Archaeology of the Medieval World: Sources and Cities

The archaeology of the medieval world, and of historical periods in general, often has an ambivalent relationship with pasts derived from other available sources. On the one hand, interpreting the archaeological record requires external evidence, thus texts and oral traditions may become important anchors. On the other hand, archaeologists frequently struggle to integrate their findings with those of history and anthropology, and the latter usually dominate in discourses on the past.

This seminar’s primary aim is to discuss various approaches to this challenge in different archaeological sub-disciplines. With a particular focus on ‘cities’, the seminar will introduce case studies in which a gap can be found between archaeology and other sources. The meetings will present different studies from Asia, Africa and Europe which are conducted by scholars from African, Islamic, Byzantine, Indian, and medieval European archaeologies.

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25. April
Prof. Dr. Anders Andrén (Stockholm)
Jewish minorities in medieval European cities: archaeological triangulations

2. Mai
Dr. Nikolas Gestrich (Frankfurt/M.)
Perspectives on the medieval world: an introduction to source conflicts

16. Mai
Dr. Nicolas Nikis (Brüssel)
Pottery manufacturing techniques as a source to reconstruct the past:
the case of the north-eastern Congo Basin, 8th – 15th centuries

23. Mai
Prof. Dr. Joanita Vroom (Leiden)
No schnitzel for the sultan: searching for wining and dining in Ottoman Istanbul

6. Juni
Prof. Dr. Tim Williams (London)
The early Islamic city in central Asia

13. Juni
Dr. Wolfgang David (Frankfurt/M.)
Die Anfänge der Stadt Frankfurt: Archäologie und Geschichte

20. Juni
Dr. Coline Lefrancq (Paris)
The debate on the urbanization during the early medieval period in South Asia explained (with a focus on the north-eastern part of Indian peninsula)

27. Juni
JProf. Dr. Hagit Nol (Frankfurt/M.)
Different perspectives on urbanization in Palestine, 9th to 10th century

4. Juli
Dr. Nikolas Gestrich (Frankfurt/M.)
Trade and trading centres in West Africa

11. Juli
Dr. Sébastien de Valeriola (Brüssel), Dr. Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (Namur)
Network Analysis and archaeological artefacts: a medieval monetary corpus from the former Low Countries

18. Juli
Dr. Nikolas Gestrich, Dr. Carlos Magnavita, JProf. Dr. Hagit Nol (Frankfurt/M.)
Summary and discussion

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18.15 Uhr
Campus Westend, I.G. Farben-Haus, Raum IG 311, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1
Aktuelle Informationen finden Sie hier.