Animalising cultural boundaries: identity, foodways and subsistence in Medieval Iberia
Résumé
Foodways represent a sphere of action which, in the past as well as in the present, has been recurrently used in the field of everyday life as one of the main identity markers for producing, reproducing and expressing cultural affinity or otherness. In an historical context marked by profound differences derived from the cohabitation of diverse ethno- religious groups such as medieval Iberia, eating habits played an essential role in the demarcation of cultural boundaries between members of different communities that can be explored archaeologically.This paper presents the results of the zooarchaeological study of a set of sites occupied during the medieval period and located in different frontier regions of the Iberian Peninsula. The results demonstrate the informative potential of archaeofaunal analysis to contribute to the recognition of the consumption patterns of animal food products, the identity of the groups responsible for the accumulation of the food debris and the systems of exploitation and management of the animals.Project "Landscapes of (Re)Conquest: Dynamics of Multicultural Frontiers in Medieval South Western Europe" (AH/R013861/1), funded by AHRC.