Hervé Monchot
Research program: From One Religion to Another: Continuity and Change of Food Practices in the Mediterranean World Before and After the Advent of Islam
Address: Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
Centre de Recherche Jaussen & Savignac
Institut d’Art et d’Archéologie
3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paris
Address: Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
Centre de Recherche Jaussen & Savignac
Institut d’Art et d’Archéologie
3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paris
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Books by Hervé Monchot
The confrontation of literary sources and archaeological data is important to try altogether to understand the implementation of dietary prohibitions peculiar to a religion, the limits of the practice of dietary prohibitions and their evolution over time. Food prohibitions and restrictions on commensality allow different religious groups to draw a line between 'them' and 'us'. The body of normative texts pertaining to religious and civil laws prohibiting the consumption of particular foods has often been studied for Judaism or Islam, less often for polytheisms, Zoroastrianism or Christianity. We intend to present the normative literature and to reflect on the limits of its implementation, relying on archaeozoology that can provide data on the discrepancy between norm and practice.
Les investigations ont permis de reconnaître neuf phases d’occupation ou de construction sur le site, de recueillir un abondant mobilier (céramique, empreintes de sceau, matériel faunique, industrie lithique, petit mobilier, blocs décorés ou épigraphiés, statues) et de nombreuses données stratigraphiques.
Dans cet ouvrage, chaque spécialiste présente les données brutes de ses recherches, données dont l’interprétation et la synthèse permettent de retracer les étapes de l’évolution du secteur sud-ouest du téménos d’Amon à Karnak, depuis sa première occupation au début du Moyen Empire, jusqu’à l’époque moderne.
Papers by Hervé Monchot
The confrontation of literary sources and archaeological data is important to try altogether to understand the implementation of dietary prohibitions peculiar to a religion, the limits of the practice of dietary prohibitions and their evolution over time. Food prohibitions and restrictions on commensality allow different religious groups to draw a line between 'them' and 'us'. The body of normative texts pertaining to religious and civil laws prohibiting the consumption of particular foods has often been studied for Judaism or Islam, less often for polytheisms, Zoroastrianism or Christianity. We intend to present the normative literature and to reflect on the limits of its implementation, relying on archaeozoology that can provide data on the discrepancy between norm and practice.
Les investigations ont permis de reconnaître neuf phases d’occupation ou de construction sur le site, de recueillir un abondant mobilier (céramique, empreintes de sceau, matériel faunique, industrie lithique, petit mobilier, blocs décorés ou épigraphiés, statues) et de nombreuses données stratigraphiques.
Dans cet ouvrage, chaque spécialiste présente les données brutes de ses recherches, données dont l’interprétation et la synthèse permettent de retracer les étapes de l’évolution du secteur sud-ouest du téménos d’Amon à Karnak, depuis sa première occupation au début du Moyen Empire, jusqu’à l’époque moderne.
Depuis 2009, la mission archéologique maroco-française mène des recherches interdisciplinaires sur le site montagnard d'Igîlîz (1354 m, Anti-Atlas, Maroc) implanté à 1354 m d'altitude en connexion avec des enquêtes ethnobotaniques sur les pratiques agro-pastorales dans les villages voisins. Les datations au radiocarbone calibrées indiquent des occupations entre le entre le X e et le XVI e-XVII e siècle, mais le site est principalement habité au XI e-XIII e siècle, notamment lors des débuts du mouvement almohade, dont il constitue l'épicentre. Les restes carbonisés de bois, graines et fruits découverts dans le site attestent 96plantes dont 18 de culture (céréales, légumineuses, légumes, aromatiques, fruitiers) et les plus anciens témoins matériels de l’utilisation de l’arganier (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels). A côté d’une polyculture exprimée par le spectre des plantes cultivées, les résultats montrent qu’il était alors à la base de l’économie vivrière et du système agro-sylvo-pastoral de la montagne. Dans le paysage actuel local, l’arganeraie est réduite à une steppe arborée. Selon le mode d’exploitation des arbres, leur architecture est très variable : arbres abroutis ou élagués dans les parcours pastoraux, entretenus, taillés, irrigués, fumés ou non dans les espaces cultivés. Les résultats bioarchéologiques suggèrent que l’arganeraie médiévale devait être plus diversifiée tout en étant exploitée pour le combustible, le bâti, le fourrage et l’huile.
Archaeobotanical research on the medieval argan forest in the Îgîlîz Mountain (Anti-Atlas, Morocco)
Abstract
Since 2009, a Moroccan and French archaeological mission developed an interdisciplinary research on the mountain site of Îgîlîz (1354 m a.s.l., Anti Atlas Morocco) in connexion with ethnobotanical survey on current farming practices in the neighbouring villages. The calibrated radiocarbon dates indicate a probable age for the occupation ranging from the 10th to the 16th-17th centuries A.D. However, the site was mainly inhabited during the 12th-13th century AD., particularly during the early Almohad era, as epicenter of the Almohad movement A plant inventory of 96 taxa was recorded from the archaeobotanical remains, including 18 cultivated tree and herbaceous plants (cereals, pulses, vegetables, condiments and fruit trees) with the earliest evidence of the use of argan tree (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels). Charred wood and seeds of argan tree predominated in a wide range of contexts, indicating the major and staple role of this species in the medieval economy. Nowadays, the argan tree is the key element of a wooded-steppe. According to the mode of operation of the trees, tree architecture is very variable browsed and pruned trees in rangelands, maintained, pruned, irrigated, fertilized or not in cultivated areas. The bioarchaeological results suggest that the medieval argan woodland should be more diversified than at present, while being exploited for fuel, homebuilding, forage and oil.
Keywords : Archaeobotany, Middle Ages - Almohad period, agro-sylvodiversity, argan forest, Mountains
Quid novum ad mensam hodie? So what was the menu when a traveler arrived after a long journey? Indeed, if we could stay and sleep in a mansio, we could also find something to eat. This is the question that the archaeozoological study will attempt to answer; it is the study of all the faunal remains that were consumed or at least present in the hostel. The great interest of the mansio of Samra is that it represents a unique structure, away from the village, which was not re-used or modified after its destruction. In addition, all the faunal elements were found in the different loci (rooms) of the building allowing or not to confirm the function of each room (e.g., kitchen, stable).
The archaeozoological study (n = 5081) shows a predominance of caprids (sheep/goat), followed by chicken, pork and beef. While these animals were likely consumed, the presence of some remains of horses, camel, and dog is more equivocal. Gazelle, hare, ostrich, fishes and seashells were also identified among the bone assemblage. It will be important in future studies to compare the results obtained here with those from Roman levels in the village (e.g., “white” building, or others such as the church) as well as from different periods (Byzantine, Islamic), giving us a clear outline of the evolution of subsistence practices and lifestyle through time.
plusieurs bâtiments de fonctions variées sur le site portuaire médiéval de Qalhât en Oman (12e-16e siècles). Parmi ceux-ci une structure d’habitat (B94), en fait deux maisons accolées présentant chacune plusieurs pièces autour d’une cour, et un étage. Construit au 14e siècle sur l’arase d’un bâtiment antérieur, cet édifice fut occupé jusqu’à l’abandon de la ville dans la seconde moitié du 16e siècle. Il a livré de nombreuses traces d’activité domestiques et artisanales, essentiellement centrées sur la transformation des produits de l’agriculture, de la pêche et de l’élevage. L’analyse détaillée des restes archéobotaniques, archéozoologiques et ichtyologiques apporte des informations très intéressantes sur le quotidien des habitants de la maison, les techniques mises en œuvre et l’économie locale. Associée à l’étude du matériel et notamment des nombreuses céramiques d’importation, elle fournit un aperçu significatif de la vie d’un grand port omanais de l’époque d’Hormuz.
Qalhât was a main Omani coastal city on the Indian Ocean in the 12th to 16th century and several buildings were extensively excavated there in the course of the Qalhât Development Project (2013sq). Among them is house B94, made of two contiguous units with several rooms around a courtyard. B94 was built in the 14th century on the erased level of an earlier building, and it was occupied until the abandonment of the city in the second half of the 16th. It delivered many traces of domestic and craft activities, which are mostly related to the processing of products from agriculture and fishing. The study of archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and ichtyological material brings interesting information as to the daily life of the inhabitants, the local technics and economy of a great harbour of the Hormuz kingdom.
Results of two archaeological field season in the oasis of al-Kharj - Saudi Arabia.
Abstract : Located 30 km south-east from Kabul, in the Lôgar province at an altitude of over 2200 m, the archaeological site of Mes Aynak is directly linked to the exploitation of an ancient copper mine, from the 1 st century AD era to the 7 th -8 th centuries AD, but the oldest mining operations go back at least to the second half of the 1 st millennium BC. The intensive exploitation of the ancient mine seems to coincide with the arrival of the Kouchans and a continuation of the occupation by the Sassanids. The zooarchaeological study showed the presence of a large number of remains of donkeys (Equus asinus). Several individuals were thus thrown into dump areas on the outskirts of residential areas. If donkeys were widely used to transport ore through the site or even goods and people, several indications show that some individuals would have been consumed. Donkeys appear as a key element in the economy of a mining town located in a mountainous region.
Abstract Also known as “Arabian camel”, the dromedary is a true icon within the living mammals in the deserts of Arabia. Its domestication has thus upset the economy of the local Arab tribes, which uses it not only for the consumption of meat and milk, but also as a beast of burden for the transport of goods (incense road, silk road), people and of course for the war. This article aims at a quick overview of its origen and its arrival in the Eurasian world, and its cultural importance within the different civilizations, by insisting on its consumption or not, by confronting particularly the religious and historical textual data and zooarchaeological information.