Socio-ecology of Early and Middle Bronze Age communities in the northwest Atlantic region of Iberia: Wood resources procurement and forest management

This paper focuses on the web of relationships established between Early and Middle Bronze Age communities and their environment in Northwest Iberia. Charcoal remains recovered from settlements and funerary sites in this area can inform a greater understanding of wood resource procurement and woodla...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Martín-Seijo, María, Pedro Tereso, João, Bettencourt, Ana M. S., Sampaio, Hugo A., Abad Vidal, Emilio, Vidal Caeiro, Lorena
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2017
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositório:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/343827
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/343827
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84940887686
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Woodland management
Charcoal analysis
Early Bronze Age
Middle Bronze Age
Northwest Iberia
Wood resource procurement
Descrição
Resumo:This paper focuses on the web of relationships established between Early and Middle Bronze Age communities and their environment in Northwest Iberia. Charcoal remains recovered from settlements and funerary sites in this area can inform a greater understanding of wood resource procurement and woodland management strategies adopted by these small-scale communities. Although charcoal analysis of contexts with chronologies ranging from 2200 to 1200 cal. BC is not commonly undertaken in this area, data from this period are of great importance because it represents a phase of major deforestation and landscape change. Wood resources were local and exploitation was conditioned by their availability in the environs of the sites. These communities established a clear preference for Quercus wood, combined recurrently with shrubby species of the Fabaceae family. This co-occurrence, previously observed in Middle and Late Bronze Age contexts, could extend back to the Early Bronze Age and even to the Late Neolithic. The presence of small trees and shrubs such as Rosaceae/Maloideae and Corylus avellana could be related with the open landscape that characterises this period, and with the existence of woodland management practices designed to prevent forest regeneration.