Medieval rural landscapes and social change in Northern Spain: the archaeobotanical record for Zaballa (Alava, Basque Country)

Abstract

In this paper, anthracological and palynological records of the Medieval deserted village of Zaballa in Alava (Basque Country, Northern Spain) are used to examine the transformation of rural landscapes. At this site, a large-scale archaeological project was carried out and a long period of occupation (6 th -16 th century) discovered. A good range of bioarchaeological and geoarchaeological evidence was also found. Archaeobotanical remains provided comprehensive proxies, which can be used to better understand the local economy, landscape dynamics, agrarian terraces and field systems. These data permit an examination of the role of the local community and the external agents that shaped agrarian and domestic spaces as well as the impact of aristocratic powers on rural settlements. The cross use of pollen and charcoal data allow us to relate the progressive reduction of the arboreal component during the Middle Ages with the increasing of the agrarian production, the periodical reorganization of the cultivated spaces, and the introduction of new production strategies.