SPotEU · Sugar Pot manufacture in western Europe in the medieval and post-medieval period (11th-16th centuries AD)

Sugar Pot manufacture in western Europe in the medieval and post-medieval period (11th-16th centuries AD)

Even though nowadays the major part of the sugar from sugar cane is produced in central-south America, in medieval times the sugar industry had a great development in the Mediterranean. There, sugar production and consumption followed the Islamic expansion in the western Mediterranean and had a huge impact on European social, cultural, and economic development. The SPotEU project explores the development and impact of sugar production in Western Europe from the 11th to the 16th century AD from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating archaeological and historical research with material science and material culture approaches. Sugar production required an ‘industrial organisation’ from its cultivation to its processing and knowledge transfer and new technological requirements linked with the production of sugar, from the construction of specific buildings to the manufacture of on-purpose objects. For these reasons, the impact that sugar production had on the formation of modern Europe has become one of the most discussed topics in literature. However, the crucial role that craftspeople had in the success of the process was only marginally tackled. The SPotEU project investigated how potters supplied the specific demands of the sugar industry. They were producing specialised vessels, a sugar cone mould and a molasses collecting jar, used for the crystallization of sugar. Little was known whether this specific ceramic production was occurring nearby sugar installations or vessels were imported from somewhere else; whether potters were applying their know-how or transformed it to produce such specialised vessels; whether common requirements, standards, for the manufacture of these sugar pots were circulating alongside with sugar in the western Mediterranean. This project focuses on the two main regions for sugar production in Western Europe in the 11th-16th centuries AD: modern Sicily and Spain. For this projects sites on the north coast of Sicily (Palermo, Himera and Partinico) and the eastern (Barcelona, Paterna, Gandia, Oliva) and southern (Motril and Granada) part of the Iberian peninsula were investigated. The project's objectives were: 1) to identify sugar pots production sites, reconstructing the exchange networks; 2) to understand the technological strategies adopted by potters in constructing this vessel type compared to other ceramic wares; 3) to investigate continuity and changes in sugar pot manufacture over the 11th-16th centuries in Sicily and Spain; 4) to compare sugar pots produced across the western and eastern Mediterranean regions. As a parallel goal, the fellowship seek to foster the fellow development and her reintegration into the academic system after having had a baby, and the knowledge transfer among researchers in Europe.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз