Search

The wooden assemblage recovered from Hoyo de los Herreros cave (Reocín, Cantabria, Spain) in northern Iberia has provided an exceptional opportunity to enlarge our knowledge about perishable material culture from a unique medieval context. This case study enhances the information related to ephemeral material culture associated with the occupation of caves during the Middle Ages in northern Iberia, and the role played by wooden crafts in relation to activities performed within these dark and subterrain areas. All the wooden objects have been systematically studied and dated, combining wood analysis and morpho-technological study with the examination of entomological remains recovered from one of the objects which was in an advanced state of decay. The three bowls and a pointed twig recovered inside the cave were probably related to two different episodes of use, the first dated between 9th to 11th centuries CE, and the second between 11th and 12th centuries CE. It was possible to identify different stages of their chaîne-opératoires and the analysis of different aspects of their lifecycle, in tandem with the study of medieval wood crafting, specifically lathe-turning.

The site of Castro S. João das Arribas is placed on the edge of a cliff over the Douro river (Miranda do Douro, Northeast of Portugal). Archaeological interventions in its highest area uncovered a main occupation from Late Antiquity. On its western part a functional space was recorded, which included two small above-ground structures and abundant charred carpological remains. These were found inside ceramic vessels and spread throughout the area, suggesting its destruction occurred after a fire event. A radiocarbon date places such episode in some moment between the late 6th and the first half of the 7th century CE. Carpological results revealed an assemblage dominated by cereal grains, mostly rye (Secale cereale). Naked wheat (Triticum aestivum/durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), common millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) were also found but in smaller amounts. The large amount of carpological remains in the above-mentioned contexts, suggests the space was used for storage, at least between the 6th and 7th centuries CE. Although some uncertainties remain regarding how crops were stored, evidence points that they were kept in ceramic vessels, outside and inside the small storage facilities, but also in other types of containers, eventually made of perishable materials. At Castro S. João das Arribas, past communities chose a diversity of crops, however, most of them show undemanding features in terms of soil and climatic conditions. The agricultural choices could have been motivated by several factors, but cereals like rye were certainly well-suited to the environmental conditions around the settlement. 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-Formaç˜ao 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 Foundationfor Science and Technology (FCT).

Se presentan los resultados del análisis antracológico, así como los datos dendrológicos y tafonómicos de varias muestras de carbón. Estas fueron recuperadas durante la intervención arqueológica desarrollada en el Castillo de Pambre (Palas de Rei, Lugo) en el año 2014, en relación con las tareas de rehabilitación del conjunto de edificaciones del castillo. Los datos obtenidos nos permiten definir el uso como combustible de los recursos leñosos que realizaron los ocupantes del castillo durante los siglos XV-XVII. Se documenta un predominio de la madera de roble (Quercus sp. caducifolio), seguida del avellano (Corylus avellana) junto con una gran diversidad de taxones, especialmente de árboles frutales, mientras que los taxones de matorral son poco significativos en el conjunto. Esto a pesar de coincidir con un período frío, la Pequeña Edad del Hielo, y de la importante deforestación registrada tanto en los datos paleoambientales como en la documentación. This paper presents the results of charcoal analysis as well as dendrological and taphonomical attributes of charcoal samples. These were recovered during the archaeological survey in the Pambre Castle (Palas de Rei, Lugo) during 2014 and in relation to the rehabilitation activities in the group of buildings of the castle. The data obtained let us to define the use as firewood of wood resources performed by the inhabitants of the castle between 15th to 17th centuries AD. A predominance of oak (deciduous Quercus), followed by hazel wood (Corylus avellana) has been attested, besides a great taxa diversity, predominantly fruit trees whilst scrubland taxa are not significant in the assemblage. This even though it coincided with a cold period, the Little Ice Age, and the major deforestation registered in the paleoenvironmental proxies as well as in the written sources.

Publicado em "Estudos do quaternário". ISSN 2182-8660. N.º 16 (2017) - N.º temático "Além do Bosque. Aproximação aos estudos de madeira e carvão a partir da Arqueologia, Arqueobotânica, Etnografia e História", Estudos de madeira e carvão a partir de diferentes disciplinas., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

El análisis antracológico realizado en el sito de El Caño (provincia de Coclé, Panamá) nos permite hacer una primera aproximación a las posibilidades que este tipo de análisis arqueobotánico proporciona para el estudio de las sociedades de jefatura, y específicamente de sus contextos funerarios. La identificación de los recursos leñosos utilizados, y el establecimiento de hipótesis acerca de su posible función en relación con el ritual mortuorio, es fundamental para poder profundizar en la comprensión del ritual y de la gestión de los recursos realizada por las jefaturas en el istmo de Panamá. The charcoal analysis undertaken at the El Caño site (Coclé Province, Panama) provided an opportunity to explore the possibilities this kind ofarchaeobotanical analysis suppliesfor the study ofchiefdoms,particularly in theirfunerary context. The identification of the utilization ofwood resources, and the establishment ofa hypothesis about theirpossiblefunerary ritualfunction isfundamental in order to deepen our understanding of the ritual and the management of resources by chiefdoms in the Isthmus of Panama.

International audience

Esta Tese de Doutoramento tivo como obxectivo principal coñecer as estratexias organizativas que conforman a xestión do bosque e do monte a partir do tipo de aprovisionamento dos recursos leñosos durante a Idade do Ferro e a época romana no noroeste peninsular. Foron estudados conxuntos arqueobotánicos procedentes de 22 xacementos arqueoloxicos. Os resultados obtidos permitiron observar cómo existe unha estreita relación entre as estratexias económicas destas comunidades e os cambios nos patróns de aprovisionamento de combustibles: preferencia por madeira de árbores ou arbustos, territorios explotados, etc. Tamén puidemos identificar diversos aspectos relacionados coa elaboración de manufacturas en madeira: selección de especies, técnicas, ferramentas, etc.

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 architecture SI

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 them This 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 Foundation SI