Connecting site to landscape: exploring middle march border castles to understand the dynamics of cultural and ecological changes

Luca Mattei (1) , Guillermo Garcia Contreras-Ruiz (1) , Guillermo Garcia Contreras-Ruiz (1) , Marcos Garcia-Garcia (2) , Rowena Banerjea (3) , Yaiza Hernandez-Casas (1) , Jérôme Ros (4) , Michelle Alexander (5) , Aleks Pluskowski (3)

1 UGR - Universidad de Granada = University of Granada
2 Universidad de Alicante
3 UOR - University of Reading
4 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
5 University of York [York, UK]

The dynamics that support the cultural and ecological changes that occur on a large scale in the border area of the Middle March in Iberia during the medieval period can be understood as a whole, by linking the regional environmental information of the landscape and territory with data from the detailed analysis of settlements. A connection between the micro and macro scale requires a continuous dialogue in both directions to generate knowledge.The main aim of this paper is to present the micro-scale results of the studies carried out in the castles of Molina de Aragón and Atienza. The laboratory analyses and the material record from the excavations carried out in 2021 have enabled us to better understand not only the spatial and functional contexts of some of these structures, but also to refine their chronological framework and ultimately to develop an initial interpretation of their occupation within a broader historical context. These initial data enable us, for the first time, to present a narrative concerning daily life in these castles, the changing character of their occupation and use, and their associated long-distance connections including the exploitation of resources and the reach of their commercial networks. This new information will integrate and enrich the concept of ‘castlescape’, that in its definition tries to create synergies between the archaeological deposits of castles and the sediments in their surrounding landscape. This is essential for developing our understanding of these castles and their diachronic roles in the territory that surrounds them.

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Luca Mattei, Guillermo Garcia Contreras-Ruiz, Guillermo Garcia Contreras-Ruiz, Marcos Garcia-Garcia, Rowena Banerjea, et al.. Connecting site to landscape: exploring middle march border castles to understand the dynamics of cultural and ecological changes. 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Aug 2022, Budapest, Hungary. ⟨halshs-03788605⟩