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Research Article

Cemeteries and State Formation in the Early-Medieval Northwestern Iberian Peninsula

 

Abstract

BASED ON A SIGNIFICANT REVIEW of the literature on early-medieval burials in the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula, this paper aims to offer, for the first time, a comprehensive interpretation of funerary practices and their transformations between the 8th and 10th centuries ad, and to discuss their role as useful indicators of the non-linear processes of state formation in this area. Despite some important regional differences, a general trend toward uniformity and centralised control of funerary behaviours can be detected during this period. However, cemeteries also inform us about the complexity and diversity of social agency at local levels behind the wider trend towards uniformity. It is argued here that both local and regional elites in the Kingdom of Asturias promoted this important change in funerary practices, as they did with the network of churches, given the importance of cemeteries as places of power, and the implications that lay behind the creation and control of a common place of inhumation for local communities.

Résumé

Cimetières et formation étatique dans le nord-ouest de la péninsule ibérienne au Haut Moyen-Âge par Alejandro Garcia Alvarez-Busto et Jose Carlos Sánchez-Pardo

Sur la base d’une revue documentaire approfondie des travaux concernant les sépultures du Haut Moyen-Âge dans le nord-ouest de la péninsule ibérienne, ce papier entend offrir, pour la première fois, une interprétation complète des pratiques funéraires et de leur transformation du 8e au 10e siècle, et évoquer leur rôle en tant qu’indicateurs utiles des processus non-linéaires de la formation étatique dans cette région. En dépit de différences régionales importantes, une tendance générale à l’uniformité et au contrôle centralisé des comportements funéraires peut se détecter à cette période. Cependant, derrière la tendance globale à l’uniformité, les cimetières nous renseignent également sur la complexité et la diversité de l’influence sociale sous-jacente au niveau local. Il est avancé ici que les élites locales et régionales du royaume des Asturies ont encouragé cet important changement dans les pratiques funéraires, comme elles l’ont fait pour le réseau d‘églises, étant donné l’importance des cimetières en tant que lieux de pouvoir et les implications de la création et du contrôle d’un lieu d’inhumation commun pour les communautés locales.

Zusammenfassung

Friedhöfe und Staatsbildung auf der nordwestlichen Iberischen Halbinsel des frühen Mittelalters von Alejandro Garcia Alvarez-Busto und Jose Carlos Sánchez-Pardo

Die vorliegende Arbeit beruht auf einer gründlichen Analyse der Literatur über frühmittelalterliche Bestattungen auf der nordwestlichen Iberischen Halbinsel und hat zum Ziel, erstmals eine umfassende Interpretation der Bestattungsrituale und deren Wandels zwischen dem 8. und 10. Jahrhundert n. Chr. zu bieten, sowie deren Funktion als nützliche Anhaltspunkte für die nichtlinearen Staatsbildungsprozesse in dieser Region zu erörtern. Trotz bedeutenderregionaler Unterschiede lässt sich in dieser Phase eine allgemeine Tendenz zur Vereinheitlichung und zentralen Kontrolle über Bestattungsrituale erkennen. Allerdings geben uns Friedhöfe auch Einblick in die Komplexität und Vielseitigkeit des lokalen gesellschaftlichen Handelns, vor dem sich jener generelle Trend zur Einheitlichkeit abzeichnete. Angesichts der bedeutenden Rolle der Friedhöfe als Stätten der Macht sowie der Implikationen, die der Schaffung und Steuerung gemeinsamer Begräbnisstätten für lokale Gemeinschaften zugrunde lagen, vertreten wir hier die These, dass sowohl lokale als auch regionale Eliten im Königreich Asturien jene bedeutende Transformation der Bestattungsrituale förderten, wie sie das auch mit dem Netzwerk an Kirchen taten.

Riassunto

Cimiteri e formazione dello stato nella penisola iberica nordoccidentale altomedievale di Alejandro Garcia Alvarez-Busto e Jose Carlos Sánchez-Pardo

Questo studio, basato su un’importante revisione del materiale bibliografico riguardante le sepolture altomedievali nella penisola iberica nordoccidentale, si propone di offrire per la prima volta un’interpretazione esauriente delle pratiche funerarie e delle loro trasformazioni tra l’VIII e il X secolo d.C. e di discuterne il ruolo in quanto utili indicatori dei processi non lineari attinenti alla formazione dello stato in quest’area. Durante questo periodo, malgrado alcune differenze regionali importanti, si può notare una tendenza generale verso l’uniformità e il controllo centralizzato dei comportamenti funerari. Tuttavia i cimiteri sono anche fonte di informazione sulla complessità e sulla diversità dell’intervento sociale a livello locale, al di là della più ampia tendenza all’uniformità. Qui si sostiene che le élite del Regno delle Asturie, sia locali che regionali, promossero questo importante cambiamento nelle pratiche funerarie, così come avevano fatto per la rete delle chiese, data l’importanza dei cimiteri quali luoghi di potere e date le implicazioni relative alla creazione e al controllo di un luogo di inumazione comune per le comunità locali.

Acknowledgments

This study forms part of ASTURMETRÍA research project: Formas de ocupación y organización del espacio en el norte peninsular: el territorio astur entre época antigua y medieval a través del registro arqueológico y paleoambiental, [MINECO-17-HAR2016-78036-P], led by Professor J Avelino Gutiérrez González of the University of Oviedo, and funded by the Ministry of Economy; and of TERPOMED research project: Territorio y poder monástico en la Alta Edad Media, funded by a project of excellence of the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria de la Xunta de Galicia (PG-065, convocatoria Consolidación e Estructuración 2016). The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, as well as the editor for her valuable revision of the text and interesting suggestions that have greatly improved the paper. Of course, responsibility for any error remains our own.

Notes

6 Carvajal Citation2017; Escalona Citation2019.

7 Quirós Castillo Citation2016, Escalona Monge Citation2011; Castellanos and Martín Viso Citation2005.

8 Lauwers Citation2005. Obviously, the creation of cemeteries was a long process occurring during the 11th and 12th centuries, but its origins in northwestern Spain can be found between the 8th and 10th centuries (Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015).

9 Following the work of Escalona, the concept of non-linear state formation emphasises the irregular and non-teleological character of the processes behind the creation of state structures in early-medieval western Europe (Escalona Citation2019).

10 Härke Citation2001.

11 Escalona Citation2019. The concept of ‘secondary state’ refers to territories which had were part of statal structures in the previous centuries.

12 García Álvarez-Busto Citation2019, in Spanish.

13 Ibid.

14 Sánchez-Pardo Citation2013 and Citation2014

15 Gurt i Esparraguera and Ribera i Lacomba Citation2005; Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2007. Martyria are Christian religious buildings that were built from the late Roman period with the purpose of preserving the relics of a saint and being a place for his/her cult and memory.

16 Utrero Agudo Citation2009.

17 Blanco-Torrejón Citation2019; Vigil-Escalera Guirado Citation2009 and Citation2013.

18 Gutiérrez González 1982; García Valdés Citation1982; Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation1984; Sáenz de Urturu Citation1990; García Álvarez-Busto and Muñiz López Citation2010; Hierro Gárate Citation2011.

19 Cepeda Ocampo and Martínez Salcedo Citation1994.

20 Slab tombs: Cepeda and Martínez Citation1994; pit graves: Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation1999; Loza and Niso Citation2011; Vigil-Escalera Citation2013.

21 Vidal Álvarez Citation2007; Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015: 526–35.

22 Adán Álvarez et al Citation2004; Hierro Gárate Citation2011.

23 Pérez Rodríguez-Aragón and Abásolo Álvarez Citation1995; Zadora-Rio Citation2003; Hernández García Citation1998; Sánchez Ramos Citation2007; Marcos and Reyes 2012.

24 Sánchez-Pardo Citation2013 and Citation2014. See López Quiroga Citation2018 for ‘estola’ decoration, which refers to a set of carved lines which seems to represent the shape of a Christian prayer.

25 García de Castro Valdés and Ríos González Citation2013.

26 García Álvarez-Busto Citation2019.

27 See Gutiérrez González Citation1995; Muñiz López and García Álvarez-Busto Citation2010 for fortifications, and García Álvarez-Busto Citation2019; Sánchez-Pardo et al Citation2018; López Alsina Citation2002 for churches.

28 Quirós Castillo Citation2009.

29 Sánchez-Pardo et al Citation2020.

30 Sánchez-Pardo Citation2015.

31 Sánchez-Pardo et al Citation2018.

32 Williams Citation1997; Hamerow Citation2012; Vigil-Escalera Citation2013; Martín Viso Citation2014.

33 Ruiz de la Peña Solar Citation2002.

34 Fernández Conde Citation2015.

35 Quirós Castillo Citation2011; Quirós Castillo and Fernández Mier Citation2012; Sánchez-Pardo Citation2015; Carvajal Citation2017, 207–58; Escalona Citation2019.

36 Gurt i Esparraguera and Sánchez Ramos Citation2011.

37 Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2007; Vives Citation1963.

38 Llano y Roza de Ampudia Citation1928; García de Castro Valdés Citation1995.

39 For burial on rural estates, see Alonso Citation2007; García Álvarez-Busto and Muñiz López Citation2010. Sánchez Ramos Citation2019 discusses trends in the expression of power, as shown, for example, in the funerary building of Los Hitos, Toledo (Barroso et al Citation2017).

40 García de Castro Valdés Citation1999; Carrero Santamaría Citation2003.

41 For Asturias: Fernández Ochoa and Gil Sendino Citation2007; Requejo Pagés and Álvarez Martínez Citation2008; Cid López et al Citation1991. For the north-west, Miguel Hernández and Benéitez González Citation1996; Crespo Díez Citation2009; Fernández Mier Citation2009; Cruz Sánchez and Martín Rodríguez Citation2012; Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

42 Arce Martínez and Ripoll López Citation2001; Chavarría Arnau Citation2007; Chavarría Arnau and Brogiolo Citation2008.

43 Fernández Ochoa and Gil Sendino Citation2007. The triclinium was one of the main architectural spaces in a Roman villa. It was used for banquets and leisure, and was a symbol of the social status of the landowner.

44 Quirós Castillo Citation2006; Monreal Jimeno Citation1989.

45 Valpuesta: Fernández Conde Citation2000; Zamora: Gutiérrez González Citation1994.

46 Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

47 Abascal Palazón Citation1991.

48 Zadora-Rio Citation2003.

49 Vives Citation1963; Ripoll López Citation1989; Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

50 Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2007.

51 Ibid; Williams Citation2006; Martín Viso Citation2014.

52 Treffort Citation1996.

53 Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2007; Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

54 Wickham Citation2008.

55 Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

56 Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2002.

57 Capitula is a compilation of canon laws from different episcopal councils carried out by Saint Martin of Dumio, which became of the main basis of the Visigoth Ecclesiastical Law.

58 Ríu Citation1982; Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015; García González Citation2015.

59 Cantabria: Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015; Basque Country: Azkárate Garai-Olaun and García Camino Citation1992

60 Álvaro Rueda Citation2012.

61 Vizcaíno Sánchez Citation2009.

62 Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

63 Azkárate Garai-Olaun Citation2007; Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015; Vigil-Escalera Citation2013.

64 García Camino Citation2002.

65 For example, references to the names of some of the deceased in the first memorial books, which were used in the funerary prayers for the salvation of their souls (Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015).

66 Treffort Citation1996; Vizcaíno Sánchez Citation2009.

67 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015; Husi et al Citation1990.

68 Fernández Conde Citation2000.

69 Also known as asini burials, in which bodies are dumped in pits or placed on the ground without receiving Christian rites (Treffort Citation1996).

70 Reynolds Citation2009; Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

71 Härke Citation2001

72 Ariès Citation1983; Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015; Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

73 Vives Citation1963.

74 Martín Viso Citation2014.

75 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

76 La Rocca Citation2007; Sánchez-Pardo and Shapland Citation2015.

77 Roig Buxó Citation2019.

78 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

79 Ripoll and Molist Capella Citation2015.

80 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

81 Nieto Muñiz and Rodríguez Muñiz Citation2016.

82 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

83 García Camino Citation2001.

84 Azkárate Garai-Olaun and García Camino Citation1996.

85 García de Castro Valdés Citation1995

86 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

87 García González Citation2015.

88 Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015.

89 Nieto Muñiz and Rodríguez Muñiz Citation2016.

90 García de Castro Valdés Citation1999; Carrero Santamaría Citation2003.

91 Suárez Otero Citation2003.

92 García González Citation2017.

93 Tuñón: Adán Álvarez and Cabo Pérez Citation1989; Ríos González and Muñiz Álvárez Citation2018; San Xes de Francelos: Sánchez-Pardo et al Citation2017.

94 García de Castro Valdés Citation1995.

95 San Juan de Riomiera: Requejo Pagés et al Citation2007; Vigaña: Fernández Mier Citation2015; Abamia: Ríos González Citation2009; Serrapio: Requejo Pagés Citation1995; Plecín: Adán Álvarez Citation1995.

96 García Camino Citation2002; Quirós Castillo Citation2009.

97 Sánchez-Pardo Citation2012.

98 Vigil-Escalera Citation2013; Quirós Castillo Citation2013.

99 Padilla Lapuente and Álvaro Rueda Citation2010; Martín Viso Citation2007 and Citation2012.

100 Braga-Chaves: López Quiroga and Rodríguez Lovelle Citation1997; Santiago de Compostela: Suárez Otero Citation1999 and Citation2003; Lugo: Rodríguez Lovelle and López Quiroga Citation2000; Oviedo: García de Castro Valdés Citation1995; River Ebro: Gutiérrez Cuenca Citation2015; Gutiérrez Cuenca and Hierro Gárate Citation2003; Martínez Santa-Olalla Citation1925; Lecanda Esteban Citation2015; Ealo de Sá Citation1984; Duranguesado: Azkárate Garai-Olaun and García Camino Citation1996; García Camino Citation2001.

101 Lauwers Citation2005; La Rocca Citation2007; Zadora-Rio Citation2003.

102 Lauwers Citation2005.

103 La Rocca Citation2007; Zadora-Rio Citation2003.

104 Escalona Citation2019.

105 Härke Citation2001.

106 Carvajal Citation2017; Escalona Citation2019.

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