Pré-História e História Antiga

A diagnose tipolóxica das cerámicas señala unha ocupación importante do castro durante o Ferro inicial e Ferro medio prerromano -VII-II aC-e son poucas as evidencias relacionadas cunha fase do Bronce final e do Ferro final ou cambio de era. As súas formas e decoracións son ...

This procedures of on-site registering of archaeological material and its subsequent deposition in museums, often impedes the dialogue between the recovered material and the information that can be retrieved from it, both at an investigatory level, and in its social and public value. This article attempts, trough the presentation of a case study, to stablish some guidelines to help minimize efforts both in the excavation and storage of this material, thus meeting the demand for determined methods and criteria that will serve to maximise the information that archaeological material can offer us.

The article is conceived as a methodological essay for the integration of information from excavations with different records in a database collated for the Iron Age. Castrovite is used as a practical case of reflection at the same time it provides news in the interpretation of the site.

Human societies established productive strategies in order to obtain the material resources needed for their day- to-day life, including firewood and timber. These strategies were determined by the environmental supply, and also by the cultural characteristics and technical capacities of these communities. This paper presents charcoal analyses data from four Chalcolithic and Bronze Age open-air settlements located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and occupied during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. These results contribute to the knowledge of the exploitation of wooden resources, of the territories where these resources were collected, and of the firewood and timber production process. The identified wood taxa point to a diversified exploitation of the territory, where firewood and timber were collected and/or felled in the deciduous woodland, the river banks and scrubland areas. The wooden resources consumed in each site allowed us to hypothesize about the territory of each community. The characteristics of wood parts used, degree of the tree-ring curvature, the minimum diameter of twigs or logs, the presence of tyloses or gum deposits, of reaction wood, of scars, etc.- as well as other data from archaeological contexts, such as the length of the post holes were all taken into account.

Galicia has a long tradition of excavation of Iron Age sites from the end of the nineteenth century. Despite the large quantity of research, the exchange of generated data continues to be opaque and rarely expressed in interoperable formats. As such, its use does not usually result in increasing scientific or professional quality. In this text a biography of excavations of the Castro Culture is presented based on the data provided in the literature, the only source that exists, while also highlighting the need to establish a debate on the exchange of data in standard formats with public access.

La gran riqueza que posee la Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia en patrimonio arqueológico, unida a la intensa actividad desarrollada por los arqueólogos a lo largo del tiempo y especialmente en los últimos años, ha generado una gran cantidad de información histórica. La mayor parte de ésta se encuentra recogida en diferentes formatos, como los analógicos de laboriosa consulta y acceso; o bien en formatos digitales heterogéneos de difícil interconexión. De enorme interés, tanto para profesionales del ámbito arqueológico como para los interesados en general, sería disponer de un acceso sencillo y normalizado a dicha información.

La riqueza en cuanto a restos históricos de la Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia, unida al tesón de los arqueólogos que a lo largo de los años se vienen esforzando en su localización y estudio, producen una gran cantidad de información relativa al patrimonio histórico. Mucha de esta información está en formato analógico, si bien una pequeña fracción se encuentra ya en soporte informático y geolocalizada. De enorme beneficio, para cualquier interesado, sería disponer de un acceso sencillo y normalizado a dicha información.

This paper focuses on the web of relationships established between Early and Middle Bronze Age communities and their environment in Northwest Iberia. Charcoal remains recovered from settlements and funerary sites in this area can inform a greater understanding of wood resource procurement and woodland management strategies adopted by these small-scale communities. Although charcoal analysis of contexts with chronologies ranging from 2200 to 1200 cal. BC is not commonly undertaken in this area, data from this period are of great importance because it represents a phase of major deforestation and landscape change. Wood resources were local and exploitation was conditioned by their availability in the environs of the sites. These communities established a clear preference for Quercus wood, combined recurrently with shrubby species of the Fabaceae family. This co-occurrence, previously observed in Middle and Late Bronze Age contexts, could extend back to the Early Bronze Age and even to the Late Neolithic. The presence of small trees and shrubs such as Rosaceae/Maloideae and Corylus avellana could be related with the open landscape that characterises this period, and with the existence of woodland management practices designed to prevent forest regeneration.

The hillfort of Castrolandín (Pontevedra, Spain) was inhabited since 4th century BC to 1st century AD. The objectives of studying charred plant remains have been: 1) to obtain information about the patterns of firewood consumption similarities and differences between phases of occupation or areas of the settlement, 2) to provide insight into spaces and techniques linked to woodworking studying both end-products and woodworking debris, 3) to identify the areas of crop processing and storage, and 4) to reconstruct the composition of the woodland environment in the surroundings of the site.
The charcoal analysis indicates that four were the most ubiquitous and abundant taxa: oak (Quercus sp. deciduous), Fabaceae, alder (Alnus sp.) and hazel (Corylus avellana). The micro-spatial distribution of the woody taxa indicates the existence of differences in the consumption of wood resources between structures. The charcoal assemblages include remains of domestic firewood and also manufactured wood and wood-crafting debris. The concentration of woodcrafts and wood-working debris in a court from a domestic unit indicates the existence of a specialized area of activity where wooden objects were manufactured.
The carpological remains had been used also to determine activity areas. The crops identified in the samples were wheat (Triticum sp.), barley (Hordeum vulgare), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and beans (Vicia faba). It is of the utmost interest their distribution around two domestics units. The same taxa have been identified in storage areas inside and outside the buildings and correspond probably with two different stages of crops processing.

The archaeological site of Pego (Braga, NW of Portugal) highlights the limits and possibilities of charcoal analysis in Bronze Age sites with long and recurrent occupations (Sampaio et al. 2008, Sampaio and Bettencourt 2011, 2014; Sampaio 2014). The site was occupied since the end of the Early to Late Bronze Age.
Its earliest features of this site are located in Sector II, a plain grave’s necropolis dating to the end of the Early to Middle Bronze Age was found. Probably with intentional depositional purposes, during Middle-Late Bronze Age this area was used for digging few pits covered with weathered granite. Near it, in sector V (on the top of the hill), there was identified a fireplace and at least four pits (pits 1, 3, 18 and 19) linked to an occupation of this area also dating back to the Middle Bronze Age. In the same area, several other pits and post-holes, small ditches and a perimetral ditch (comprising a palisade) were also identified. In many cases some of these structures date back to Late Bronze Age. The assemblages considered were mostly recovered from secondary contexts, something usual in these Bronze Age sites. This fact connected with the recurrent occupation of the sample’s place during long periods of time complicates the interpretation of charcoal analysis outcomes. In these cases we consider that it is essential to go beyond taxonomic identification considering also taphonomical and dendrological attributes. At the same time this methodology can help identifying different site’s moments of occupation.
Sampaio, H. A., 2014. A Idade do Bronze na bacia do rio Ave (Noroeste de Portugal). Braga: University of Minho.
Sampaio, H. A., Bettencourt, A. M. S., 2011. Produção e práticas metalúrgicas da Idade do Bronze no Noroeste Português: o caso do Pego. In: Martins, C. M. B., Bettencourt, A. M.  S., Martins, J. I. P.F. and Carvalho, J., Povoamento e Exploração dos Recursos Mineiros na Europa Atlântica Ocidental, Braga: CITCEM/APEQ, pp. 391-407.
Sampaio, H. A., Bettencourt, A. M. S., 2014. Between the valley and the hill top. Discoursing on the spatial importance of Pego’s Bronze Age necropolis, Braga (Northwest of Portugal). Estudos do Quaternário/Quaternary Studies, 10: 45-57.
Sampaio, H. A., Bettencourt, A. M. S., Barbosa, R., Dinis, A., Cruz, C., 2008. A importância do povoado do Pego no Bronze Final do Noroeste de Portugal. Férvedes, 5: 227-233.

This paper focuses on the web of relationships established between Early and Middle Bronze Age communities and their environment in Northwest Iberia. Charcoal remains recovered from settlements and funerary sites in this area can inform a greater understanding of wood resource procurement and woodland management strategies adopted by these small-scale communities. Although charcoal analysis of contexts with chronologies ranging from 2200 to 1200 cal. BC is not commonly undertaken in this area, data from this period are of great importance because it represents a phase of major deforestation and landscape change. Wood resources were local and exploitation was conditioned by their availability in the environs of the sites. These communities established a clear preference for Quercus wood, combined recurrently with shrubby species of the Fabaceae family. This co-occurrence, previously observed in Middle and Late Bronze Age contexts, could extend back to the Early Bronze Age and even to the Late Neolithic. The presence of small trees and shrubs such as Rosaceae/Maloideae and Corylus avellana could be related with the open landscape that characterises this period, and with the existence of woodland management practices designed to prevent forest regeneration.

Neste traballo fíxose un percorrido polos rituais de banquete dende o Bronce Final a través de referencias textuais dos autores clásicos e de materiais de diferente natureza. Tamén se repasaron as posibles vasillas e cerámicas que podían ter certo uso simposíaco.