Specific palaeo-landscapes: pollen, soils and Archaeology of the site of As Pontes (Abadín, Lugo)

Abstract

The field work to assess the archaeological impact of the Gas pipeline in Galicia discovered a site with an interesting archaeological and environmental stratigraphy. Its base is dated lo preneolithic times and offers a small set of lithics related to that period. Then the location was used to establish a neolithic camp with complex firing structures. Once abandoned, the site was covered by a paleosoil that was cultivated in early·medieval times. The most complicated example of plough marks in Galician archeology was found here; they give us good information about agrarian technology. Archaeological interpretations were combined with pollen and soil analytics. The research strategy applied in this site allows us to define the landscape sequence for the period, showing not only the nature but also the land uses and patterns of change of this space. This paper is a good example of what could be called intensive micro-landscape archeology.