FROM FUNDUQ TO ALHÓNDIGA AND FONDACO: TOWARDS GLOBAL MIDDLE AGES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 13/01/2021

The institution of the funduq is generally understood as an inn and warehouse for merchants and travellers of all religions and geographical origins. The funduq is Arab-Islamic in origin and emerged in the context of a Mediterranean Sea under Islamic rule, based on an east-west axis of communication. However, the interest of the funduq not only relies on its permanence in Islamic territories throughout the Middle Ages, but also to the adoption of this building in a wide range of medieval geographical contexts. European adaptations of this institution (fondaco, alhóndiga or fondech), from the 13th century onwards, when the commercial control of the Mediterranean passed into Christian hands, shows how this architectural feature survived in spite of social and cultural changes. Therefore, the archaeological study of the funduq is an example of the materialization of commercial dynamics in the Medieval Mediterranean, and also provides a better understanding of the relationships that existed between various social and religious groups in urban contexts, as well as between the different Mediterranean religious and political groups. This paper intends to provide a global and interdisciplinary analysis of the funduq, taking al-Andalus as a case study and combining both archaeological and written sources. My aim is to characterize the elements that constituted this institution and its operation in order to show illustrate their survival and transformation, especially after its adoption by non-Islamicate societies. The archaeological study of the funduq opens a reflection on what should be understood by Islamic archaeology. After all, this institution can be studied within both Islamic and European archaeological frameworks. Should we think, from a medieval global perspective, that the archaeology of both geographical contexts is as entangled as the various medieval polities on both shores of the Mediterranean were?


Author(s): Hernández Robles, Alicia (University of Murcia)