Materiales y técnicas constructivas en la Murcia andalusí (siglos x-xiii)

Abstract

The evolution of the materials and building techniques of the andalusian city of Murcia between the 9th and 13th centuries are here studied, mainly based on the new information provided by the numerous archaeological excavations that have been carried out in the city for the last thirty years, related especially to residential architecture. After its accuracy analysis, some differences between the buildings techniques manufactured in the 10th and 11th centuries and those later attributed to 12th and 13th centuries have been identified, being thus highly important to describe them by remarking at the same time those distinguishing features. Problems related to the absolute chronology of these building techniques are also discussed, highlighting the definitive information currently known. With the main aim of analysing how general these remarks are or, on the contrary, if they depend on the regionalization phenomenon characterizing the andalusian recording material, we will compare the information obtained in Murcia with those coming from other andalusian sites, located these far away from the studied area. Finally, we will check if there are differences between the rural and urban environments by comparing the materials and building techniques recorded in two coetaneous sites in Murcia, both sited close to the same river Segura and 40 km distant from each other: the city of Murcia (a large madîna) and the deserted settlement of Siyâsa (a hisn).