ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Plant use in Muslim Spain: Preliminary results from the medieval town of Madīnat Ilbīra
1
Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Centre for Archaeology of Hills
and Uplands, Sławkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, Poland
2
Institute of Archeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Centre for Medieval Archaeology
of the Baltic Region, Kuśnierska 12/12a, 70-536 Szczecin, Poland
Online publication date: 2020-12-30
Publication date: 2020-12-30
Acta Palaeobotanica 2020; 60(2): 296–306
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The paper presents preliminary results of archaeobotanical studies carried out at the Madīnat Ilbīra
site in Spain. The functioning of the town, which was the capital of one of the administrative districts (kūras) of al-
Andalus, falls in the period between the second half of the 9th century and the 11th century. However, the analysed
soil samples were collected from archaeological contexts dated mostly to the last decades of the 10th century and to
the 11th century. The samples yielded an interesting set of data about the preserved plant remains. Although the
taxonomic diversity of the plants is not high, the analysis revealed remains of naked and hulled wheat (emmer
wheat), millet, poppy seeds, perhaps peas, cucumber or melon, and grapevine. Although crop plants played an
important role in the everyday diet of the town inhabitants, wild plants also were probably collected and used. The
latter are represented in the analysed materials by, for example, wild strawberry, common mallow and common
purslane. The preserved charcoal remains confirm the use of different species of wood as fuel.
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