Evolution and change in agricultural practice is a major factor in the codification of social relations and represents one of the main resources employed by human societies to establish a durable relationship with their environment. Using a multi-proxy integrated approach, this paper seeks to decipher the long-term dynamics that have shaped agricultural landscapes in the Basque Country (N Spain). Social and economic indicators (archival records, toponymy and oral sources) are used along with geological core sampling (geochemistry, magnetic, palynological and carpological analyses) to reconstruct a diachronic sequence of human settlement and agricultural management in the village of Aizarna over the last ~1500 years. The oldest records obtained refer to non-agricultural human activities dating back to the Roman period. Later on, traces of agricultural landscape-transformation can be divided into four main phases: 1) the onset of terraced agriculture, defined by the clearance and terracing of previous forested areas during the Early Middle Ages; 2) a Late Medieval reorganisation, with new terraces being (re)constructed close to dispersed farmsteads, linked to the emergence of the modern rural landscape; 3) a new model of intensive polyculture developed during the Modern period as a consequence of the introduction of new crops of American origin; and 4) the mechanisation and commercialisation of the agricultural production over the 20 th century. These results provide a valuable pathway for the investigation of currently inhabited rural contexts, and offer, for the first time in this region, an overview on long-term landscape construction in the Atlantic areas of the Basque Country.
El estudio arqueológico de las comunidades rurales actualmente habitadas ofrece la posibilidad de abordar una serie de problemas historiográficos hasta ahora poco explorados. Este artículo discute los problemas, los métodos y los resultados que pueden derivarse de la investigación arqueológica de los pueblos actuales y presenta la metodología transdisciplinar que ha sido aplicada en las recientes intervenciones llevadas a cabo en el área de Erretorekoa (Aizarna, Gipuzkoa). Lejos de los marcos interpretativos tradicionales, los resultados obtenidos revelan que una parte del poblamiento rural actual pudo originarse en época antigua, evidenciando la resiliencia del mismo. En este sentido, es necesario desarrollar marcos conceptuales adecuados para el reconocimiento, estudio e interpretación de este tipo de registros, mediante el diseño de metodologías específicas que permitan superar las limitaciones impuestas por la propia continuidad de la ocupación en estos contextos. LABURPENA Landa-komunitate bizien ikerketa arkeologikoak orain arte gutxi landu izan diren zenbait arazo historiografikori heltzeko aukera eskaintzen du. Lan honetan, egungo herrien ikerketari lotutako arazoak, metodoak eta emaitza potentzialak jorratzen dira; eta, testuinguru honetan, berriki Erretorekoa inguruan (Aizarna, Gipuzkoa) gauzatu diren esku-hartzeetan erabili den metodologia transdisziplinarra azaltzen da. Ohiko irizpide teorikoetatik urrun, proiektu honetako emaitzek erakusten dute egungo landa-populamenduaren zati bat behintzat Antzinaroan egituratu ahal izan zela, laborari-gizarte hauen erresilientzia-gaitasuna agerian utziz. Zentzu honetan, beharrezkoa izango da erregistro mota honen ezagutza, ikerketa eta interpretazioa garatzeko oinarri teoriko egokiak sortzea, eta herri hauen okupazio-jarraipenak berak haien ikerketari ezartzen dizkion oztopoak gainditzeko moduko metodologiak garatzea.
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