Medieval Appetites: food plants in multicultural Iberia (500-1100 CE)

Introduction

The Islamic conquest of Iberia in the 8th century brought profound changes in the political, social, and economic realms that transformed the everyday life of local rural and urban communities. Technological innovations and the arrival of new crops impacted their agriculture, diet, and culinary practices.

Role of Plants

Plants were present in almost all aspects of medieval people’s ordinary lives (food, crafts, medicines, etc.). However, they have been commonly sidelined in discussions of the past. Most of what we know about plants in this multicultural period in Iberia is based on a limited number of archaeobotanical studies and written sources, which, despite their undeniable value, often reflect issues related to the elites.

Archaeobotany and Its Importance

By contrast, archaeology, and more specifically archaeobotany and their associated science-based techniques, are placed in an extraordinary position for approaching issues related to:

1. Plant production
2. Processing
3. Preparation and consumption

These aspects connect to broader societal changes.

MEDAPP Project Goals

By integrating archaeobotany and written sources, as well as applying ground-breaking techniques (plant genomics and food remains analyses), MEDAPP aims to:

• Disentangle what range of plants were used in Medieval Iberia (6th-11th CE)
• Identify where new species came from and when they were introduced
• Determine who brought them and how people engaged with them through different practices

The project sets a new holistic agenda for understanding the impact of the new political, economic, and social system on agriculture, eating habits, and culinary practices of Iberian medieval communities.

Conclusion

This project aims at providing a step-change in the way agriculture, plant production, preparation, and consumption have been studied in Medieval Iberia. It represents a golden opportunity to fill the voids of texts, looking for clues in the archaeobotanical record; an occasion to approach, with a suite of scientific and innovative methods, the unspoken information contained in these silences.