Session: #245

Discussion session: session with pre-circulated papers

The development of preventive archaeology in Europe since the 1990s has made it possible to take better account of the archaeological heritage and has contributed to a renewal of knowledge, particularly for medieval urban society. Among these remains, our present city centres sometimes deliver the remains in connection with ancient Jewish communities, especially cemeteries. The discovery of these structures is relatively rare in Europe and should be considered as an exceptional opportunity to acquire new data other than those from textual, iconographic or museographic sources. However, the uncovering of historic Jewish tombs entails significant constraints, including the reaction of some of the most extremist Jewish groups and authorities. In fact, under the pretext of Jewish laws, they oppose all forms of archaeological intervention on their ancestors, contravening the current cultural heritage laws of each country. We might also discuss the management of these human remains; focus on research, heritage and tourist possibilities among others.
This session is therefore intended to analyze known and recent archaeological works on Jewish medieval cemeteries in Europe. The objective is to present the site (location, excavated area, number of tombs, funerary and chronological features, anthropological studies, etc.), the constraints encountered with local Jewish communities and the different ways of disseminating data and promoting this urban religious heritage (exhibitions, conferences, publications, museum space, etc.).

Jewish, cemeteries, medieval, research, valorization

yes

no

no

Mr. Philippe Blanchard (France) ^1,2,3

Prof. Arturo Ruiz Taboada (Spain) ⁴
Mr. Xavier Maese Fidalgo (Spain) ⁵