Al-Andalus

The book includes 168 Arab poems of different length, which for the most part had not been published before. They give a wide display of how was the Arab popular poetry in Maghribi dialect composed in the Iberian Peninsula during the last centuries of mudejar and morisco presence, until the beginning of the 17th century. Apart of the religious and love poems, one finds compositions which deal to the war exploits in the early days of Islam, legends about the prophets and contemporary historical events.
The book includes an introduction and bibliography (pp. 9-77);
transcription of the Arabic text of the poems (pp. 81-310);
translation of the poems (pp. 311-538);
appendix and indexes up to p. 573.

Resumen: El vidrio de al-Andalus ha recibido poco interés por parte de la investigación
especializada. Sin embargo, recientes avances han puesto de manifiesto su interés
no solo desde un punto de vista meramente formal sino también como un medio auxiliar
para conocer diversos aspectos de la sociedad andalusí.
En este trabajo se recopilan de manera muy sintética lo que sabemos en la actualidad
sobre el vidrio en al-Andalus. Partiendo de una breve introducción sobre la producción
y comercialización del vidrio en al-Andalus a partir de las investigaciones arqueométricas,
se bosqueja la evolución de sus formas y decoraciones a lo largo de la historia de
al-Andalus. Con ello tratamos de poner de relieve las grandes posibilidades que ofrece
su estudio multidisciplinar aunando la información de las fuentes escritas, la arqueología,
la tipológica y la composición química del vidrio. Una investigación que aún se
encuentra en un estado incipiente pero que ya se está constituyendo como una herramienta
muy relevante para el estudio de la evolución y difusión de las modas estéticas,
la tecnología, mecanismos de producción y el comercio en la historia de al-Andalus.
Palabras clave: Vidrio, Arqueometría, Tipología, al-Andalus, Arte Islámico.
Abstract: Glass from al-Andalus has received little attention from specialized research.
Recent progress has shown its interest not only from a formal perspective, but
also as an auxiliary source in understanding various aspects of Andalusian society. In
this paper, we have compiled in a very synthetic way what we know so far about glass
in al-Andalus. Starting with a brief introduction on the production and commercialisation
of glass in al-Andalus based on archaeometric research, we outline the evolution
of its forms and decorations throughout the history of al-Andalus. The aim is to
highlight the great potential offered by a multidisciplinary approach combining information
from written sources, archaeology, typology, and the chemical composition of
glass. The research on glass in al-Andalus is its infancy but is already becoming a relevant
tool for studying the development and diffusion of aesthetic trends, technologies,
mechanisms of production and trade in the history of al-Andalus.
Keywords: Glass, Archaeometry, Typology, al-Andalus, Islamic Art.

Livestock farming was one of the major economic activities during the early Middle Ages. The exploitation of livestock resources became very important since the Visigothic period (C. 415–711 AD), although our knowledge is still considerably limited for the central regions of Iberia. Some historiographical works about stockbreeding during the Middle Ages as well as zooarcheological analyses exist; however, few researchers have focused on the study of farming during the early Middle Ages. We present here a taphonomical and zooarcheological analysis of several archeological sites, in order to illustrate the range of farming strategies developed in the center of the Iberian Peninsula during the VIII–XI centuries (Andalusian period). This study explores the economic exploitation and management strategies of domesticates such as Bos taurus, Ovis aries, Capra hircus, and other, less frequent animals, such as Sus domesticus, Equus ferus caballus, Equus africanus asinus, and Canis familiaris, in addition to wild species. Our results indicate that Ovis/Capra (caprines) were the most represented species at these sites, even though some animals, such as pigs, were more frequent than what we would expect in the Muslim world. Together, these lines of evidence allow us to discuss not only the economics of everyday life in the early Middle Ages, but also the nature of the changes that Iberian populations experienced with the arrival of Christian conquerors.