From hand to mouth: dietary perspectives on religious minorities in Medieval Portugal
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 04/02/2017

Diet had an important cultural and symbolic meaning in medieval societies. In particular, the preparation and consumption or avoidance of certain foods played a significant part in the construction of identities by social status, age, sex and faith. This is especially intriguing for the multi-faith societies of Medieval Iberia were Christians, Muslims and Jews co-existed during the medieval period. In multi-faith societies co-existence and rulers’ religious tolerance towards minorities are inextricably linked, affecting all aspects of socio-religious life including dietary requirements. This paper addresses debates on socio-religious changes in an understudied area of Portuguese history, applying carbon ( 13C) and nitrogen ( 15N) stable isotope analysis to investigate the diets of Islamic and Christian communities in medieval Portugal under shifting religious political control. Stable isotope analysis, which provides direct evidence of the diet of archaeological individuals, has been applied to the skeletal remains of Muslims and Christians from the medieval sites of Beja (9th-12thC AD) and Silves (9th-13thC AD). These sites are notable for the presence of communities of Muslims and Christians that co-existed before and after the Christian conquest. Beja provides the remarkable opportunity to analyse contemporaneous Muslims and Christians living under Muslim rule and buried in the same burial ground. In addition Silves offers an insight into the influence of the Christian conquest onto the economy and lifestyle of the Christian minorities in southern Portugal as well as the effect of the shifting political control on the pre-existing Muslim groups. The combination of the data from these two settlements can provide information on the economies and the subsistence strategies put in place by religious minorities as well as shedding light on the development of medieval pluralistic societies under shifting powers and during transitional periods.

Author - Toso, Alice, University of York, York, United Kingdom (Presenting author)
Co-author(s) - Dr. Alexander, Michelle, University of York, York, United Kingdom