffito vases gradually waned and was finally abandoned, whereas, on the contrary, the production of ceramics with under-glaze deep blue or black painted designs continued, examples of which are preserved in the Museum (Figs 15 and 16). Vases with the signatures of the Egyptian potters Gazal (Figs 16-18) and possibly the well-known Gaibi are included in the Museum’s collection (Figs 19 and 20). Obvious in this group is the influence of Chinese porcelain painted in cobalt blue, of the Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, which was imported to the Islamic world. Ceramics of this type en- joyed wide dissemination throughout the Mediterranean Basin.

Este estudio da un paso adelante  en la tipología de formas y usos de las cerámicas en la Ciudad Palatina de la Alhambra en época nazarí. La peculiaridad de ser una producción realizada para el uso de la corte y casa del sultán hace necesario atender unas necesidades ceremoniales y de representación que se ven claramente reflejadas en la cerámica rica blanca azul y dorada, aunque en el resto de la producción de cerámica popular o de uso en a cocina y almacenamiento, muestra una igualdad con otras producciones nazaríes

We present in these pages a work proposal, as an essay, of the restoration of the lost parts of a caliphate flask through a process of laser scanning, post-processing of data, 3D printing in ABS material and subsequent relocation in its original location. The process followed and the validity of the system in the final conclusions are explained.

A set of archaeological documentations is presented in connection with the blue and lustre earthenware registered in recent years in the province of Malaga. It is furnaces and waste dump were at he production center of Malaga and stratigraphic contexts where blue and lustre earthenware appears in other sites like Antequera, Cañete la Real and Cártama. With all this you get interesting developments, both by the self-realization of the workshops and for dating prodcutions.

Apresentam-se os resultados da intervenção arqueológica de diagnóstico no sítio de Sete Figueiras 2 (Odiáxere, Lagos), realizada em 2016 no âmbito das condicionantes patrimoniais do Plano de Urbanização da Meia Praia.
Para além de vestígios datados do período Neo-Calcolítico e do Bronze Final-I Idade do Ferro, foi possível delimitar uma área com ocupação de época islâmica onde se regista a presença exclusiva de estruturas em negativo. Os materiais que se dão a conhecer são oriundos da colmatação destas estruturas que terão sido amortizadas durante o período almóada (séc. XII-XIII).
A leitura integrada dos vestígios conhecidos no espaço envolvente mostra que não se poderá dissociar a análise e compreensão de Sete Figueiras 2 de outros locais conhecidos nas suas imediações e com idêntica cronologia de ocupação. Desafiando a escassez de dados ainda disponíveis, ousa-se delinear algumas linhas de interpretação acerca da ocupação islâmica (almóada) da Meia Praia em Lagos.

The paper presents the results of the archaeological work of diagnostic at the site of Sete Figueiras 2 (Odiáxere, Lagos), carried out in 2016 within the sphere of the patrimonial determinants within the Urbanization Plan of Meia Praia.
In addition to the Neo-Chalcolithic and Late Bronze/Iron Age testimonies it was possible to record an area with negative structures dated from the Islamic period. The materials here presented were recovered from the filling of these structures and allow us to state that these would have been dumped during the Almohad period (12th-13th century).
The combined interpretation of the known remains in the surrounding area shows that it`s not possible to dissociate the analysis and understanding of Sete Figueiras 2 from the other known settlements with similar chronology in the proximity. Challenging the scarcity of data still available we dare to draw some deductions about the Islamic occupation (Almohad) in Meia Praia in Lagos.

The studies on medieval pottery in Navarra have carried out a remarkable development after the second half of the Twentieth century. Nowadays a significant number of surveys enable researchers to thoroughly monitor the evolution of such discipline. Due to this, a critical analysis becomes necessary based on geographic, chronologic and technical criteria in order to stablish a reference framework. On the other hand, it may be convenient to discuss the new methodologies that Will set the path in the decades to come.

During the archeological intervention survey to mitigate the impact of Largo das Mouras Velhas and surrouding streets urban project in Faro (2017), a few new burial graves belonging to the northern necropolis of Ossonoba were identified. It is presented the stratigraphic context, the typology and architecture of the graves and the related funerary furniture retrieved, as it is sought to integrate these new findings in the overall picture of the Ossonoba’s burial spaces already known. In this intervention it was also identified, for the first time in this northwest part of the city, traces of Medieval Islamic times. This context, witnessed by a simple detritic pit sealed between the 12th and 13th centuries, allows us to relaunch the discussion about Ocsonoba’s peri-urban occupation strategy

El estudio presentado se realiza sobre un total de 2.791 fragmentos cerámicos de los 14.458 exhumados durante las Actividades Arqueológicas realizadas en el denominado sector 4 de Ronda Oeste de Córdoba, infraestructura contemporánea que, a 1,5 km del recinto amurallado de la ciudad histórica, cruza de norte a sur el área de expansión occidental de Madinat Qurtuba.

LEITÃO, Marta Isabel Caetano (2016) – “Estudo de espólio cerâmico proveniente do interior de uma habitação almóada da alcáçova de Alcácer do Sal”. Arqueología y Territorio Medieval, nº 23. Jaén, Universidad de Jaén, pp. 23-39. I.S.S.N.: 1134-3184. DOI: 10.17561/aytm.v23i0.3199