Stone projectiles from the siege of Alcalá la Vieja (Spain) and likely trebuchet placement

Investigations of the siege of Islamic Alcalá la Vieja (Madrid, Spain) by Christian forces in the 12th century ce have depended on secondary sources proven to be unreliable and error‐laden. In a search for possible locations of trebuchets used by the Christian attackers, the option was for an interd...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeometry 2020-10, Vol.62 (5), p.904-916
Main Authors: Galán, M. Ramírez, Galán, M. Benítez
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
12th century
Archaeology
battlefield archaeology
Battlefields
Geographic information systems
geographical information systems
Middle Ages
physical calculations
Physics
Spain
Spatial analysis
stone projectiles
trebuchets
Weapons
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Summary:Investigations of the siege of Islamic Alcalá la Vieja (Madrid, Spain) by Christian forces in the 12th century ce have depended on secondary sources proven to be unreliable and error‐laden. In a search for possible locations of trebuchets used by the Christian attackers, the option was for an interdisciplinary approach combining elements from archaeology, physics and spatial analysis. The discovery of stone projectiles near the Islamic fortress allowed for the application of projectile physics to the calculation of several effective firing ranges for each stone. Those outcomes, in combination with geographical information system (GIS) data, have revealed a possible location where Christian forces could have effectively deployed hybrid trebuchets as siege engines.
ISSN:0003-813X
1475-4754
DOI:10.1111/arcm.12578