Shaping wood: woodworking during the Iron Age and Roman period in the northwest of the Iberian peninsula

This article discusses several timber structures, wooden objects and manufacturing waste recovered from settlements and specialized production sites during the Iron Age and the Roman period in northwest Iberia. These archaeobotanical remains were preserved directly by carbonization, waterlogging and occasionally mineralization, as well as indirectly by impressions on clay. The study of these artifacts and structures allows us to characterize forestry practice, technical process of woodworking (sequence of actions, techniques and gestures), household equipment and architectureS

Woodland in the middle Ebro valley (Spain). Dendrological analysis of archaeological timber from Bell Baker and Iron Age periods

In this paper, the results of the dendrological analysis of timber from three archaeological sites are presented. This material comes from the wooden structures of different kinds of buildings (houses, walls and a funerary dolmen). For this task, a small number of vegetal species were used. Dendrological analyses are perfectly adapted to this research, since ecological, climatic and human events can be inferred from the observation and measurement of tree growth-rings. To implement the method in this region is particularly interesting because of the lack of palaeoenvironmental studies. Micro- and macroscopic observation of wood charcoal enables wood identification: mainly pine and juniper were selected for timber from among all the species identified from charcoal analyses in other archeological contexts (fireplaces, occupation levels, etc.). The samples with a longer radius were measured on a dendrological bench. Generally, the growth rate was very low in most of the specimens.Les résultats de l’étude dendrologique réalisée sur les bois de construction de trois sites archéologiques seront présentés. Il s’agit de bois de construction carbonisés sur place. Le principal intérêt de cette étude est la reconstitution des paléo-paysages, mais aussi des systèmes humains d’approvisionnement du bois et de gestion de la forêt, dans une région où l’information paléoenvironnemental en général est encore faible. L’examen microscopique et macroscopique du charbon de bois a permis de déterminer les essences végétales choisies pour la construction, essentiellement pin et genévrier, parmi un grand nombre d’essences utilisées que l’on connaît d’après l’analyse anthracologique en autres contextes (foyers, fours, sols d’occupation). La largeur des cernes de croissance radiale du bois, qui enregistrent les principaux événements climatiques et anthropiques, a été systématiquement mesurée. Ces données ont livré des informations intéressantes sur la densité des forêts, l’impact des conditions climatiques sur la croissance des plantes et l’évolution des formations végétales sur une longue séquence. La plupart des individus des trois sites présentent une taxe de croissance très basse

Neolithic woodland in the north Mediterranean basin: A review on Olea europaea L.

The aim of this paper is to specify the natural distribution of Olea europaea L. during the Early Holocene in the Northern Mediterranean by means of the identification of wood charcoal remains of this species at prehistoric sites. For this purpose, we have reviewed the relevant literature and extracted the data in which Olea charcoal has been identified. We have taken into consideration the biogeographical and chrono-cultural contexts in which the species is present, its frequency of occurrence at different locations and the associated plant taxa with the aim of tracking the Holocene history of the oleaster. Based on this information we suggest that the species started expanding during the Preboreal from Pleistocene thermophilous tree refugia located in the Levant, Cyprus, Sicily and the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Its presence was confined to the thermomediterraenan bioclimatic level. The expansion dynamics of Olea after the Boreal are better understood in the western Mediterranean. There the species becomes very abundant or dominant in the thermophilous plant formations of the Atlantic period and expands to favorable enclaves outside the limits of the thermomediterraenan bioclimatic level.The aim of this paper is to specify the natural distribution of Olea europaea L. during the Early Holocene in the Northern Mediterranean by means of the identification of wood charcoal remains of this species at prehistoric sites. For this purpose, we have reviewed the relevant literature and extracted the data in which Olea charcoal has been identified. We have taken into consideration the biogeographical and chrono-cultural contexts in which the species is present, its frequency of occurrence at different locations and the associated plant taxa with the aim of tracking the Holocene history of the oleaster. Based on this information we suggest that the species started expanding during the Preboreal from Pleistocene thermophilous tree refugia located in the Levant, Cyprus, Sicily and the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Its presence was confined to the thermomediterraenan bioclimatic level. The expansion dynamics of Olea after the Boreal are better understood in the western Mediterranean. There the species becomes very abundant or dominant in the thermophilous plant formations of the Atlantic period and expands to favorable enclaves outside the limits of the thermomediterraenan bioclimatic level

Olea europaea L. in the North Mediterranean basin during the Pleniglacial and the Early–Middle Holocene

17 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.The paper aims to define the natural distribution of Olea europaea L. var sylvestris (Miller) Lehr. in the North Mediterranean basin during the Pleniglacial and the Early-Middle Holocene by means of the identification of its wood-charcoal and/or wood at prehistoric sites For this purpose we have reviewed the previously available information and we have combined it with new wood-charcoal analyses data We have taken under consideration the presence and frequency of 0 europaea L in the available wood-charcoal sequences, the characteristics of the accompanying flora, the associated chrono-cultural contexts, the broader biogeographical context and the AMS dates provided by Olea wood-charcoal or endocarps. According to the available evidence, during the Middle and Late Pleniglacial (ca 59-11.5 ka cal BP), Olea would have persisted in thermophilous refugia located in the southern areas of the North Mediterranean basin, the southern Levant and the north of Africa. The Last Glacial Maximum (ca 2218 ka cal. BP) probably reduced the distribution area of Olea. During the Preboreal and the Boreal (ca 11500-8800 cal BP) the species started to expand in the thermomediterranean bioclimatic level In the western Mediterranean, during the Atlantic period (ca 8800-5600 cal. BP), the species became very abundant or dominant in the thermophilous plant formations and expanded to favorable enclaves outside the limits of the thermomediterranean level.This study has been supported by the national projects ‘‘Late Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic in the central region of the Iberian Peninsula’’ (Ref. FFI2008-01200/FISO) and ‘‘PALAEOFLORA OF IBERIA II: Ecological Change as Anthropological Contingency’’ (Ref. CGL2009-06988). We are grateful to all the wood-charcoal analysis specialists who have identified and published Olea wood-charcoals from archaeological sites. We are also thankful to the directors of excavations from which we report unpublished material for allowing us to study the wood-charcoal remains at those sites. Special thanks are addressed to Isabel Figueiral for her useful comments on the manuscript and for providing unpublished data. The authors are especially thankful to M. Stiner and J. Pigati for their kind permission to cite unpublished dating data from Klissoura Cave 1. Finally, we thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.Peer reviewe

Bodegas, lagares y almazaras en el territorio de Kelin (siglos v-iii a. C.): el caso de la Rambla de la Alcantarilla (Requena, Valencia)

Las evidencias arqueológicas datan la expansión del cultivo de la vid en el territorio de Kelin durante los siglos v-iii a. C., aunque los primeros indicios se fechan ya en el siglo vii a. C. Una de las singularidades de este territorio es la existencia de estructuras de piedra al aire libre para la producción de vino y aceite. Todas ellas se localizan en una zona concreta del territorio (Ramblas de la Alcantarilla y de los Morenos) (Requena, Valencia) y aparecen asociadas a materiales arqueológicos que permiten datarlas como ibéricas. En este artículo abordamos cómo se organiza el poblamiento en la rambla de la Alcantarilla y presentamos en detalle los yacimientos de la Rambla de la Alcantarilla y Solana de Cantos 2.Archaeological evidences date the expansion of grape vineyards in the territory of the Iberian Iron Age city of Kelin from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC; although the origins are documented in the 7th BC. One of the singularities of this territory is the existence of outdoors stone structures for the production of wine and oil. All are located in a specific area of the territory (la Alcantarilla and Los Morenos ravines) (Requena, Valencia), and are associated with archaeological materials that allow date them as Iberian. In this paper we approach the rural settlement pattern in la Alcantarilla ravine and we present in detail the esarchaeological sites of Rambla de la Alcantarilla and Solana de Cantos 2