Search

The present paper deals with the historical evolution of the northern Bay of Cádiz (SW Spain) between the last eustatic maximum (6.5 ka BP) and the present day, by means of a series of independent proxies. The zone is constituted by the tidal estuary of the Guadalete River, filled with saltmarsh sediments during the late Holocene, due to the sheltering of the zone by a confining outer sandy barrier. The northern border of the Bay records an urban settlement of Phoenician Age (first millennium BC), Doña Blanca. A detailed survey was made in the contact between the Phoenician city and the saltmarshes in order to detect other possible urban structures related to the morphological and sedimentary evolution of this environment during historical times. Two campaigns with GPR Stream-X array were carried out as well as aerial imaging and topographic survey with UAV. In parallel, a total of 8 boreholes were made in different parts of the saltmarshes, including radiocarbon dating of selected samples for estimating sedimentation rates in the saltmarshes. Results obtained by georadar prospection and UAV survey revealed the presence of a second urban settlement on the marginal sedimentary plain, very probably installed upon a sandy fluvial island of the Guadelete River. The urban remains, of Punic Age, are partly covered by clay sediments due to the subsequent evolution of these saltmarshes, where sedimentation rates of up to nearly 2.4 mm/yr have been estimated for environments close to fluvial and/or tidal channels and hence more affected by sediment aggradation during flooding episodes. In recent times, river regulation by dams and the artificial desiccation and cropping of the saltmarshes have interrupted the natural trend of the area towards sedimentary silting up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental fluctuations during the Holocene caused important landscape changes in the Central Ebro Basin, which is a very sensitive region due to its semiarid climate, lithology, and continuous human presence. Severe erosion processes hinder palaeoenvironmental and archaeological record preservation. Infills of ephemeral stream valleys in semiarid environments are some of the best contexts for geoarchaeological studies. In this paper, we analyse the geomorphological processes, pedological features, and charcoal and pollen content and composition of the sedimentary sequence of La Poza Valley catchment area, with the support of additional information from La Bajada Valley. 14 C dates for 13 charcoal fragments provide the necessary chronological control. We describe 5 sedimentary units and a polycyclic sequence of six soils that covers most of the Holocene, beginning ca. 9.5 ky cal BP. Buried soils help to identify stability periods in the sedimentary sequence, while incision stages are detected through erosive contacts and terraced organisation of the sedimentary units. Charcoal and pollen content and composition, as well as the soil development, reveal an open forest of junipers and pines for the Early Holocene in the lower part of the sequence (mainly in Unit 1), very different from the current deforested landscape, also represented in the sequence (Unit 4). Thus, La Poza record shows the environment was favourable for hunter-gatherers from the Late Mesolithic and for the first Neolithic farmers. From then on, progressive degradation due to a combination of climate changes and increasing human pressure led to the current deforested landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Landscapes are the result of human societies interacting with their environment. • Transdisciplinary research is crucial for the study of long-term landscape dynamics. • Historical landscapes are facing degradation caused by Modern mechanisation. Cultural landscapes are the result of human societies interacting with their environment, which is reflected in the onset and evolution of social practices such as settlement and agricultural production. This paper discusses the results of a transdisciplinary research program carried out on the vineyard landscape of the Rioja Alavesa district, one of the main wine-producing regions of Spain, focusing on the deserted village of Torrentejo (Basque Country, Spain). The study of archival records, combined with extensive archaeological survey and excavation, as well as the intensive analysis of geoarchaeological core samples, permitted the reconstruction of a long sequence of human settlement and agricultural practices extending over ~4000 years. The oldest documented records refer to a Chalcolithic occupation, developed on a buried gypsisol and possibly related to the climatic event at 4.2 ka BP. After a long hiatus, four phases of landscape transformation were documented above this Chalcolithic occupation: (1) the formation of a nucleated village in the Early Middle Ages, represented by the construction of a terraced agricultural landscape, and its passage under the control of different seigneurial powers over the High Middle Ages; (2) the abandonment of the village during the Late Middle Ages and the subsequent concentration of settlement in the charted town of Bastida; (3) a complete reorganisation and expansion of the local terraced systems in the 18th–19th centuries, in a context of specialisation and commercialisation of agricultural production; and (4) present-day mechanisation and capitalisation. These results therefore offer an interesting overview on the complexity and diversity of the historical trends that lie beneath the vineyard landscape of Torrentejo, proving the value of interdisciplinary research approaches for the investigation of the role of human settlement and agriculture in the formation and evolution of agricultural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]