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

Algunas consideraciones sobre cerámica castreña

No es cuestión de entrar en un análisis extenso de la situación en que se encuentra el estudio de la cerámica castreña porque ya es harto conocida, pero si es necesario denotar ciertos puntos para entrar en materia. Uno de ellos es el criterio selectivo que se aplicaba en las excavaciones antiguas. A la hora de almacenar hallazgos cerámicos: Se rechazaban todos aquellos fragmentos carentes de decoración o amorfos de manera que quedaba descartada la posibilidad de restauración

Archaeobotanical evidence for a history of wine consumption and production in Northwestern Iberia

Los datos arqueobotánicos publicados en los últimos años en el noroeste de la península ibérica nos permiten trazar una evolución del cultivo de la vid con unas pautas cronológicas y unas características internas singulares. Los análisis polínicos, carpológicos y antracológicos han identificado la presencia de Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris en el medio natural y su aprovechamiento por las comunidades protohistóricas. En época romana, los conjuntos de algunos yacimientos sugieren el cultivo simultáneo de la vid doméstica –Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera– y la silvestre. Además, destaca la aparición de los primeros asentamientos especializados en la producción de vino en el sur de la región. Esto indica cambios en la gestión de la vid. El viñedo se vincularía a establecimientos agropecuarios, propiedad de familias con un estatus social alto, situados en áreas rurales o próximos a núcleos urbanos. Estos grandes propietarios probablemente continuarían controlando la comercialización del excedente de vino en la Alta Edad Media.Recent archaeobotanical data published in the northwest of the Iberian peninsula make it possible to trace the evo-lution of vine cultivation with distinctive chronological patterns and internal characteristics. Pollen, carpological and charcoal analyses have identified the presence of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris in the natural environment and its use by protohis-toric communities. In the Roman period, the assemblages of some sites suggest the simultaneous cultivation of domestic vines –Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera– and wild ones. In addition, the first settlements specializing in wine production appeared in the south of the region. These indicate changes in the management of the vine. Vineyard would be linked to agricultural estab-lishments owned by families with a high social status located in rural areas or near urban settlements. These large owners would probably continue to control the commercialisation of wine surplus in the Early Middle Ages

The Registry of Memory Process Applied to Experimental Archaeology in a Castromao “Oven”

Memory is the cognitive process that codifies, stores and retrieves past actions that are perceived in the present, generating our remembrances and perceptions of the past and informing our knowledge of the world around us. Memory can also be contained within the inert, with some materials having the ability to return to their original form in reaction to certain stimuli, such as heat. Applied to archaeology, memory can be understood as the marks or changes produced within objects as a result of human activity or natural processes. Memory is the trace of time both in the actions of people and in things, recording in them their reaction to external activity

La presencia de fenicio-púnica en los confines de Iberia

En este trabajo se analiza la situación de los trabajadores en la ciudad de Sevilla, especialmente del sector textil y asociados, a la altura de 1652 y la manera en que esta motivó que se situasen a la cabeza de la organización y estallido del tumulto de mayo de dicho año, conocido como "motín de la Feria". Sevilla era una urbe aún quejosa por epidemia de peste y asfixiada por las exigencias fiscales de la corona, las cuales sufrían especialmente los comerciantes, impulsores de la actividad económica en la ciudad. Los trabajadores, muchos de ellos advenedizos, veían empeorar su situación sociolaboral sin contar con mecanismos de protección suficientes. Nuestro objetivo es enumerar y establecer la relación entre los factores coyunturales y estructurales que afectaron a dichos trabajadores y que propiciaron su levantamiento. El estudio se basará en los datos aportados por las fuentes primarias, especialmente las crónicas escritas por los testigos del motín.In this paper, we will analyze the situation of workers in the city of Seville, specifically workers in the textile industry in 1652, and the way in which the situation motivated them to lead the organization and the outbreak of the May tumult, known as "motín de la Feria". The people of Seville had barely survived the plague and were now suffocated by the tax requirements of the crown, especially the merchants and any drivers of economic activity in the city. The workers, many of them upstarts, saw their socio-labor situation worsen without having sufficient protection mechanisms. Our goal is to list and establish the relationship between the short-term and structural factors that affected these workers and that led to their uprising. The study will b