This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Archaeology of Medieval and Modern Landscape

Code: 106869 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Archaeology OB 3

Contact

Name:
Ferran Esquilache Marti
Email:
ferran.esquilache@uab.cat

Teachers

Helena Kirchner Granell
Raúl Muñoz Céspedes

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Reading in English. Use of digital drawing tools.


Objectives and Contextualisation

To understand the current state of research in archaeological studies of medieval and early modern landscapes; to become familiar with the specific methodologies used in the study of preindustrial rural spaces; to connect archaeological investigations with major historiographical debates concerning the medieval and early modern peasantry; and to identify the general characteristics of medieval agricultural systems through archaeological and textual evidence.


Learning Outcomes

  1. CM16 (Competence) Apply space analysis and management tools to the methodological design of basic and applied archaeology work.
  2. CM17 (Competence) Identify the construction processes of social spaces (territory, landscape) in the past, recognising the anthropic footprint on natural environments, so they can be integrated into explanations of the past.
  3. KM26 (Knowledge) Recognise the contributions of architecture, geography, geology and paleoenvironmental disciplines, as well as developments in GIS resources and computer databases for the comprehensive development of archaeology.
  4. KM27 (Knowledge) Archaeologically identify the expression in space of historical and social processes integrating a spatial perspective of analysis on various scales, from the regional level to that within the settlement.
  5. SM26 (Skill) Analyse societies of the past from an understanding of the pattern of dispersion and spatial location of their archaeological remains.
  6. SM27 (Skill) Demonstrate the patrimonial and scientific potential of archaeological sites, at the settlement level and at the regional or cultural landscape level.
  7. SM28 (Skill) Apply cartographic, LIDAR, GIS and geobase resources for the representation and management of archaeological information, as well as the dissemination of heritage.
  8. SM29 (Skill) Use geobases and GIS resources in archaeology fieldwork, as well as in the study of archaeological materials and contexts.

Content

Theory

  1. Introduction: Why an archaeology of medieval and early modern landscapes?
  2. The transition from Antiquity: landscape in early medieval Europe
  3. Changes introduced by feudalism in the organization and management of the landscape
  4. A new landscape model: the society of al-Andalus and the Islamic world
  5. The impact of feudal conquests on late medieval landscapes
  6. Landscape transformations in the early modern period in Europe and the Americas

Classroom Practice

  • Exercises using GIS technology
  • Completion of a project using written documentation, bibliography, cartography, and aerial photography

Fieldwork

  • Participation in a field activity and submission of the corresponding report

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Individual study; completion of the assignments required for assessment 75 3 CM16, CM17, KM26, KM27, SM26, SM27, SM28, SM29, CM16
Lectures delivered by the teaching staff; classroom practice exercises 39 1.56 CM17, KM26, KM27, SM26, SM27, CM17
Type: Supervised      
Advisory tutorials for the preparation of assignments (oral and written) and for the study of theoretical and practical content 25 1 CM16, CM17, KM26, KM27, SM26, SM27, CM16

Guided activities: theoretical and practical classes
Supervised activities: planning and solving practical exercises; conducting fieldwork activities.
Autonomous activities: reading and interpreting archaeological studies on territory, settlement, or agrarian spaces; developing analytical and synthesis skills; communicating effectively in oral and written form; completing theoretical and practical exercises.

Note: 15 minutes of one class session, within the timetable set by the faculty/degree programme, will be allocated for students to complete surveys evaluating the lecturer’s performance and the course/module.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
A practique exercise (PCAM) 20% 3 0.12 CM16, CM17, KM26, KM27, SM26, SM27, SM28, SM29
Practical exercises (PAUL) 30% 5 0.2 CM16, CM17, KM27, SM26, SM28, SM29
Two written tests (theory) 50% 3 0.12 CM17, KM26, KM27, SM26, SM27

  1. Theory: A written test divided into two partial exams → 50% of the final grade (25% each exam)

  2. PAUL: A practical exercise → 30% of the final grade

  3. PCAM: A report on the fieldwork → 20% of the final grade

The minimum final grade required to pass the course is 5, calculated as the weighted average of all assessment activities. Only grades equal to or higher than 5 in the theory exams and equal to or higher than 3.5 in the practical components will be considered for the final average. Any lower grade will require the student to retake the corresponding assessment. Assessment tasks or tests graded below 3 are not eligible for recovery, and the course will be automatically failed.

Students who do not complete all scheduled exams or fail to participate in mandatory assessment activities accounting for at least 60% of the final grade will receive the grade “Not Assessable” and will not be allowed to sit the resit exam.

Fieldwork cannot be retaken.

If any irregularity is detected that could significantly alter the grade of an assessment activity, the score for that activity will be 0, regardless of any disciplinary action that may follow. In cases of multiple irregularities within the same course, the final grade will be 0.

This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.

At the time of each assessment activity, students will be informed about the procedure and the date for reviewing grades.

This course does not include a single-assessment option.


Bibliography

Araneda, Edgardo (2002). “Usos de Sistemas de Información Geográficos y análisis espacial en arqueología: Proyecciones y limitacions”. Estudios Atacameños, 22, 59–76.

Ballesteros Arias, Paula; Kirchner, Helena; Eiroa, Jorge; Fernández Mier, Margarita; Ortega Ortega, Julian; Quirós Castillo, José Antonio; Retamero, Fèlix; Sitjes, Eugènia; Torró, Josep; Vigil-Escalera Guirado, Alfonso (2010). "Por una arqueología agraria de las sociedades medievales hispánicas. Propuesta de un protocolo de investigación". En H. Kirchner, ed., Por una arqueología agraria: perspectivas de investigación sobre espacios de cultivo en las sociedades medievales hispánicas. Archeopress, Oxford, p. 185-202.

Baydal, Vicent; Esquilache, Ferran, eds. (2023). La herencia reconstruida. Crecimiento agrario y transformaciones del paisaje tras las conquistas de al-Andalus (siglos XII-XVI). Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana.

Chouquer, Gérard (2015). Les parcellaires médiévaux en Émilie et Romagne. Centuriation et trames coaxiales. París: France Internationale pour l’Expertise Foncière.

Esquilache, Ferran (2018). Els constructors de l’Horta de València. Origen, evolució i estructura social d'una gran horta andalusina entre els segles VIII i XIII. PUV, València.

Fernández Mier, Margarita (2018). "De la Arqueología del paisaje a la Arqueología Agraria". Juan Antonio Quirós Ed. Treinta años de arqueología medieval en España. Archaeopress, Oxford, 225-270.

Kirchner, Helena (2020). "Arqueología del campesinado en época alto medieval. Reflexiones y propuestas". Imago Temporis Medium Aevum, 14, p.462-497.

Lavigne, Cédric (2002). Essai sur la planification agraire au Moyen Age. Ausonius, Burdeus. 

Ligang, C., i Xuben, W. (2014). “GIS for Archaeological data”. International Journal on Smart Sensing and Intelligent Systems, 7(3), p. 1347–1363.

Martín Viso, Iñaki (2025). Las miradas y las prácticas. Perspectivas sobre los paisajes rurales del Occidente medieval. Editorial Universidad de Cadiz, Cadis.

Quirós, J.A. ed. (2016) Social complexity in Early Medieval rural communities. The North-Western Iberia. Archaeopress, Oxford.

Torró, Josep; Guinot, Enric, eds. (2012). Hidráulica agraria y sociedad feudal. Prácticas, técnicas, espacios. PUV, València.

Torró, Josep; Guinot, Enric, eds. (2018). Trigo y ovejas. El impacto de las conquistas en los paisajes andalusíes (siglos XI-XVI). PUV, València.

Vigil, Alfonso et al. (2013). “Horrea, barns and silos. Storage and incomes in Early Medieval Europe. Bilbao”. Documentos de Arqueología Medieval, 5.


Software

No


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(PCAM) Field practices 11 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(PCAM) Field practices 12 Catalan second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan second semester morning-mixed