DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS, DIFFERENT CULTURES, DIFFERENT RELIGIONS: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL INFORMATION ON AL-ANDALUS FROM THE EIGHTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURIESJuan Zozaya (Madrid)
The Islamic invasion of Hispania is still not a well understood process. Regarding the colonization and the military aspects of the operation, from an archaeological point of view it may be said that the real numbers of invaders and their attitudes towards the local population seem to be rather different from the classical hypothesis stated by historians.
We do not have much more information regarding the early years than place names, well preserved mostly in their Latin forms in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, and early coins. Some early remains datable to the phase between 711 A.. D. and 756 A.. D. include graveyards, reused churches, some inscriptions and what is probably one of the earliest minarets in Islam: that of the church of San Salvador in Toledo. Fortifications include a watch-tower system, a land-owners' defensive tower system and town walls in Toledo, Maqueda, Talavera de la Reina, the city of Vascos (Toledo Province) or Idanha a Velha and Elvas in present day Portugal. More information may be gathered from the first structures constructed under `Abd ar-Rahman I, like his mosque, the walls at Agreda, or the castles at Gormaz or Marbella. Under Al-Hakam I there is evidence of socio-economic structures organized under the Qal`a(s), as part of a "commandatus" strategy to populate and defend the areas near the marches.
Under Muhammad I a new system was widely used: that of the husun to control the country in the name of the state, eliminating thus the need for the commandatus system, which was probably suppressed under his government. During his reign an important technical innovation took place: the use and manufacture of lead-glazed pottery, an oriental invention brought to al-Andalus around the mid-ninth century A.D. and used for the first time in Europe. Tin, pottery, and glass of this phase are known, giving us an idea of what life in various circles must have been like.
During the tenth century some new fortifications were built, but the hallmark of this period was the common use and manufacture of polychrome glazed pottery in white, green, and purple. Oriental influences in shapes and decoration as well as symbolism were brought from the Orient. Textiles, amongst which the Oña Yuba is important, are essential to understanding this process. Around the end of the century the difference between various pottery production centers is noteworthy as it practically announces the centrifugal forces that would tear apart the kingdom in the following years.
The `Amirids did manage to produce some rather experimental art elements, but little is really known, as there doesn't seem to be much difference between the material products of the middle of the tenth century and those of the early eleventh century.
The eleventh century is well known for its poets, but little is said about the techniques used in the everyday connection between the country and the monarchy. What does seem evident is that design in objects becomes regionally individualized, so as to underline the differences relating to the existence of each one of the petty Kingdoms. This does have its differences and may be found throughout al-Andalus.
Thus the remains of material culture may be used to differentiate different levels of development, of policies within the realm of al-Andalus and the creation of a culture imbued with a distinctive personality, giving a new image of al-Andalus.