Social history of agriculture at medieval rural sites in the northern of the Iberia Peninsula: Aistra and Zornoztegi (Alava, Spain). (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Quirós-Castillo, Juan Antonio; Tereso, João Pedro; Seabra, Luís
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 33(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: Estate centre -- Village -- Carpology -- Social history -- Deserted village -- Basque Country -- Archaeobotany; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102442
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Highlights: Comparing an estate center and an early medieval village to infer consumption trends. The differences attested are related to economic trends and the sources of social power. The sites are discussed in the context of Northern Iberia and other European sites. The paper considers site formation processes and their impact on the interpretation. Abstract: In the last few years, large-scale archaeological projects carried out at medieval sites in the Basque Country have obtained a significant collection of archaeobotanical assemblages, creating the opportunity to address, from a fresh perspective, a social history of agriculture in the region. This paper presents the study of the village of Zornoztegi (occupied from the Chalcolithic to the Late Medieval Ages, ca. 2500 BCE-1350 CE) and the estate centre of Aistra (settled during the Early Medieval period, 500–1000 CE), both of them located in the Province of Alava, 5 km apart. The comparison between the two sites, characterized by different food consumption patterns, architectures, everyday assemblages and social structure, sheds light upon food and productive practices, the socio-political structure of early medieval rural sites and the sources of social power in non-Carolingian areas. This paper also discusses site formation processes and their impact on the interpretation of the sites, crop productions and consumption patterns in the context of northern Iberia, and some remarks regarding agriculture production.