Evolución de un sector costero durante la Alta Edad Media en el NW de la Península Ibérica

Abstract

En el presente trabajo se estudia la evolución de un tramo costero de la Ría de Vigo (NW de la península Ibérica) desde época romana hasta el siglo XVII, prestando particular atención a la Alta Edad Media. Desde el punto de vista arqueológico, la importancia del sector radica en la presencia de una salina de época romana, en uso desde los siglos II BC a III-IV AD, y su abandono para dar paso a la instauración de una iglesia y una necrópolis en la Alta Edad Media (a partir de los siglos IV-V AD). Se muestrearon, con alta resolución, tres secuencias edafo-sedimentarias y se analizaron diversas propiedades físico-químicas (pH, granulometría, contenido en C, N, S, P, Fe, As) y la composición mineralógica, con el fin de determinar la naturaleza de las distintas facies presentes, los procesos implicados y las causas asociadas. Los resultados indican modificaciones en la costa entre finales del periodo romano y comienzos de la Alta Edad Media, con unaevolución del medio desde una dinámica costera, con formaciones de marisma-lagoon costero, a una dinámica eólica, con dunas. Dicho cambio es coincidente con el cese de la explotación romana de sal y el inicio del periodo Frío Altomedieval. Estos resultados son similares a los encontrados en otros puntos de la Ría de Vigo. En los tres sectores comparados (Rosalía de Castro, Toralla y Hospital), a la par que se produce la progradación de las formaciones de marisma y duna, el uso antrópico del sector cambia. Aunque la pauta climática presenta un papel importante en la evolución de este sector, los cambios en la línea de costa que se detectan entre ambos periodos culturales pudo estar determinada también por causas socioecómicas.
 Evolution of a coastal area during the early Middle Ages in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula - This paper focuses on the evolution of a coastal stretch of the Ria de Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula) during the early Middle Ages, which presents an important archaeological site with a roman salt mine. Salt exploitation in the Roman period ceased around the AD 3rd-5th centuries, and was followed by the establishment of a churcheand a cemetery during the Middle Ages. The properties (pH, grain size, C, N, S, P, Fe and As, and mineralogicalcomposition) of three pedo-sedimentary sequences were analysed in order to identify the different environmental changes that affected this sector. The results suggest signifcant changes occurred in the coast from the late Roman period (AD 3rth-5th centuries) into the early Middle Ages (AD 5th-6th centuries), with an evolution from a marine-continental dynamics, with formation of salt marshes, to a wind dynamics, with dune formations. This change is consistent with the abandonment of the Roman salt exploitation and the beginning of Cold Dark Ages. These results are similar to those found in other areas of the Ría de Vigo. In the three sectors compared (Rosalia de Castro, Toralla and Hospital) land use changed while the progradation of marsh and dune formations occurred. Although climate may have played a major role in the evolution of this sector, the changes in the coastline between the two cultural periods could be also related to socio-economic causes.

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of an urban archaeological site: The Roman Salt mines of Vigo, northwest Iberia

“…(Bao, Alonso, Delgado, & Pages, ; Costas‐Otero, Muñoz, Alejo, & Pérez‐Arlucea, ; Dias, Boski, Rodrigues, & Magalhanes, ). The pedostratigraphic record at Rosalía de Castro and O Areal (Tallón‐Armada, ; Tallón‐Armada et al., , ) supports this interpretation, with a stabilization of the sedimentary system after 3500 yr B.P. and the formation of the fluvial–marine complex.…”

“…In Galicia, northwest Spain, our research group has conducted geoarchaeological research for several years (Tallón‐Armada, ; Tallón‐Armada, Costa‐Casais, & Taboada, ; Tallón‐Armada, Costa‐Casais, Taboada, & Martínez Cortizas, ), in most cases in collaboration with specialists in archaeology, highlighting the importance of such studies in order to understand the complexity of urban areas. This paper is but one example that has been developed along these lines.…”

“…In Galicia, northwest Spain, our research group has conducted geoarchaeological research for several years (Tallón-Armada, 2012; Tallón-Armada, Costa-Casais, & Taboada, 2015; Tallón-Armada, Costa-Casais, Taboada, & Martínez Cortizas, 2013), in most cases in collaboration with specialists in archaeology, highlighting the importance of Geoarchaeology. 2018;33:112-126. c 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 112 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gea such studies in order to understand the complexity of urban areas.…”

Plant Economy in the Westernmost Territory of the Roman State Through Waste: The Wet Site of O Areal (Vigo, Spain)

“…A peculiarity is that these ponds were located higher than the evaporation ponds, requiring brine of variable density -depending on the degree of Baumé reached-be transported to them manually or mechanically (García Vargas and Martínez Maganto 2017;Iglesias Darriba et al 2017). The increase in rainfall at the end of the 3rd century A.D. may have shortened the useful brine evaporation period (Tallón-Armada et al 2015), perhaps leading to the end of the saltworks' activity in the 4th century A.D. However, the lack of a general context for saltworking in northwestern Iberia renders it impossible to know whether salt production was abandoned because of changes in the activity of the fish-salting factories it served.…”

“…The abandonment of the saltworks is marked in the archaeological record by levels of stones resulting from the collapse of the surrounding structures, on which a level with a high content of silt and clay formed (Tallón-Armada et al 2018), plus an intercalated sandy deposit representative of a coastal-marine environment that accumulated a large amount of organic matter (Tallón-Armada et al 2015). The plant remains within it have been interpreted as the result of a higher tides (Iglesias Darriba et al 2017).…”