Considering peasant agency in the Early Middle Ages. A diachronic analysis of the archaeological record in Central Portugal Catarina Tente Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal Sara Prata Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal This is a section of Local Societies and Peasantry Agencies in Medieval Iberia(DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0562-7) by Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo Firenze University Press Florence 2024 https://doi.org/10.36253/979-12-215-0562-7.05

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This paper analyses archaeological data on early medieval rural communities through the lens of peasant agency. Over the last 15 years systematic research has been carried out in different territories of the Portuguese inland, mainly in the centre-north of the country. Here we will be focusing on the areas for which we currently have more detailed evidence, Alto Alentejo and Beira Alta, and consider a broad chronological frame, between the 5th and the 11th centuries. However, the information available for the two territories is uneven, and it is not yet possible to offer a continuous chronological sequence in either of these areas. For this reason, we will analyse the available data collectively and from a comparative perspective. In both cases we will start by considering the new rural settlement networks that emerged from the 5th century onwards. Evidence of peasant communities in Alto Alentejo is clearer for the 6th/7th centuries, and in Beira Alta for the 10th/11th. Both are critical moments in the political sphere, coinciding with the emergence and affirmation of new administrative structures, but also necessary power vacuums where local powers emerge. By comparing the material record of peasant groups, we will reassess agricultural production, management of natural resources, artefact production, trade networks, and funerary areas, as arenas to discuss the notion of peasant agency.

 Early Middle Ages Peasant Agency Archaeology Alto Alentejo Beira Alta Social conflict rural communities

It is available online at https://doi.org/10.36253/979-12-215-0562-7.05

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