SACHAR

David González-Álvarez (Archaeology)

The SACHAR project will investigate the productive, cultural and socio-environmental bases that shaped the formation of rural landscapes in NW Iberia between the 16th and 21st centuries. In particular, the project will examine the diverse responses of peasant communities to a range of historical and economic processes, including industrialisation, the expansion of global markets and the consolidation of the liberal state. These processes can be linked to the expansion of modernity. This enables a diachronic reading of these processes from an archaeological perspective, recognising historical diversity across various territories and chronologies. Additionally, it permits the consideration of environmental impact at different material scales, from the domestic sphere to agrarian and pastoralist productive areas. We have elected to focus our research in mountainous regions, as they offer optimal settings for identifying global processes from marginalized perspectives and contextualizing the project within the broader demographic challenge currently facing these territories. By examining the historical evolution of rural landscapes and their underlying historical processes, we aim to develop a nuanced understanding of the current crisis in these regions and to inform the development of more effective territorial management models.

The lengthy period spanning five centuries, beginning with the dissolution of feudalism and extending to the present, has been relatively underresearched by Spanish archaeologists, particularly concerning the rural sphere. The peasant social contexts have been primarily examined from the perspective of disciplines such as History, Anthropology, and Geography. This approach has yielded static and homogeneous images that portray rural communities in passive roles, dependent on urban dynamics. These dynamics have dominated the analysis of pivotal changes and events that shape the broader historical narrative. SACHAR will address the diversity of processes observed in mountainous areas as a consequence of changes and continuities in peasant ways of life in the face of the spread of Modernity. This will help to elucidate the intricate biographies of the rural landscapes of the Iberian northwest, in which peasant groups are prominent actors whose capacity for historically situated action in coherence with their cultural and identity traits should be emphasised.

To achieve this objective, the SACHAR project employs two case studies (CE) in mountainous regions, enabling the observation of both common patterns and divergent factors. These case studies are situated in the regions of Babia (Léon) and Terra de Montes (Pontevedra). A comparative analysis of these case studies will enable a more nuanced understanding of the complex processes at play in the Iberian countryside. By focusing on the conditions of the historicity of these processes, the project will contribute to the development of a more robust body of knowledge in historical and landscape archaeology in the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, it will provide insights that can be applied to current debates, such as the demographic challenge.

Historical Archaeology. Landscape Archaeology. Cultural landscapes. Rural studies.

01/04/2025 - 31/03/2027

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