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

Abstract

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