The Imaginary House: Uprooting and Treethrow Hollows in Open-Air Settlements from the Late Prehistory

Tree-throw hollows are on the commonest features founded in archaeological sites. Its origin could be either natural causes, the death and fall of a tree, or anthropogenic, related to the clearance of the forest. In recent times, radiocarbon dating has meant a breakthrough in the cultural definition of archaeological background in late prehistoric open air-settlements from north-western Iberia. However, some C14 dating has been validated without assessing the consistency between the results and the events they were intended to date. The aim of this work is deciphering chronological errors based in 1) a misinterpretation of some late prehistoric dwellings in NW Iberian Peninsula, and 2) an inadequate methodology of recovering of archaeobotanical remains used for radiocarbon dates. The reinterpretation of some archaeological features as three-throw hollows can shed light on this problem and push us to reconsider the theories about the domestic spaces of the Northwestern Iberia.Los hoyos ocasionados por la caída de árboles son uno de los edaforrasgos más comunes en los suelos. Su origen puede ser tanto natural, la muerte y caída de un árbol, como antropogénico, relacionado con la tala del bosque. Este tipo de estructuras se han encontrado en varios yacimientos del Noroeste ibérico en las últimas décadas, pero han sido entendidas como fondos de cabaña. Además, la investigación reciente no ha tenido en cuenta las incoherencias entre sus dataciones de C14 y los eventos que supuestamente fechan. El objetivo de este trabajo es abordar los errores basados en una interpretación equivocada de los hoyos provocados por la caída de árboles y en una metodología inadecuada en la recuperación de los restos arqueobotánicos utilizados en la datación radiocarbónica. Reexaminar estos rasgos arqueológicos puede arrojar luz sobre las evidencias de deforestación y empujarnos a reconsiderar las teorías sobre la construcción de los espacios domésticos en el Noroeste ibérico

Archaeobotanical analysis in sedimentation deposits of Roman and Medieval pits in caves of NW Iberia. Cova do Xato and Cova Eirós (Lugo, Galicia, Spain)

The charcoal analysis results of the firewood consumption, as well as the carpological ones of seeds and fruits, in two caves with roman and medieval levels located in the eastern part of the Lugo province (Galicia), NW Iberia, are analyzed. The results arise from the anthropic exploitation of occasional or permanent sites situated in not very populated areasOcupaciones humanas durante el Pleistoceno en la cuenca media del Miño (HUM/2007-63662), and Poblamiento durante el Pleistoceno Medio/Holoceno en las comarcas orientales de Galicia (HAR2010-21786). Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónS

The introduction and spread of rye (Secale cereale) in the Iberian Peninsula

Some of the earliest Western European macroremains of rye (Secale cereale) have been recently recovered in Northwest Iberia. However, the chronological and cultural contexts of these remains have not been yet exhaustively analysed. To address this gap of research, previous and unpublished assemblages have been reviewed and analysed through an analytical set of methods: biometry, radiocarbon dates and integrating the remains of rye in the broad archaeobotanical record of the region. Results show the earliest macroremains of rye in the Iberian Peninsula date to a period between the 3rd century and the first half of the 1st century BCE. Rye was usually found in assemblages dominated by spelt and other cereals, in whose fields it was likely acting as a weed. There is no record of rye for about the two following centuries, after which it is probably reintroduced, now as a crop. It is found in several sites from the 3rd-4th centuries CE onwards, suggesting it is a staple crop as in other regions in Europe. Significant differences in grain size are only recorded in a 10th-11th century settlement, suggesting few changes in grain morphometry before Medieval times.Work co-funded by the project NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). LS was financially supported by a PhD grant (Norte-08-5369-FSE000057) from the University of Porto (Faculty of Sciences) and the European Social Fund, through the North Portugal Regional Operational Program “Norte 2020”, under the announcement “Aviso Norte-69-2015-15-Formação Avançada (Programas Doutorais)”. MMS was funded by the Beatriz Galindo program as Junior Distinguished Researcher (BG20/00076). JPT was supported by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and under the scope of the project B-ROMAN (PTDC/HAR-ARQ/4909/2020), funded by national funds through FCT. ATB was awarded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 (REA grant agreement ID:101018935). Radiocarbon dates from Crestuma were obtained with the financial support of Gaia Biological Park (Parque Biológico de Gaia) under the scope of Crestuma Castle project (Programa de Investigação Arqueológica e Valorização Cultural do Complexo Arqueológico do Castelo de Crestuma – Vila Nova de Gaia). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Gone with the wind: huts or tree wind-throws at Late Prehistoric open-air settlements of NW Iberia

Until the 80’s of the 20th century, the archaeological research from Neolithic to Bronze Age in NW Iberia was focused on burial sites and rock art. Since then, several research projects and rescue excavations brought new data on housing and domestic contexts during Late Prehistory. In some of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age open-air settlements studied, together with pits, post holes, hut floors and anthropic hedges, excavations have been recorded oval or circular hollows measuring 1.9 to 3.5 metres wide and 1metre of depth, usually with an irregular section. These have been considered huts remains built on perishable materials. These structures were commonly filled with two different deposits, an organic and dark brownish layer, and another light and inorganic. From the organic deposits there has been recovered a high concentration of fungal sclerotia that have a symbiotic relationship with roots of trees or bushes. Finally, we would like to highlight that inside these openings are uncommon archaeological evidences, such as sherds or lithic artefacts. The morphology of the hollows and the lack of archaeological evidences related to these structures, together with the repeated absence of hearths inside them or in their immediate surroundings, lead us to question their anthropic origin. For that reason, new interpretations must be proposed. In fact, in terms of sedimentological events, there is a great similarity between these structures and natural features, such as wind-throw hollows (Dziegielewski 2007; Goldberg and Macphail 2006; Langohr 1993). The archaeobotanical assemblages recovered from these contexts, also can provide valuable information to interpret them as natural features and to understand the natural processes involved in their formation (Schiffer 1987). There have been developed sedimentological and archaeobotanical studies of samples recovered from hollows related to tree wind-throws. Their results have been compared to the supposed anthropogenic contexts. The distinction between natural and anthropic features in these open-air settlements is crucial to avoid any interpretative distortions of these contexts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Forest resource management during Roman and Medieval cave occupations in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula: Cova do Xato and Cova Eirós (Galicia, Spain)

References to the existence of historic remains in NW Iberian caves are frequent. However, archaeological research tends to focus on the search for evidence of older occupations, with little attention given to these historic levels. The aim of this article is to present the results of archaeobotanical analysis (charcoal analysis and carpology) from two caves in the eastern mountains of the province of Lugo – Cova do Xato and Cova Eirós – to determine the management of forest resources by the different communities living in themThis work was funded by the projects Human settlements during the Pleistocene period in the middle basin of the river Miño (HUM/2007-63662), Settlements during the Middle Pleistocene/Holocene in the eastern regions of Galicia (HAR2010-21786) and Design and development of a data model for an archaeological SPI during the Galician Iron Age (09SEC002CT). ALH has been supported by a pre-doctoral grant from the Atapuerca FoundationS

Shared technologies for pottery and acorns processing? Multidisciplinary and functional approach to modular kilns

This paper deals with the so-called modular kilns, ceramic structures characteristic of the Bronze and Iron Age periods in various regions of Europe. Despite the interest shown in these material forms in recent years, their exact function is still unclear. However, the dominant interpretation within archaeological research has tended to associate them with pottery production. While this hypothesis has been based mainly on macro-observations derived from settlement surveys and excavations, our aim is to go further by exploring through a material- analytical approach. A set of samples from the sites of A Fontela and Castromao, in northwestern Iberia, have been analysed using a set of methods (mineralogical, geochemical, archaeobotanical and organic chemical) to evaluate the hypotheses on production and use. Although the samples share a similar morphology and tech- nology, the analytical results reveal differences in the manufacturing processes between the two sites studied. Local clays, crop by-products and wild plants from the surrounding areas were used in the modelling, but with different purposes. In some cases, cereal chaff was added as a temper. Organic-chemical analysis revealed traces of oils of vegetal origin, with high levels of C18:1 fatty acid (probably mostly oleic acid) and its degradation products, together with phytosterols, such as β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and δ-5-avenasterol. The organic compounds are compatible with the processing or culinary transformation of acorns, that appeared persistently in hearths, pots, and storage structures during Late Prehistory in the regio

Legislative Documents

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Baso barruan eta kanpoan. Prunus avium/cerasus kudeaketa Erromatar eta Erdi Aroan NW iberiarrean

[ES] Este texto versa sobre el consumo de los frutos de Prunus avium/cerasus en el Noroeste ibérico. Los restos carpológicos estudiados proceden de cuatro yacimientos arqueológicos. Mientras que uno de ellos es un asentamiento de época romana, los tres restantes son medievales, de los cuales dos se encuentran en un contexto urbano. El principal objetivo es desarrollar una hipótesis de partida sobre la gestión del bosque y la forma en la que se perciben y usan los árboles con frutos en esta región durante ese tiempo.[EN] This paper deals with consumption of fruits of Prunus avium/cerasus in northwestern Iberia during historical period. The carpological remains studied have been obtained from four archaeological sites. While one of them is a Roman settlement, the remaining three are Medieval sites, two of which are in an urban context. Our main purpose is to develop an initial hypothesis on forest management and on ways of perceiving and using fruit trees in this region over that time.[EUS] Artikulu honen gaia Iberiar Penintsulako ipar-mendebaldeko Prunus avium/cerasus-en fruituen kontsumoa da. Aztertu diren aztarna karpologikoak lau aztarnategi arkeologikoetan dute jatorria. Horietariko bat erromatar garaiko asentamendu bat da eta gainontzeko beste hirurak erdi arokoak dira, horietariko bi hiri aztarnategiak direlarik. Helburu nagusia garai eta eskualde hauetan basoaren kudeaketaren eta zuhaitzen fruituak nola jasotzen eta erabiltzen ziren inguruko hasierako hipotesi bat garatzea da

Cultivos e froiteiras na Idade Media en Galicia. O conxunto carpolóxico da escavación do Banco de España (Santiago de Compostela)

O obxectivo deste texto é presentar os resultados das análises carpolóxicas da escavación do Banco de España. Os carporrestos conserváronse nun medio anegado, depositados no interior dunha fosa detrítica no enchemento do primeiro foso medieval de Santiago de Compostela. Cereais e árbores froiteiras son as especies más recuperadas, ademais de plantas silvestres e hortícolas coma o cogombro. O xacemento é un exemplo excepcional das prácticas agrícolas na Idade Media en Galicia

Dentro y fuera del bosque: La gestión del Prunus Avium/cerasus en época romana y medieval en el NW ibérico

Artikulu honen gaia Iberiar Penintsulako ipar-mendebaldeko Prunus avium/cerasus-en fruituen kontsumoa da. Aztertu diren aztarna karpologikoak lau aztarnategi arkeologikoetan dute jatorria. Horietariko bat erromatar garaiko asentamendu bat da eta gainontzeko beste hirurak erdi arokoak dira, horietariko bi hiri aztarnategiak direlarik. Helburu nagusia garai eta eskualde hauetan basoaren kudeaketaren eta zuhaitzen fruituak nola jasotzen eta erabiltzen ziren inguruko hasierako hipotesi bat garatzea da.This paper deals with consumption of fruits of Prunus avium/cerasus in northwestern Iberia during historical period. The carpological remains studied have been obtained from four archaeological sites. While one of them is a Roman settlement, the remaining three are Medieval sites, two of which are in an urban context. Our main purpose is to develop an initial hypothesis on forest management and on ways of perceiving and using fruit trees in this region over that time.Este texto versa sobre el consumo de los frutos de Prunus avium/cerasus en el Noroeste ibérico. Los restos carpológicos estudiados proceden de cuatro yacimientos arqueológicos. Mientras que uno de ellos es un asentamiento de época romana, los tres restantes son medievales, de los cuales dos se encuentran en un contexto urbano. El principal objetivo es desarrollar una hipótesis de partida sobre la gestión del bosque y la forma en la que se perciben y usan los árboles con frutos en esta región durante ese tiempo