Islamic material culture
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2023
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Islamic material culture," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.
Islamic networks of trade and travel were central to global networks of the historic period. Since the 8th century, commercial and religious links have connected Arabia and the Persian Gulf across Eurasia and Africa. Archaeology has a crucial role in understanding and exploring this fascinating ‘world system’ and increasingly sophisticated approaches to material culture have illuminated the vibrancy of Islamic networks. Work in this area ranges from culture histories of trade, prestige and value, and collecting, through to biomolecular studies of subsistence and cuisine. Explorations of contemporary collecting practices have thrown light on colonial legacies and orientalist assumptions.
This session invites papers across the range of approaches to material culture, from typology and object histories, through archaeological science. We seek to explore the rich world of Islamic material culture throughout the medieval and historical periods and to highlight the scale and importance of that world to understanding past globalisms.
Geographic Keywords
East Africa •
Asia, Europe, North Africa •
Europe/Mediterranean
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-3 of 3)
- Documents (3)
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Archaeology and Art History: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Medieval Ceramics from Iran (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Islamic material culture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This paper examines the intersections and interdisciplinary uses of large-scale archaeological data sets, from a huge number of sites in numerous countries, to inform the art historical study of the trade in medieval Islamic ceramics from Iran in the 12th and 13th centuries CE. By focusing on a single class of wares (mina’i or haft rang) that are...
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Islamic consumption networks of the western Indian Ocean (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Islamic material culture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Patterns of production and use of ceramics in eastern Africa offer a window into practices of consumption. Islamic glazed ceramics, originating in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, are the most plentiful evidence for trade networks and the accumulation of wealth from trade in coastal East Africa from c. AD700 onwards. Locally produced earthenwares suggest...
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Unlocking The Potential Of Ceramic Residue Analysis To Explore Islamic Cuisine In Medieval Spain (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Islamic material culture", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The multifaith society of Medieval Spain experienced dramatic transitions between periods of Christian and Muslim political rule with shifting geographical frontiers. The coexistence of multiple faiths within this dynamic socio-political landscape influenced the practices of daily life such as cuisine. Diet and identity are inextricably linked....