Cooking and common wares presumably produced regionally are frequent in archaeological context of Late Antique rural sites in northeastern Spain. 142 of these wares from four settlements in the region of Vallès, in the surroundings of the ancient city of Barcino/Barcelona, were characterized through a combination of instrumental analytical techniques (OM, WD-XRF, and XRD), with the aim of investigating their provenance and production technology. The results confirm their regional provenance and suggest a local production of a part of the pottery assemblages, while also provide evidence of at least a secondary micro-regional trade during this period.

Pocas civilizaciones han sido objeto de juicios tan contradictorios como la bizantina. Si para un sector la Roma de Oriente alcanzó altas cotas de esplendor cultural y refinamiento; para otros, encarnó la decadencia del mundo antiguo y buena parte de los estereotipos del medieval. El propio Justiniano, ya en su misma época, fue amado y odiado a partes iguales. Con motivo de las XIX Jornadas de Bizancio (UCM, 24 a 27 de enero de 2022), invitamos a huir de estos juicios pendulares, de estos juegos de espejos cuyos violentos contrastes omiten matices y no reparan en la esencia de un período trascendental en el paso de la Antigüedad a la Edad Media. Para ello, el vestíbulo de la Facultad de Filología de la UCM acoge la exposición temporal “El umbral del imperio. Nuevas miradas a la Hispania bizantina”. A través de una veintena de paneles, el público interesado podrá conocer desde aquellas ciudades que fueron objeto de ocupación bizantina, como el arte o la cultura de la Hispania de los siglos VI y VII. Para ello, se ha contado con la participación activa de investigadores adscritos a más de una decena de universidades, centros de investigación y diversos museos españoles. Dentro de esta misma actividad, distintos expositores dispuestos en el vestíbulo y la biblioteca exhibirán monografías y publicaciones periódicas invitando a conocer un periodo tan apasionante como enigmático.

Rural basilicas are the most important evidence of Christianization of the countryside on the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). Recent investigations of rural landscape transformations suggest that some churches were built along communication routes and linked to preexisting settlements. To obtain new data that could support this hypothesis, a geophysical survey has been carried out at the early Christian complex of Son Peretó, one of the most emblematic sites for the understanding of Late Antiquity on the island. The objective was to better define the site investigating the possible presence of other remains related to the Christian complex, that is undergoing excavation, or to a previous settlement that was later Christianized. The geophysical survey was carried out combining magnetometry and ground‐penetrating radar. For the magnetic investigation, a multiprobe gradiometer array was used. GPR was used to examine the areas nearby the remains already excavated and to better define areas where the magnetic data revealed interesting anomalies. GPR data were collected using an IDS GPR system. The results revealed both the presence of architectural remains beneath the soil that help define the Early Christian complex, as well as other remains that suggest the church was part of a larger settlement.

The excavation of a building in the village of Felanitx in the eastern part of the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands) has revealed the existence of a small necropolis. The inhumations did not provide grave goods except for a bronze belt buckle for which the typological study suggests a Late Antique chronology. The stratigraphical sequence however seems to suggest a possible evolution of the space across time since some graves are cut by others. In order to obtain an absolute date for the necropolis and to verify if there are chronological differences between the graves, a total of 6 human bones samples have been ¹⁴ C dated by AMS. The results of the radiocarbon dating confirm a Late Antique chronology (4th to 7th century AD) for the graves but do not suggest a chronological evolution. Despite the fact that the knowledge of the necropolis is still fragmentary, the results are extremely important because they provide an absolute date for a Late Antique necropolis in the Mallorcan rural area.