Sixty-six new archaeological sites have been discovered thanks to the combined use of different remote sensing techniques and open access geospatial datasets (mainly aerial photography, satellite imagery, and airborne LiDAR). These sites enhance the footprint of the Roman military presence in the northern fringe of the River Duero basin (León, Palencia, Burgos and Cantabria provinces, Spain). This paper provides a detailed morphological description of 66 Roman military camps in northwestern Iberia that date to the late Republic or early Imperial eras. We discuss the different spatial datasets and GIS tools used for different geographic contexts of varied terrain and vegetation. Finally, it stresses out the relevance of these novel data to delve into the rationale behind the Roman army movements between the northern Duero valley and the southern foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains. We conclude that methodological approaches stimulated by open-access geospatial datasets and enriched by geoscientific techniques are fundamental to understand the expansion of the Roman state in northwestern Iberia during the 1st c. BC properly. This renewed context set up a challenging scenario to overcome traditional archaeological perspectives still influenced by the cultural-historical paradigm and the pre-eminence of classical written sources.
Author contribution: the idea for this article emerged from extensive discussions at the twiceyearly International Mediterranean Survey Workshops. Bintliff and Attema took the lead in collecting the literature and drafting the text, using input from all other authors. Attema and Van Leusen drafted the recommendations. 1
Desde 2008 hemos desarrollado un amplio programa de investigación en la comarca del Odra-Pisuerga y tierras de Amaya que tiene como objetivo ahondar en los procesos fundamentales que nos permitan conocer el cambio cultural, político, social y económico producido en el paisaje entre la Segunda Edad del Hierro y el final de la época romana. Por su abrumadora riqueza arqueológica, hemos escogido como caso de estudio el área de Sasamón, donde nos encontramos con un oppidum prerromano, algunos indicios de presencia militar romana y una ciudad fundada a inicios del periodo imperial. Habida cuenta del potencial que esta región presentaba para la documentación de estructuras arqueológicas mediante fotografía aérea, llevamos a cabo una campaña de fotografíado y levantamiento fotogramétrico con UAV en primavera de 2019. Esta intervención nos ha permitido, entre otras cosas, incrementar nuestro conocimiento sobre la presencia militar romana en la zona, así como definir con mayor precisión el urbanismo romano de la ciudad de Segisamo.
Recent changes to the availability and accessibility of LiDAR data in Italy have greatly expanded the potential for their exploration by members of the general public. Further promotion of this fact and how to engage with such data could prove to be of significant value to both archaeologists and other interested parties.
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