Jet for personal adornment: black color in Iberian Middle Ages

Abstract

The work analyses the role of the colour black in the Middle Ages on the basis of the study of jet used in personal adornment. It proposes a reconsideration of the status of black as a full colour within the medieval chromatic system, from a perspective that integrates material and symbolic dimensions. Jet, due to its intense blackness, its lustre, and its ease of carving, is configured as a privileged medium for analysing the interaction between colour, material, and meaning in medieval culture. The research is based on documentary and iconographic evidence, and above all on the analysis of what has been found in archaeological sites, especially funerary ones, despite the regulations that promoted austerity. It examines the continuity in the use of black material from Antiquity and its transformation in the medieval period, highlighting its connection with practices of protection, identity, and devotion. It addresses cultural differences in the interpretation of black within the plural reality of the Iberian Peninsula (Christian, Jewish, and Islamic spheres) and underscores its non-universal character.