Zephyrus (May 2013)
From Roman Times to Middle Ages. Settlement evolution and landscape archaeology in the territory of Salamanca
Abstract
In a previous study we gave the results of intensive survey in the Armuña area. In this new study a detailed interpretation is made of the data. After the field work it was observed that there no traces of pre-Roman occupation. The Roman settlement was developed suddenly in the area from the Flavian era onwards and maintained with few changes throughout the whole of the Empire. Aerial photography and the surface material make it possible to detect the presence of two villas (Aldealhama y Prado de Abajo) with their attached dependencies. From the fifth century on the habitat points multiplied, although the quality of the buildings was inferior. The eighth-ninth centuries were a period with a gap in information which neither archaeological materials nor the sources can fill. From the eleventh century onwards the settlement was definitively established in the present-day towns. Data on settlement are complemented with those provided by a drilling for the extraction of a pollen record. During the Roman period forest cover was still important, although cereal crops were already present. From the fifth century on it is observed that preferential attention was given to livestock raising, which entails greater pressure on the forest. This process was interrupted around the eighth century, when livestock activity was withdrawn, although farming activity continued. The eleventh century offered greater agricultural diversity with the wine making its first appearance, as is corroborated by written documents of the era.
