Power and rural landscapes in early medieval Galicia (400–900 ad): towards a re‐incorporation of the archaeology into the historical narrative

This paper aims to bring together hitherto neglected archaeological data about the early medieval landscapes of Galicia (north‐west Spain), in order to understand the social transformations this ‘peripheral’ region underwent between the fifth and the ninth centuries and to frame them in the context of wider European debates. Despite its many limitations, the archaeology reveals that until the middle of the seventh century, the late antique society of Gallaecia experienced a previously unsuspected vitality. At this point a socio‐political fragmentation occurred, which was characterized by the strengthening of local power, until a further change took place with the progressive incorporation of Galicia into the Asturian kingdom in the ninth century.     

Death in the sun: the bioarchaeology of an early post-medieval hospital in Gibraltar

SUMMARY: In 2014, during construction work at the ex-Civil Hospital in Gibraltar, excavations led by the Gibraltar Museum revealed a major, previously unknown burial ground containing more than 200 skeletons. We present the historical, archaeological and radiometric dating evidence from the site alongside the results of initial osteological analyses. The data indicate that the burials pertain to an earlier 16th-century Spanish hospice, and therefore stand to offer new insights into the functioning of this early modern hospital and the health and movements of people at a time of incipient globalization.     

Layers of religious and political iconoclasm under the Islamic State: symbolic sectarianism and pre-monotheistic iconoclasm

This article examines the heritage destruction undertaken by the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. To date, their iconoclasm has been mostly characterised either as acts of wanton barbarism devoid of religious or political justification, or as a cynical performance designed as a mass media spectacle. Drawing on a systematic analysis of two key IS propaganda outlets – their on-line magazine, Dabiq, and the various slick films released by Al-Hayat – this article argues that the heritage destruction perpetrated by the IS are not only situated within a carefully articulated theological framework and key to the creation of a new and ideologically pure ‘Islamic State’, but that they are also constituted by several complex layers of religious and political iconoclasm. To demonstrate, this article documents the iconoclasm undertaken by the IS along two key axes: Symbolic Sectarianism (Shia and Sufi mosques and shrines); and Pre-Monotheistic Iconoclasm (ancient polytheistic sites). Attacks on key sites within these categories, such as the Sayyida Zaynab shrine in Damascus or the Mosul Museum, not only adhere to their religious and political framework but also serve broader geo-political agendas and are attacked as proxy targets for their physical and ideological opponents.     

Watermills: The Origin of the Use of Renewable Hydraulic Energy in Spain

The use of renewable hydraulic energy sources by mankind most likely has its origins in the development of the watermills. To understand the functioning of these mills, this article first reviews, through the analysis of different bibliographical sources, the technical evolution of the machinery used since the appearance of the first watermills to grind cereal grain in the 1st century bc.

Secondly, a particular area of the south-west of Spain, Alcalá de Guadaíra, has been selected for study, whose strategic location as well as its hydrological characteristics gave rise, firstly, to an intensive milling industry, and, later, a famed baking industry, from the late Middle Ages until recent decades. The huge development of these two industrial activities has made Alcalá de Guadaíra an exceptional example in Spain, with 40 watermills in the early 18th century.

Extensive work on site allowed the analysis of the state and types of watermills that still exist in this area, identifying their similarities and differences. Unfortunately, after they fell into disuse, only 28 of these mills remain today; 12 of them are in a relative good state of preservation, seven in an alarming state of ruin and, of the other nine, only some unrecognisable vestiges remain. Some of these mill buildings have been restored recently, although their machinery is missing. Only from old photographs or by visiting mills restored in other areas is it possible to determine how these watermills worked.

Due to the lack of financial resources to carry out physical restoration of the industrial heritage missing in these flour mills, a virtual model of one of them has been developed. This work provides, at least virtually, a reconstruction of the traditional mills which helps promote technological studies and shows how they worked, as part of virtual exhibitions. In addition, a computer application of augmented reality has been developed that any visitor can install on a mobile device to display the virtual reality of the machinery, generated by 3D models, so they can visualise the physical reality that they would have found in the mill.