Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village

[EN] Burnt houses are a recurrent phenomenon in the prehistoric archaeological record, yet the specific processes behind their burning—likely varying across time and place—remain poorly understood. This study focuses on a thoroughly studied dwelling (House 1) from the Iberian Early Iron Age settleme...

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Autores: Tomé, Laura, Blanco González, Antonio, Iriarte, Eneko, Carrancho, Ángel, García Redondo, Natalia, Sossa Ríos, Santiago, Sánchez Polo, Alejandra, Martín Seijo, María, Mallol Duque, Carolina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/166528
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/166528
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Geoarchaeology
Micromorphology
Early Iron Age
House burning
Household archaeology
Earthen architecture
Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)
5504.05 Prehistoria
5505.01 Arqueología
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spelling Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age villageTomé, LauraBlanco González, AntonioIriarte, EnekoCarrancho, ÁngelGarcía Redondo, NataliaSossa Ríos, SantiagoSánchez Polo, AlejandraMartín Seijo, MaríaMallol Duque, CarolinaGeoarchaeologyMicromorphologyEarly Iron AgeHouse burningHousehold archaeologyEarthen architectureCerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)5504.05 Prehistoria5505.01 Arqueología[EN] Burnt houses are a recurrent phenomenon in the prehistoric archaeological record, yet the specific processes behind their burning—likely varying across time and place—remain poorly understood. This study focuses on a thoroughly studied dwelling (House 1) from the Iberian Early Iron Age settlement of Cerro de San Vicente and investigates site formation processes associated with its burning. To achieve this, we applied a multi-proxy geoarchaeological approach, integrating archaeological soil micromorphology—including charcoal analysis on thin sections—, magnetic properties analyses, XRD, XRF, and GIS-based morphological and spatial analyses of mudbricks. Our results suggest that House 1 experienced a high temperature fire, reaching temperatures of up to ∼700 °C, which destroyed its roof, burnt its walls, and generated an ash deposit rich in combustion residues. Shortly thereafter, the house was deliberately infilled with burnt reused mudbricks, recycled both from its dismantled walls and potentially other buildings across the settlement. This practice likely served to raise the level of the house to compensate for midden accumulation in the surrounding transit areas while providing a foundation for new construction phases. These findings suggest that construction materials were reused over time according to context-specific cultural rationales, potentially reflecting elements of a prehistoric circular economy. This research enhances our understanding of settlement and socio-cultural dynamics at Cerro de San Vicente, while contributing to broader archaeological discussions on the roles of prehistoric house burning practices.Project ARQPARENT (PID2019105796GB-I00) of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033)Elsevier202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10366/166528reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamancainstname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)InglésAEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:gredos.usal.es:10366/1665282026-06-07T06:28:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
title Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
spellingShingle Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
Tomé, Laura
Geoarchaeology
Micromorphology
Early Iron Age
House burning
Household archaeology
Earthen architecture
Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)
5504.05 Prehistoria
5505.01 Arqueología
title_short Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
title_full Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
title_fullStr Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
title_full_unstemmed Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
title_sort Raised from the ashes: Geoarchaeological perspectives on house burning practices in an Iberian Iron Age village
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Tomé, Laura
Blanco González, Antonio
Iriarte, Eneko
Carrancho, Ángel
García Redondo, Natalia
Sossa Ríos, Santiago
Sánchez Polo, Alejandra
Martín Seijo, María
Mallol Duque, Carolina
author Tomé, Laura
author_facet Tomé, Laura
Blanco González, Antonio
Iriarte, Eneko
Carrancho, Ángel
García Redondo, Natalia
Sossa Ríos, Santiago
Sánchez Polo, Alejandra
Martín Seijo, María
Mallol Duque, Carolina
author_role author
author2 Blanco González, Antonio
Iriarte, Eneko
Carrancho, Ángel
García Redondo, Natalia
Sossa Ríos, Santiago
Sánchez Polo, Alejandra
Martín Seijo, María
Mallol Duque, Carolina
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Geoarchaeology
Micromorphology
Early Iron Age
House burning
Household archaeology
Earthen architecture
Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)
5504.05 Prehistoria
5505.01 Arqueología
topic Geoarchaeology
Micromorphology
Early Iron Age
House burning
Household archaeology
Earthen architecture
Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Spain)
5504.05 Prehistoria
5505.01 Arqueología
description [EN] Burnt houses are a recurrent phenomenon in the prehistoric archaeological record, yet the specific processes behind their burning—likely varying across time and place—remain poorly understood. This study focuses on a thoroughly studied dwelling (House 1) from the Iberian Early Iron Age settlement of Cerro de San Vicente and investigates site formation processes associated with its burning. To achieve this, we applied a multi-proxy geoarchaeological approach, integrating archaeological soil micromorphology—including charcoal analysis on thin sections—, magnetic properties analyses, XRD, XRF, and GIS-based morphological and spatial analyses of mudbricks. Our results suggest that House 1 experienced a high temperature fire, reaching temperatures of up to ∼700 °C, which destroyed its roof, burnt its walls, and generated an ash deposit rich in combustion residues. Shortly thereafter, the house was deliberately infilled with burnt reused mudbricks, recycled both from its dismantled walls and potentially other buildings across the settlement. This practice likely served to raise the level of the house to compensate for midden accumulation in the surrounding transit areas while providing a foundation for new construction phases. These findings suggest that construction materials were reused over time according to context-specific cultural rationales, potentially reflecting elements of a prehistoric circular economy. This research enhances our understanding of settlement and socio-cultural dynamics at Cerro de San Vicente, while contributing to broader archaeological discussions on the roles of prehistoric house burning practices.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10366/166528
url http://hdl.handle.net/10366/166528
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
instname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
instname_str Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
reponame_str GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
collection GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,811543

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