The purpose of this paper is to closely examine one manifestation of Islamic urban development in 10th century Spain. With the Islamic takeover of Spain during the 8th century, the capital was moved from Visigothic Toledo to Cordoba. However, in the 10th century, the Umayyad emir proclaimed himself caliph and created a new type of urban landscape some five miles away from Cordoba proper—the palace-city of Madinat al-Zahra.

In this paper I explore the specific cultural-historical-geographical context of this complex, focusing on the role of the previous Roman-Visigothic landscape of Cordoba’s environs, the types of urban landscapes already in existence such as the munya and the qasr, the impact of the architecture and tastes of the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq, and the socio-political identity of the new Spanish Umayyad caliphate. I use class discussions of the various manifestations of Islamic “city” in my analysis of this particular urban form, and apply spatial/anthropological theories such as Adam Smith’s concept of the political landscape in my interpretations.

In short, this case study is particularly interesting for three reasons:

• The location is outside of the traditional “core” of the Islamic world (i.e. the Middle East)
• The embedded nature of the pre-Islamic history of the landscape itself (i.e. the indigenous, Roman and Visigothic traditions)
• The fact that this is a completely new urban construction, occurring at a moment of particular importance (i.e. the establishment of a new caliphate)

Meddling with Metals: the problem of mixing and recycling in tracing the LBA metals trade Research paper for AE0202-1 "Economy & Trade in the Later Bronze Age Aegean and East Mediterranean"

Archaeological scientists have been very keen to determine the ore sources and primarily mining and refining sites of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. While investigative techniques such as lead isotope analysis promise a method of getting at the question of sourcing and provenance, there are inherent problems with the method itself as well as with the assumptions that accompany such undertakings. The most serious problem is that scholars either misunderstand or downplay the variable and complex physical and chemical processes involved in metallurgical technologies, disregarding the possible effects of geochemical, pyrotechnical, and anthropogenic factors involved in the chaîne opératoire that transforms an ore mineral into copper metal and then into a bronze object.

Archaeologists underestimate the level and impact of mixing and recycling metal supplies (specifically copper and tin) and assume a 1:1:1 relationship of ore source, ingot, and finished product. This paper seeks to underline the inherent limitations of provenance studies of metal artifacts in the Bronze Age Mediterranean, offering a critique of current methods and a fresh interpretation of past analytical results.