This work focuses on reconstructing past diets and animal management during Prehistory in Central Northern Spain, spanning the NE area of the Old Castilian Plateau to the Cantabrian coast, from c. 3000-1500 BCE. During this time, early farming communities made changes in their models of production and social reproduction that crystallised in the emergence of social complexity. To investigate these changes, we reconstructed the past diet of these early farming populations by using stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 34 S) of human and animal remains from the recently excavated sites of Abrigo de la Castañera in Cantabria and Arroyal I, El Hornazo, Fuente Celada and Ferrocarril-La Dehesa in Burgos. The human remains derived from a range of burial contexts including pit graves, megalithic monuments and burial caves. To provide initial insights into animal management during this timeframe, associated faunal remains were also studied as a baseline. In total, 52 samples were analysed, including 17 human burials and 35 animal specimens (cattle, sheep, pig, red deer and dog). Results show that humans in these sites consumed relatively similar diets, comprising of a predominantly C3 diet including animal protein. Animal management patterns indicate a wider use of the landscape for herbivore grazing. The differing diets of dogs at El Hornazo provide insights into the relationship that they had with humans and tentatively suggests differences in the diet of working animals versus household pets. The δ 34 S values of two individuals from Arroyal I indicate that they came from different regions, implying a level of inland mobility during the Chalcolithic.

The Early Bronze Age ceramic collection found into the caves of La Llana and El Toral III in Asturias (Spain) presents common decoration such as that found in the centre of Cantabrian Spain from the same period, which resembles others found in the Ebro Valley and Atlantic Europe. Therefore, the main objective of this study it is to identify the raw material origin and understand the pottery production process during the Early Bronze Age in the Cantabrian region. A methodological approach based on the chemical and mineralogical analysis of vessels and experimentally fired clay samples collected all over the centre of this region was developed. Furthermore, the post‐depositional processes affecting the sherds’ composition was evaluated by employing the rare earth elements as markers. The results showed that the studied assemblage has important similarities with the raw materials of the surrounding area, which supports the hypothesis of a regional mobility.

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El trabajo presenta los datos derivados de una investigación arqueológica realizada en el castro de El Pico (Cabrejas del Pinar, Soria). El objetivo de la misma era valorar el registro arqueológico conservado y proporcionar una adscripción cronológica definida al yacimiento, que tradicionalmente se había vinculado a la "Cultura Castreña Soriana" de la Primera Edad del Hierro. Las nuevas evidencias han mostrado una discrepancia entre datos arqueológicos y fechas absolutas. La discusión al respecto ha permitido determinar una adscripción cronocultural diferente para El Pico, relacionándola con el grupo de manifestaciones arqueológicas que configuran el Celtibérico Antiguo (siglos VII-V a.C.). Los datos plantean nuevas vías de análisis en una zona donde confluyen dos conjuntos arqueológicos (los Castros Sorianos y las entidades arqueológicas del Celtibérico Antiguo) que se relacionan con un proceso histórico de transición hacia las sociedades estatales poco definido y escasamente tratado.

Fruto de una intervención arqueológica de urgencia, se documentaron una serie de vestigios arqueológicos en un espacio anejo a la Iglesia Vieja de San Vicente de Potes (Cantabria). Estos restos venían a confirmar la existencia de una necrópolis medieval en el lugar. A tenor del tipo de enterramiento (tumbas de lajas) y de las dataciones radiocarbónicas se pudo concretar el marco temporal en el que los enterramientos se habían producido (finales del siglo X-inicios del XI). El trabajo intenta llevar a cabo un estudio que supere los tradicionales enfoques empiristas vinculados a este tipo de yacimientos, pues la evidencia arqueológica es capaz de proporcionar los elementos necesarios para interpretarla en términos sociales. A partir de esta premisa se pone en relación el registro arqueológico con los procesos históricos vinculados a la consolidación del sistema feudal en Potes.