Reconstructing past terrace fields in the Pyrenees: Insights into land management and settlement from the Bronze Age to the Early Modern era at Vilalta (1650 masl, Cerdagne, France)

Abstract

The building of a solar power station at Thé mis, at 1650 masl on the south-facing slope of the Carlit massif in the eastern Pyrenees, led to an archaeological evaluation from April-June 2009. This evaluation covered a surface of 10 ha that included a medieval village as well as the surrounding agricultural land in terraces. Non-destructive archaeological methods were used for the village. A detailed study of the 6 ha of terraces began with a fieldwalking survey, mapping every visible feature, followed by systematic trial trenches. Fifty-five trenches, 11 in the village and 44 in the fields, were opened. The stratigraphies were then compared with a series of 22 radiocarbon dates and eight relative dates provided by ceramic typologies. This combination of surface and buried evidence supported our preliminary hypothesis about the dynamics of the slope. The results suggest the existence of agrarian features beginning in the Bronze Age and reveal that the field patterns were frequently transformed, both in the Medieval and Early Modern periods. The transformations in the terrace fields after the village was abandoned are as interesting as those during occupation because, contrary to the idea of a fixed, unchanging landscape after the end of the Middle Ages, they challenge the idea that mountain zones are marginal spaces by nature, or were marginalized later.

Agrarian landscapes in the Iberian Iron Age: Mountain communities and land use in southeastern Iberia

“…The inference is that numerical ages on soil OM should be interpreted with care and are more likely to have a higher degree of accuracy when samples come from undisturbed contexts, for example, high concentrations or lenses of charcoal (Rendu et al, , p. 473). In addition to using multiple dating methods, contextualizing the findings in archeological and sedimentary sequences renders them more useful (Krahtopoulou & Frederick, ).…”

“…The findings indicate that the physical‐chemical characteristics of topsoil SUs and SUs bearing evidence of ancient cultivars clearly differed. Fifth, another approach used to analyze dating consistency, namely the observation of possible chronostratigraphic inversions, was applied (Rendu et al, , p. 473). In this case, Samples 2, 5, 6, 11, 12, and 13 (Table ) exhibit a consistent sequence, without inversions.…”

“…Drainage systems have also been described archeologically in Cinque Terre and in Hellenistic fields at Saint‐Jean‐du‐Désert (Boissinot, , p. 48). Such ancient examples have not been found in Iberia, although the technique appears to have been widespread in the Middle Ages (Puy et al, ; Rendu et al, ). The fossae caecae (closed ditches) described by Columella ( De re rustica II , 2, 10) merit mention: ditches half‐filled with small pebbles ( lapides minuti ) or clean gravel ( nuda glarea ), topped off with the excavation soil.…”

“…Two ages on naked wheat remains (Late Antiquity) as well as ages on sediment and ceramic sherds (IIA‐Roman Republican) in SU 3, T2 (Samples Nos 3–5; Table ) suggest either a long and continuous time series or a number of discrete stages. The drainage system interpretation might explain the scant thickness of this layer and its periodic variety, for drainage would hinder sediment accumulation and running water would explain the presence of materials dating from widely different eras (Rendu et al, ). Other explanations are also possible, such as the possible percolation of more recent materials into SU 3 (Ap3).…”

“…Case studies like the Jutia survey are therefore deemed useful to drive progress from the mere detection of agriculture to the study of more complex issues such as land management and use. Moreover, terracing and drainage tend to go hand‐in‐hand, forming joint systems (Rendu et al, , p. 467). The present hypothesis is that modern terracing, attested to in mid‐20th century aerial photography but no longer extant, may have buried structures on the oldest hillside, as has been theorized for other landscapes (Rendu et al, ).…”