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New perspectives on the origins of the Saint James cult in Northwestern Spain in relationship with the conflict between Suevi and Visigoths and the unification of Hispania around the year 600 AD.
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Arqueología vs. Historia. Una nueva propuesta para el origen y significado de la Tumba y el culto a Santiago en Compostela (Galicia): I. La llegada de las reliquias en el s. VI, su papel en el conflicto suevo-visigodo, a caballo entre el... more
Arqueología vs. Historia. Una nueva propuesta para el origen y significado de la Tumba y el culto a Santiago en Compostela (Galicia):
I. La llegada de las reliquias en el s. VI, su papel en el conflicto suevo-visigodo, a caballo entre el VI y el VII, y el silencio intencionado de las fuentes visigodas,
II. Los siglos oscuros. De la negación visigoda a la recuperación política de Beato de Liebana. Supervivencia local a través del monacato eremítico y la recobrada independencia del noroeste de Galicia frente a visigodos y musulmanes.
II. Una relectura del redescubrimiento en el siglo IX, en clave de continuidad galaico-sueva. Y, finalmente, el papel de la tumba y la componente galaico-sueva en el origen del reino astur-leonés.
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New perspectives on the origins of Saint James cult in Northwestern Spain in relationship with the conflict between Suevi and Visigoths and the unification of Hispania around the year 600 AD.
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Development of the real time 3-D virtual reality model of the Romanesque stage of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela began in the year 2000. The goal has been to reconstruct the entire Romanesque cathedral at the date of its final... more
Development of the real time 3-D virtual reality model of the Romanesque stage of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela began in the year 2000. The goal has been to reconstruct the entire Romanesque cathedral at the date of its final consecration on April 3, 1211. This and other modeling projects undertaken at UCLA are designed to serve as laboratories for the academic understanding of the architectonic and urban elements under study. Emphasis is on establishing a precise structure, using known data and new studies and measurements we have made, which can serve as an experimental space for testing theories of how the lost elements of the historical site may have worked in the architectonic, urban and topographical spaces under investigation.
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Santiago_de_Compostela._Pilgerarchitektur...Flyer.pdf
Dagenais_et_al._1.pdf
In the form of a brief sketch, we discuss the rupture in the way of understanding and practicing the cult of the remains attributed to the Apostle James the Greater that came about as a result of the construction of the Romanesque... more
In the form of a brief sketch, we discuss the rupture in the way of understanding and practicing the cult of the remains attributed to the Apostle James the Greater that came about as a result of the construction of the Romanesque cathedral of Compostela.  This rupture was reflected in the architectures involved in this cult, but also in the very concept of the nature of the Tomb, which will shift from that of a late-antique “martiryum” to that of a medieval “reliquary.”
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Santiago de Compostela is one of the great pilgrimage basilicas of Europe. Our restoration project shows the building as it appeared when dedicated by Bishop Pedro Muñoz on April 3, 1211 A.D. In addition to restoring the architecture of... more
Santiago de Compostela is one of the great pilgrimage basilicas of Europe. Our restoration project shows the building as it appeared when dedicated by Bishop Pedro Muñoz on April 3, 1211 A.D. In addition to restoring the architecture of the cathedral and placing it within an urban simulation of the town, the project also offers a reconstruction of the songs and sounds typically heard in the building in the thirteenth century.
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"Coins minted in Santiago with the bust of St. James Apostle on the obverse give witness to the influential nature of coinage as a form of artistic expression as well as a reflection of current artistic styles even in seemingly... more
"Coins minted in Santiago with the bust of St. James Apostle on the obverse give witness to
the influential nature of coinage as a form of artistic expression as well as a reflection of
current artistic styles even in seemingly independent forms such as sculpture. In this case we
can detect that influence of Master Mateo and his workshop, contributing a style and level of
artistry superior to that found on other coins of the same period. This coin bears the imprint
of the stylistic advances reflected in the Pórtico de la Gloria of the catedral in Compostela.
The frame of references and influences embraces Compostela and the Anglo-Normand sphere
of the twelfth century with Limoges as a possible point of convergence and the practice of
pilgrimage as the lively channel that facilitated the traffic in coinage and metals between the
Islamic world and northern Europe as the economic backdrop of these relationships."
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ABSTRACT: Documentary and archaeological information lead us to know that the project of building a gothic Chevet for St.James' cathedral ends up converting in several funerary chapels, wich wuould be included in the cemetery of the city.... more
ABSTRACT: Documentary and archaeological information lead us to know that the project of building a gothic Chevet for St.James' cathedral ends up converting in several funerary chapels, wich wuould be included in the cemetery of the city. These chapels constructed the only finished part of the work, thanks to the financing of the true promoter for the new building: the bourgeoisie.
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"El texto trata un acercamiento a la formación del mundo medieval gallego, con el siglo VIII como punto de inflexión, a través de tres lugares comunes de la investigación gallega: las necrópolis, las laudas de doble estola y el yacimiento... more
"El texto trata un acercamiento a la formación del mundo medieval gallego, con el siglo VIII como punto de inflexión, a través de tres lugares comunes de la investigación gallega: las necrópolis, las laudas de doble estola y el yacimiento arqueológico bajo la catedral de Santiago. La dificultad que plantean unas necrópolis de configuración simple y datación imprecisa y en la que conviven continuidad y discontinuidad; la riqueza iconográfica de las cubiertas de sarcófago, poco tenida en cuenta en su contenido estilístico y simbólico; y un santuario cuyos orígenes están marcados por el mito, lo ideológico y una arqueología rica en contenidos, pero técnica y metodológicamente pobre, delinean una compleja convivencia entre la continuidad y el cambio, tanto en lo material como en lo superestructural, para los orígenes de la Galicia medieval.

This paper intends to be an approximation towards the formation of the medieval Galician world, taking the 8th century as inflection point and exploring three common places of the Galician research: necropolis, gravestones with double stole and the archaeological site under the cathedral of Santiago. These three aspects draw a complex coexistence between continuity and change, both material and super structural, for the origins of medieval Galicia. Firstly, the difficulty of understanding necropolis simply configured, imprecisely dated and where continuity and discontinuity coexist with each other. Secondly, the iconographic richness of the sarcophagi’s lids, with a stylistic and symbolic content hardly taken into account. And thirdly, a sanctuary whose origins are determined by the myth, the ideology and an archaeology full of contents but technical and methodological poor."
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Un elemento imprescindible do noso Trega é o museo arqueolóxico, que abriu as súas portas un 10 de xuño de 1917, hai xa cen anos. Por tal motivo, este ano 2017, celebrámolo con distintas actividades, entre as que destaca a exposición... more
Un elemento imprescindible do noso Trega é o museo arqueolóxico, que
abriu as súas portas un 10 de xuño de 1917, hai xa cen anos. Por tal motivo,
este ano 2017, celebrámolo con distintas actividades, entre as que destaca a
exposición “viaxando pola historia. Cen anos do MASAT”, a cal pretende
homenaxear e dar a coñecer unha das nosas institucións máis salientables,
o Museo Arqueolóxico do Monte Santa Trega (MASAT).
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Una reinterpretacion de un elemento de la plastica de la Edad del Hierro en el NO de la Peninsula Iberica.
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First introduction of a group of architectural structures and artistic expressions that made singular the Monte do Facho Hillfort, where both elements are combined to create a cultual and ritual space. A feature that seems applicable to... more
First introduction of a group of architectural structures and artistic expressions that made singular the Monte do Facho Hillfort, where both elements are combined to create a cultual and ritual space. A feature that seems applicable to the Hillfort as a whole.
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"Die Feldforschung, die dem Heiligtum des deus lar Berobreus auf dem Monte do Facho/Leuchtfeuerberg in Galicien/Spanien galt, fand in den Jahren 2003 bis 2005 und nochmals kurz 2006 statt, die Publikation ist in Vorbereitung, so dass der... more
"Die Feldforschung, die dem Heiligtum des deus lar Berobreus auf dem Monte do Facho/Leuchtfeuerberg in Galicien/Spanien galt, fand in den Jahren 2003 bis 2005 und nochmals kurz 2006 statt, die Publikation ist in Vorbereitung, so dass der vorstehende.
Die folgenden drei Abschnitte gelten der Gestalt des Heiligtums im Allgemeinen (I) sowie den Weihaltären im Besonderen (II), die anhand der von Jörg Rüpke dargelegten Aspekte betrachtet werden sollen (III)".
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Romische_Weihealtare_im_Kontext.pdf
14-Schattner-Otero-Koch.pdf
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Sumario: La reaparición de una pequeña hacha de la Edad del Bronce nos permite reencontrarnos con la obra y la metodología de Luís Monteagudo, y elaborar una lectura tipológica de la pieza que va más allá de lo formal. Una tipología... more
Sumario: La reaparición de una pequeña hacha de la Edad del Bronce nos permite reencontrarnos con la obra y la metodología de Luís Monteagudo, y elaborar una lectura tipológica de la pieza que va más allá de lo formal. Una tipología escasa y disonante en el NO, pero no así en el ámbito cultural argárico del Sureste, que apunta posibles influencias externas de origen mediterráneo (ca.1800-1500 BC). Hachas de tipo argárico que parecen relacionarse con un espacio metalúrgico diferenciado en torno a las Rías Baixas gallegas, tipológicamente diverso en un acusadamente homogéneo Noroeste hispánico. Un espacio marcadamente costero que coincide con un área de depósitos de estaño abundantes y de fácil acceso y que apunta una posible relación con la explotación y distribución del mismo, clave, además, en el momento de despegue de la metalurgia del bronce. Esa conexión con la cultura argárica abre el camino hacia el mediterráneo para el estaño gallego y, como ya Luís Monteagudo había propuesto, lo introduce en el debate sobre su presencia en el Mediterráneo oriental.
Abstract: The reappearance of a small Bronze Age axe allows us to reengage with Luís Monteagudo's work and methodology, and develop a typological reading of the piece that goes beyond the conventional. A limited and dissonant typology in the NO, but not as it the Argaric cultural sphere of the Southeast, points to possible external influences of Mediterranean origin (ca. 1800-1500 BC). Argaric axes that appear to be connected with a distinct metallurgical space around the Galician Rias Baixas, typologically diverse in a strikingly homogenous Iberian Northwest. A markedly coastal space that coincides with an area of easily accessible and abundant tin deposits, points to a possible relation with the extraction and distribution of the same, essential, besides, in the initiation of bronze metallurgy. This connection with the Argaric Culture paves the way towards the Mediterranean for the Galician tin and, as Luis Monteagudo had proposed, introduces it in the debate about its presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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Breve revisión de dous achádegos metálicos do Bronce Final na Ría de Vigo (Galicia): as orixes dos machados de tope e a conformación de grandes depósitos de machados-Lingote.
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Hom_Luzon_Suarez_Otero.pdf
JoseSuarezOtero.PDF
An old and previously unknown photograph allows us to rediscover a missing bronze spearhead found in the late nineteenth century on a site dubbed “Castro Nemenzo”, a poetic name created by Eduardo Pondal for an Iron Age hill fort located... more
An old and previously unknown photograph allows us to rediscover a missing bronze spearhead found in the
late nineteenth century on a site dubbed “Castro Nemenzo”, a poetic name created by Eduardo Pondal for an
Iron Age hill fort located at an unspecified site somewhere in the northwestern tip of Galicia. Its dimensions and
form make this spearhead a scarce and interesting exemplar of weapons assignable to the beginning of the Late
Bronze Age in northwest Iberia and also makes clear its filiation with Atlantic metallurgy, probably a specific
British or Irish concept, spearheads with a rapier-shaped blade.
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Abstract: In this article we discuss a Late Bronze Age spearhead from Galicia's mountainous interior. It demonstrates a strong regional identity in the bronze metalwork production of the Iberian Northwest, but at the same time also... more
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In this article we discuss a Late Bronze Age spearhead from Galicia's mountainous interior. It demonstrates a strong regional identity in the bronze metalwork production of the Iberian Northwest, but at the same time also exemplifies close links with the British Isles. Its nonfunctional character points at a likely ritual use of this piece. This rituality seems to be linked to passage areas or natural boundaries, hence ultimately to the movement of people and objects, but also to potential cultural and territorial fragmentation.
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—Mámoa 87th of Serra Faladora: A megalithic mound from the extreme North of Galicia (NW. Spain)— The outstanding work of survey and digging accomplished by the late F. Maciñeira in the first decades of the XXth century was unfortunately... more
—Mámoa 87th of Serra Faladora: A megalithic mound from the extreme North of Galicia (NW. Spain)—
The outstanding work of survey and digging accomplished by the late F. Maciñeira in the first decades of the XXth century was unfortunately not continued until recent years, when new excavations with a modern methodology, together with a reappraisal of the materials recovered by Maciñeira are throwing new light to the character of the megalithic burial in the far North of Galicia. In this paper we are dealing with the analysis of the artefacts found in the mound 87th of Serra Faladora, which in spite of its ruinous condition at the time of Maciñeira's discovery might be possibly ciassified under the iabel of passage grave, though with some remarkable features like the extreme eccentricity of the chamber and the presence of a pit dug into the bedrock under the mound and filled with stones and earth with traces of fire (fig. 2A). The material items found in the disturbed chamber are very much in agreement with the typical set of Galician megalithic grave goods: ground stone axes, flint blades and pottery with simple forms and no decoration (figs. 3-6). However , the mound 87th detaches itself from the local pattern because of the number and variety of goods which is larger than usual. At the samentime, other features, like the absence of arrowheads, are in full agreement with the pattern in the northern area of Galicia. In all, the mound 87th seems to reflect, with some local traits, the spread of more elaborate forms of megalithic burial in vast areas of the Northwest of the Iberian
peninsula around the middie of the 3rd millenium B.C.
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Galician Neolithic has not been an object of research until recent times. Paleoenvironmental evidence detects episodes of forest depletion from the V millenium onwards, and the presence of cereal pollen later on. Cattle raising appears... more
Galician Neolithic has not been an object of research until recent times. Paleoenvironmental evidence detects episodes of forest depletion from the V millenium onwards, and the presence of cereal pollen later on. Cattle raising appears still later but the complexity of this practice attests to an earlier origin. The pottery found in Neolithic sites shows both Atlantic and Mediterranean features in shapes and decorations. On the whole, the available data point towards forms of slash and burn agriculture (with cereal growing alongside with Brassica) combined with husbandry, and a mobile pattern of settlement.
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Galician Neolithic has not been an object of research until recent times. Paleoenvironmental evidence detects episodes of forest depletion from the V millenium onwards, and the presence of cereal pollen later on. Cattle raising appears... more
Galician Neolithic has not been an object of research until recent times. Paleoenvironmental evidence detects episodes of forest depletion from the V millenium onwards, and the presence of cereal pollen later on. Cattle raising appears still later but the complexity of this practice attests to an earlier origin. The pottery found in Neolithic sites shows both Atlantic and Mediterranean features in shapes and decorations. On the whole, the available data point towards forms of slash and burn agriculture (with cereal growing alongside with Brassica) combined with husbandry, and a mobile pattern of settlement.
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Catálogo de la exposición temporal que conmemoró los 100 años del Museo Arqueológico de Santa Trega (A Guarda, Pontevedra), 1917-2017.
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"In the historical course of Santiago de Compostela there are outstanding gaps and absences, forgotten places hidden in the embankments of History. This book seeks to return to the city one such absent landscape: the Castle of A Rocha... more
"In the historical course of Santiago de Compostela there are outstanding gaps and absences, forgotten places hidden in the embankments of History. This book seeks to return to the city one such absent landscape: the Castle of A Rocha Forte. For two centuries, between mid-13th and mid-15th century, Santiago boasted a formidable fortress, the biggest in the Kingdom of Galicia and among the most spectacular in the Iberian Peninsula. An imposing building, the archbishop’s dwelling, an impregnable stronghold, a true fortified city… A Rocha Forte was many things, but first and foremost, a key site in the struggle for power in the Late Middle Ages between the city councillors and the archbishops".
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Archaeological research on the Tomb ascribed to the Apostle James began more than one hundred years ago. Focused initially on the tomb, archaeology allows us to perceive a long and complex historical process that begins at the end of the... more
Archaeological research on the Tomb ascribed to the Apostle James began more than one hundred years ago. Focused initially on the tomb, archaeology allows us to perceive a long and complex historical process that begins at the end of the first century AD with a small cemetery markedly Roman in character. This site was revived in Late Antiquity, at the end of the third century, to be transformed in the sixth century into a cemetery based on an important grouping of stone sarcophagi with decorated covers. This cemetery is the first clear indication of Christianization and seems not to have lasted beyond the beginning of the seventh century. The second part of this history corresponds to the "discovery of the Tomb" at the beginning of the ninth century and its consequences in the following centuries. The archaeological reading suggests some beginnings linked to the recovery of the enclave across the eighth century, before to convert it into a monastic-martyrial sanctuary dedicated to the cult of St. James Tomb, first, and in the great Cathedral-Sanctuary of Pilgrimage, later.
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La iglesia de Santa María Salomé es una de las pequeñas iglesias parroquiales que al lado de los grandes edificios, como el conjunto catedralicio, monasterios y conventos, definen el rico y complejo entramado eclesiástico y artístico de... more
La iglesia de Santa María Salomé es una de las pequeñas iglesias parroquiales que al lado de los grandes edificios, como el conjunto catedralicio, monasterios y conventos, definen el rico y complejo entramado eclesiástico y artístico de Santiago de Compostela. Menos tenidas en cuenta, especialmente por su tamaño, frente a la imponencia de los grandes edificios compostelanos, esconden, sin embargo, verdaderas joyas artísticas, en forma de capillas, retablos, orfebrería, así como también un papel relevante en la historia de la ciudad, particularmente en clave interna. Sobre los recientes e importantes hallazgos en Santa María Salomé versará la conferencia del profesor José Suárez Otero, con el título: “Secretos de la Compostela medieval: el enigmático claustro de Santa María Salomé”.
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Salome._Resumen.pdf
Cartel_conferencia_Secretos_de_la_Compostela_medieval.pdf
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Lecture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, november 14, 2010). Updated english version of: SUÁREZ OTERO, J. (1999), La Tumba de Santiago, entre la Fe y la Arqueología, in VV.AA., Compostela na Historia. Redescubrimento-... more
Lecture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, november 14, 2010). Updated english version of: SUÁREZ OTERO, J. (1999), La Tumba de Santiago, entre la Fe y la Arqueología, in VV.AA., Compostela na Historia. Redescubrimento- rexurdimento (Santiago), 15- 22."
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Tras una obligada introducción historiográfica, se repasa la secuencia del yacimiento excavado bajo la catedral de Santiago de Compostela, para finalmente estudiar las posibilidades de reconstrucción de las basílicas de San Paio y San... more
Tras una obligada introducción historiográfica, se repasa la secuencia del yacimiento excavado bajo la catedral de Santiago de Compostela, para finalmente estudiar las posibilidades de reconstrucción de las basílicas de San Paio y San Salvador de Antealtares durante los siglos IX y X.
This year marks the holy year of Santiago de Compostela, when the Feast Day of Saint James the Greater—July 25—falls on a Sunday. This program revisits the magnificent Romanesque structure with a virtual presentation reconstructing the... more
This year marks the holy year of Santiago de Compostela, when the Feast Day of Saint James the Greater—July 25—falls on a Sunday. This program revisits the magnificent Romanesque structure with a virtual presentation reconstructing the Romanesque Cathedral, related talks, and a musical feast including pieces from the famed Codex Calixtinus performed by the group Lionheart. Welcome and introduction by Roberto Varela Fariña, Conselleiro de Cultura e Turismo, Xunta de Galicia and Ignacio Santos Cidrás, Director-Xerente da S.A. de Xestión do Plan Xacobeo.
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Christianity, History, Cultural History, Archaeology, Art History, and 43 more
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First introduction of a group of architectural structures and artistic expressions that made singular the Monte do Facho Hillfort, where both elements are combined to create a cultual and ritual space. A feature that seems applicable to... more
First introduction of a group of architectural structures and artistic expressions that made singular the Monte do Facho Hillfort, where both elements are combined to create a cultual and ritual space. A feature that seems applicable to the Hillfort as a whole.
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Recientes trabajos en la protohistoria del Noroeste han puesto al descubierto una fenomenología de las formas de culto que parece estar en contradicción con las informaciones que sobre la religión galaica teníamos hasta ahora.
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En este trabajo presentamos el último episodio de ocupación y uso de O Facho (Cangas do Morrazo, Pontevedra) que nos remite a uno de sus elementos más emblemáticos: el edificio circular con cúpula situado en la cumbre, puesto de... more
En este trabajo presentamos el último episodio de ocupación y uso de O Facho (Cangas do Morrazo, Pontevedra) que nos remite a uno de sus elementos más emblemáticos: el edificio circular con cúpula situado en la cumbre, puesto de vigilancia militar en uso en el siglo XVIII y la primera mitad del XIX. Pero, también a un despoblado en la base del monte, la antigua aldea de Punxeiro, que existe desde fines del siglo XVI hasta inicios del XIX, y estrechamente relacionada con el edificio circular con cúpula y sus funciones. La base de esta presentación serán las estructuras y materiales puestos al descubierto en las intervenciones arqueológicas realizadas en el monte desde 2003 a 2008, en una propuesta de acercamiento arqueológico al mundo rural gallego del Antiguo Régimen.
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