Resumo
This proposal is based on my doctoral thesis project, which aims to analyse the historical sequence of the Iron Age (8th-2nd centuries B.C.E.) in the Upper-Middle Ebro and Upper Douro basins (Northern Spain).One of the characteristics of this study area is the fragmentation and scarcity of archaeological information on this period, as well as the absence of studies that relate the different sites to each other and their surroundings. To overcome these limitations, in this project I approach the archaeological record from the theoretical-methodological framework of Landscape Archaeology, including the use of GIS and LiDAR products or derivatives.LiDAR datasets are widely available and open access in Spain thanks to the efforts of the National Geographic Institute. Despite the availability of these datasets, their archaeological application has been limited in the study area. Some preliminary results of its application as part of my doctoral project on Iron Age landscapes have been:1. The identification of new archaeological sites thanks to remote sensing, which were later verified through archaeological prospections on the ground.2. The improved characterisation of some sites already catalogued in the regional archaeological inventories.3. Obtaining quantitative information to analyse the monumentality of the fortified sites and the effort invested in their construction, which allows us to approach social variables of the Iron Age communities.4. Obtaining volumetric information to differentiate defensive elements from recent agricultural terraces, whose morphology generated interpretative errors in the location and interpretation of archaeological sites.In this paper, I discuss the results obtained in my on-going investigation to reflect the potential of LiDAR datasets for the archaeological analysis of Iron Age landscapes, as well as the possibilities it has to overcome interpretative problems derived from the morphological characteristics of some Mediterranean landscapes.
Palabras chave
LiDAR. Iron Age. Northern Spain. GIS. Landscape Archaeology.