This is a very interesting book and represents a valuable addition to the Duckworth Debates in Archaeology series. Like the other works in this series, the book is intended to introduce a current debate in archaeology to a broad audience. Boone examines the still relatively young field of the archaeology of al-Andalus, "the brilliant Islamic civilization that rose and fell between the eighth and fifteenth centuries AD" in Spain and Portugal. The debate which is explored in this work has implications far beyond the discipline of archaeology. The Islamic pasts of both Spain and Portugal were, and still are, of central importance to the origin myths of both nations and thus deserve detailed analysis (see, most recently, Simon R. Doubleday & David Coleman, eds. In the Light of Medieval Spain: Islam, the West and the Relevance of the Past. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).
Like Michael Kulikowski's Late Roman Spain and its Cities (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, reviewed in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.07.36: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2005/2005-07-36.html), Boone's work has the particular merit of making available to an English-speaking audience a wealth of recent Spanish-language scholarship. Boone's book is far more than a synthesis of the work of others, however, for the author successfully locates his analysis of several key issues in the study of the archaeology of al-Andalus (chapters 3-5) against a well-drawn historiographical and historical backdrop. At the end of the first chapter (25), Boone explains that the book is intended as an extended introduction to recent and current debates about the transition between late Antiquity and medieval Islamic Spain and Portugal from the perspective of an archaeologist. Despite my generally positive evaluation, there are several problems with the work, particularly with the second and final chapters, which I will outline below.
Chapter 1 ("Debates", 9-26) introduces various recent historical and archaeological theories about the emergence of al-Andalus, the medieval transition in Spain and the vigorous debates which these have generated. Boone begins by explaining the "lost civilization" of the book's title. There are two senses in which we can regard al-Andalus as a "lost civilization". First, the dominant historiographical tradition has privileged the Latin Christian and Gothic tradition from the pre-Islamic period right down to the present day: the Islamic period is seen as a foreign interlude and is thus excluded from national narratives. Second, the Iberian countries are unique because they are the only western European nations with a significant Muslim and Arab past and hence "al-Andalus has remained the subject for specialists in a kind of nether world, neither European nor Middle Eastern" (10). Having established that the Islamic period was lost long ago, Boone proceeds to help us to find it again, guiding us through the development of the national narratives (mainly Spanish) which contributed to its misplacement. The second half of the chapter charts previous efforts to uncover this lost past, starting with the work of Pierre Guichard in the 1970s, moving on to the "medieval transition" and an overview of the most recent historiography on the topic. The treatment of these theories and publications is lucid and well-balanced. I spotted one factual error (12): Isidore of Seville was not responsible for the campaign to convert the Visigoths from Arianism to Nicene Christianity; it was his brother, Leander of Seville, who played a key role in the process.
"The background of Late Antiquity" (27-62), the second chapter, lays out the historical background for the rest of the book. Boone charts the end of Roman Hispania and the establishment and eventual breakdown of the Visigothic kingdom. Several archaeological case studies, focussed upon the different geographical regions of the Iberian Peninsula, succeed in establishing a baseline. For me, this was the weakest chapter of the work, perhaps because it is the period with which I am most familiar and (possibly) with which the author is least familiar. For example, the Visigoths were not one of the several barbarian groups that invaded Spain from Gaul in the early fifth century (27); Pohl and Reimitz are not the originators of ethnogenesis theory, although they are its most influential recent proponents (29); it is highly unlikely that the Byzantine territories extended as far inland as depicted in figure 2.1 (33); whether the seventh century "certainly" represents a cultural low point of the first millennium (61) is questionable, especially in Spain where Isidore and other bishops were busy pumping out writings that had a significant impact in later centuries; and it is debateable whether Justinian intended to reconquer Hispania in totality (61). The observation on p. 46 of an increased movement to upland sites in south eastern Spain could have been reinforced by reference to Karen Carr's study of similar patterns in the Guadalquivir valley (Vandals to Visigoths: Rural Settlement Patterns in Early Medieval Spain. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002, reviewed in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2003.03.01: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2003/2003-03-01.html).
Chapter 3, "The formation of al-Andalus" (63-94), examines what we know about the Arab-Islamic conquest and settlement of al-Andalus. As in the previous chapter, a series of geographically diverse archaeological studies are used to shed new light on the historical consensus. Boone is especially sensitive to the separatist tendencies that promoted regionalism during this formative period and focuses his attention upon rural settlement patterns as these are fundamental to the "debate over the nature of continuity and rupture between the late Roman and the Islamic period" (94).
Chapter 4, "Tribal collectives or feudal lords?" (95-127), surveys the "incastellamento" debate to see what it can tell us about the nature of tribal organization and political leadership in the settlement and organisation of territory in al-Andalus. An archaeology case study methodology is again adopted as a way of critiquing existing theoretical models. Boone begins the chapter by examining the "hisn/qarya" complex as evidence for either tribal or feudal organizational models. He then moves on to look at the social organization of Arab and Berber tribes to see what they can tell us about the settlement and organisation of territory. Archaeological evidence is next related to both the "hisn/qarya" and the tribalism debates. The chapter ends with an exploration of the extent to which feudalism is a useful concept for understanding social and economic relations in al-Andalus, with Boone concluding that it does have some analytical utility.
"Islamization" (128-153), the fifth chapter, problematizes the concept of Islamization for understanding the changes that happened in the first 250 years of Arab rule. Boone demonstrates that Islamization, as it is imagined to have operated in Hispania, is more akin to the process of "Romanization" than a simple process of religious conversion to Muslim norms. Instead, it involves the adoption of a range of lifeways, values and material culture by the local population. This is exemplified effectively through reference to the archaeological record.
Chapter 6, "The transformation of the year 929" (154-160), concludes the work, briefly summarising the main points which were made in the preceding chapters. Boone suggests that the "gradualist" model of transition does not work so well when applied to the period after 929, when a highly centralized Middle Eastern type of polity emerged in Spain. This is in stark contrast to the almost complete decentralization of power and weakening of state power that can be observed elsewhere in northern and western Europe. Boone closes out by suggesting that rather than comparing the Iberian Peninsula with other parts of Europe, it might be more useful to examine conditions there in the light of developments in North Africa. Such an analytical shift would refocus attention upon trans-Saharan trade patterns and issues of both supply and demand in Iberia and North Africa.
The book is competed by a comprehensive bibliography (161-172) and a short index (173-176). The volume contains 25 black and white figures, mainly good quality maps of survey areas. There are quite a few errors of style and spelling (e.g. 34, 35, 41, 49, 52, 71, 89, 102, 154 and 159). This is regrettable because it diverts attention from Boone's thorough analysis.
Notwithstanding the criticisms which I have outlined above, Boone has succeeded in providing a guidebook that will help a lot of people to rediscover the lost civilization of Islamic Iberia. The Duckworth series aims to be accessible to students and researchers alike. In this respect, the book is successful, offering a clear overview of current debates, accompanied by the author's own informed insights and illuminated by his comparative methodology and undoubted mastery of the archaeological evidence.