To see or to be seen... is that the question? An evaluation of palaeolithic sites' visual presence and their role in social organization

Visibility is one of the most common features considered when analyzing site location; visual control of a territory is usually considered to be a desirable characteristic for a prehistoric settlement. However, the role that visibility could have played in the perception of sites, as a significant e...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: García Moreno, Alejandro|||0000-0003-4861-7774
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repositorio:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/21530
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10902/21530
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Visibility
Settlement
Site location preferences
GIS
Late palaeolithic
Social organization
Symbolism
Cantabria
Descripción
Sumario:Visibility is one of the most common features considered when analyzing site location; visual control of a territory is usually considered to be a desirable characteristic for a prehistoric settlement. However, the role that visibility could have played in the perception of sites, as a significant element of palaeolithic landscapes, has been rarely evaluated. Sites can act not only as settlements but as places for population aggregations, social interactions and symbolic activities; in this context, the relevance presence of a site within the landscape could have been an influencing factor in site location preferences. This paper focuses on the visual presence of a set of sites from Late palaeolithic Cantabria (Northern Iberian Peninsula), and evaluates how the way they were perceived could have been related to their role in the social organization of foraging communities.