Papers by Natàlia Alonso Martínez
After thousands of years of exclusive use of saddle querns for grinding grain, a series of sophis... more After thousands of years of exclusive use of saddle querns for grinding grain, a series of sophisticated mills appeared and
developed in the Mediterranean during the second half of the first millennium BC and the beginning of the Common Era. These were the
Olynthus mill, the rotary hand mill, the Iberian rotary pushing mill, the Morgantina mill, the Pompeian mill, the ring mill, the Delian mill,
the watermill and the geared mill. Although studies of aspects of this subject have appeared in the past, these have usually been limited to
one mill type or region. In this paper we intend to present an overview of the dynamics of innovation, continuity, influences and spread of
these different milling systems.
An area between land and water was chosen in
the 7th century BC by native Gauls and foreign Etrus... more An area between land and water was chosen in
the 7th century BC by native Gauls and foreign Etruscan
and Greek merchants to establish a commercial enclave.
Then, in the early 5th century BC, this initial settlement at
La Cougourlude with post-built houses on the banks of the
small coastal river Lironde was relocated to the margins of
a nearby lagoon along the Mediterranean coast, giving rise
to the walled port city of Lattara. Archaeological excavations
undertaken in the 2000s along the southern wall of
Lattara in Quarter 27 revealed three houses which contained
almost exclusively Etruscan pottery. The objective
of this study is to analyse the archaeobotanical remains
from these dwellings so as to identify the plant foods which
were consumed and used by their inhabitants, as well as the
methods of storage. The question arises whether anything
particularly relating to Etruscan origins can be detected
from the diet of the inhabitants. To study this aspect we
have compared the data collected during the excavation
with research undertaken at neighbouring settlements
dating from periods either older, contemporary with or
younger than Lattara, as well as research undertaken at
sites in the Etruscan area of Italy.
EXARC Journal
The idea to create the Experimental Camp of Protohistory (CEP) emerged in late 2009. It was set u... more The idea to create the Experimental Camp of Protohistory (CEP) emerged in late 2009. It was set up in a field adjacent to the Iberian Culture settlement of Estinclells (Verdú, Urgell), an archaeological site with only one phase of occupation that offers an exceptional portrait of life in the 3rd century BC. The aim of the camp is to concentrate the main lines of Protohistoric experimental research in a single space. These lines include construction, agriculture and processing products. A special emphasis is placed on production of olive oil, livestock and the manufacture of pottery.
Quaternary Internationsl, 2014
Written sources provide plentiful information on the agricultural plant species present in al-And... more Written sources provide plentiful information on the agricultural plant species present in al-Andalus, and they are also informative with regard to which species were introduced into the Iberian Peninsula during this period. This work approaches the matter from an archaeobotanical perspective, in order to make a first assessment of the species and agricultural practices found in northeast al-Andalus, the new techniques adopted and the legacy of Roman agriculture.
This is a pioneering study in the field of medieval Islamic agriculture. Archaeobotanical samples obtained from the excavations at Pla d’Almatà (Balaguer), Lleida and Tortosa, and more specifically, from the levels corresponding to the Islamic period (Madîna Balagî, Madîna Lârida and Madîna Turṭûsa), have yielded a large volume of data. Analyses have been carried out on a considerable number of seeds and fruits found in a charred or mineralised state. Cereals are particularly abundant, and consist mainly of hulled barley and naked wheat. Evidence for several oil plants (gold of pleasure, flax) and fruits (fig, olives, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, apples, melon/cucumber, peaches, pine nuts and almonds) has also been noted. The taxa cited in the written sources as having been introduced during the Islamic period have proven to be very difficult to characterise archaeobotanically, and few have been identified.
The rotary quern is an Iberian innovation; it was probably designed in the northeast of the Iberi... more The rotary quern is an Iberian innovation; it was probably designed in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula and spread rapidly and with apparent success. This could be because the new quern allowed the intensification of flour production, thereby freeing up labour for other tasks. The morphological diversity is significant. There are no clear trends and it seems that both domestic and community production may have coexisted. In any case it remains an unappreciated object in archaeological research, which impedes a detailed approach to its history and evolution.
The milling of cereals, plants and other materials is an essential activity for the subsistence o... more The milling of cereals, plants and other materials is an essential activity for the subsistence of human societies. The most representative archaeological artefacts related to this task are querns. However, they are only one part of a more complex operational sequence that stretches beyond these mechanisms and involves other tools such as mortars and sieves that yield a much broader range of cereal products than those commonly identified. This paper reviews the publications from recent decades that have addressed this subject from the point of view of ethnography, ethnoarchaeology and archaeobotany and considers the numerous features involved in the processing of more common types cereals.
Anderson, P.C, Cheval, C, Durand, A., An interdisciplinar focus on plant-working tools, Éditions APDCA, Antibes, 2013, 155--168.
Peacock, D., Williams, D. (ed), Bread for the people, Proceedings of the colloquium held in the British School at Rome 4th - 7th November 2009, BAR Int. Ser. 2274, Southampton Archaeology Monograph, Archaeopress: 55-65. , 2011
Janin, Th. (dir.), Premières données sur le cinquième siècle avant notre ère dans la ville de Lattara, Lattara 21, 2010: 329-386, 2010
Mata, C., Pérez, G., Vives-Ferrándiz, J. (ed.), De la cuina a la taula, IV Reunió d'Economia en el primer mil·lenni aC, Saguntum, Universitat de València, 2010, 171-182., 2010
Valenzuela, S., et al. (ed.), Economia agropecuària i canvi social a partir de les restes bioarqueològiques. El primer mil·lenni aC a la Mediterrània occidental, Universitat de Barcelona, ICAC, 2011, 11-36., 2011
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 17, Issue 1 Supplement, 149-158, 2008
Hordeum vulgare and Triticum aestivum/durum are the most important crops found from the early Ibe... more Hordeum vulgare and Triticum aestivum/durum are the most important crops found from the early Iberian period in the fort of Els Vilars d’Arbeca. The unusual nature of this settlement with its spectacular defensive system brings us to consider various questions such as knowing at which stage of their processing the cereal crops arrived there, or which areas of the restricted interior space of the fort could have been used for crop processing activities and storage. The analyses of the samples collected at the site shows that the crops would have been carried indoors for storage after processing. Once inside, the crops would have been stored as bulk semi-clean grain in an as yet unknown building used as a granary. The post-storage cleaning operations would have happened daily, in a domestic context involving small amounts and in different rooms spread all over the enclosure. Nevertheless, some zones of the settlement show a higher density of crop items, which could maybe indicate sporadic communal post-storage crop processing there.
Although several proxies for the inference of precipitation have been proposed, evidence of chang... more Although several proxies for the inference of precipitation have been proposed, evidence of changes in aridity during the Holocene is scarce, and most is only qualitative. Moreover, precipitation regimes show relatively poor spatial correlations and can exhibit contrasting responses to global climate trends in different areas. Thus, there is a need to concentrate efforts at the local scale in order to increase the spatial resolution of palaeoclimate records, especially regarding water availability in semiarid zones. We propose the analysis of carbon isotope composition (d13C) in fossil charcoal (routinely recovered from archaeological sites) to quantify changes in water availability in the past. We applied this approach to reconstruct variations in aridity during the last four millennia in the Ebro Depression (NE Iberian Peninsula). First, we studied the effect of carbonization over a range of temperatures (300–500 1C) on the d13C of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) wood cores, collected from nine locations in NE Iberian Peninsula with distinct water availability. Despite significant changes in d13C caused by carbonization, the original climatic signal of wood d13C was well preserved. Moreover, d13C shifts induced by this process were successfully corrected by accounting for variation in charcoal carbon concentration (%C). After removing the effect of carbonization,
we estimated annual precipitation (P) and the ratio between annual precipitation and evapotranspiration (P/E) from the d13C of fossil charcoal. In general, estimated water availability in the past was higher than present values, indicating that latter-day
(semiarid) conditions are mostly due to recent climate changes. The good agreement between our findings and other evidence indicates that the analysis of d13C in charcoal may be useful to expand current palaeoclimate records as it provides a complementary (and quantitative) source of information to assess climate dynamics.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 17, 75-84, 2008
Various sites in the valley of the Sant Cugat stream in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Catalonia) were su... more Various sites in the valley of the Sant Cugat stream in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Catalonia) were subject to systematic archaeobotanical sampling to obtain an overview of the crops and agriculture of the area during the Iron Age and late antiquity. In all cases, the most numerous taxa were crop plants. Among these, cereals were clearly predominant at all sites investigated, especially Hordeum vulgare var. vulgare (hulled barley) and Triticum aestivum/durum (bread or macaroni wheat), both in numbers and frequency. Other cereals, such as Triticum dicoccum (emmer) or Setaria italica (foxtail bristle-grass), were regularly present in considerably lower numbers but in fairly high frequencies. Pulses were much less numerous, although their presence increases in terms of frequency. Among them, clearly the best represented was Lens culinaris (lentil). The results show that the agriculture in the period considered was principally based on winter cereals, with a gradual substitution of hulled barley by bread/hard wheat, accompanied by other cereals of minor importance, led by Triticum dicoccum (emmer), and pulses. The appearance of Vitis (grapevine) in the Iberian period is one of the important characteristics of agriculture in the Iberian world.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 14. 341-361, 2005
The urban archaeological excavations carried out in the city of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain) have op... more The urban archaeological excavations carried out in the city of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain) have opened the way for an interdisciplinary project on the ancient landscape, agriculture and food. Here we present the results of the archaeobotanical study of seeds and fruits from this project, centred on the Roman and Islamic periods of the city, between the 2nd century B.C. and the 11th century A.D. During the whole of this period the cultivation and consumption of cereals was found. The most important cereals were hulled barley and naked wheat. This was already known from the later prehistoric era in the area and is similar to findings at other sites from the same period in the western Mediterranean. These cereals are accompanied by some leguminous crops and the presence of grapes and figs is very significant. The expansion of vine cultivation, together with a certain amount of tree growing was one of the basic contributions of the Roman world to proto-historical (Bronze- and Iron Age) agriculture in western Catalonia, as in other parts of Europe. In the Islamic period, there seems to have been an increase in the number of fruit tree species; however for taphonomical reasons this has to be confirmed by future investigations. Flax, already known in prehistoric times, and Gold-of-pleasure must be added to the finds. Also since the Roman period some other taxa, such as celery or fennel, might have been grown. During the time period considered in this paper, there was a wide range of plants grown and consumed. This clearly contrasts with everything known about earlier periods in western Catalonia, during which the only cultivated plants were cereals and flax.
L'Âge dur fer en Europe - Mélanges offerts à Olivier Buchsenschutz: 405-419., 2013
Bakels, C., Fennema, K., Out, W., Vermeeren, C. (eds.), Of plants and snails: A collection of papers presented to Wim Kuijper in gratitude for forty years of teaching and identifying, Sidestone Press, Leiden, 217-226., 2010
Arqueología de la tierra. Paisajes rurales de la protohistoria peninsular, Cáceres, 2007, 327-373., 2007
Uploads
Papers by Natàlia Alonso Martínez
developed in the Mediterranean during the second half of the first millennium BC and the beginning of the Common Era. These were the
Olynthus mill, the rotary hand mill, the Iberian rotary pushing mill, the Morgantina mill, the Pompeian mill, the ring mill, the Delian mill,
the watermill and the geared mill. Although studies of aspects of this subject have appeared in the past, these have usually been limited to
one mill type or region. In this paper we intend to present an overview of the dynamics of innovation, continuity, influences and spread of
these different milling systems.
the 7th century BC by native Gauls and foreign Etruscan
and Greek merchants to establish a commercial enclave.
Then, in the early 5th century BC, this initial settlement at
La Cougourlude with post-built houses on the banks of the
small coastal river Lironde was relocated to the margins of
a nearby lagoon along the Mediterranean coast, giving rise
to the walled port city of Lattara. Archaeological excavations
undertaken in the 2000s along the southern wall of
Lattara in Quarter 27 revealed three houses which contained
almost exclusively Etruscan pottery. The objective
of this study is to analyse the archaeobotanical remains
from these dwellings so as to identify the plant foods which
were consumed and used by their inhabitants, as well as the
methods of storage. The question arises whether anything
particularly relating to Etruscan origins can be detected
from the diet of the inhabitants. To study this aspect we
have compared the data collected during the excavation
with research undertaken at neighbouring settlements
dating from periods either older, contemporary with or
younger than Lattara, as well as research undertaken at
sites in the Etruscan area of Italy.
This is a pioneering study in the field of medieval Islamic agriculture. Archaeobotanical samples obtained from the excavations at Pla d’Almatà (Balaguer), Lleida and Tortosa, and more specifically, from the levels corresponding to the Islamic period (Madîna Balagî, Madîna Lârida and Madîna Turṭûsa), have yielded a large volume of data. Analyses have been carried out on a considerable number of seeds and fruits found in a charred or mineralised state. Cereals are particularly abundant, and consist mainly of hulled barley and naked wheat. Evidence for several oil plants (gold of pleasure, flax) and fruits (fig, olives, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, apples, melon/cucumber, peaches, pine nuts and almonds) has also been noted. The taxa cited in the written sources as having been introduced during the Islamic period have proven to be very difficult to characterise archaeobotanically, and few have been identified.
we estimated annual precipitation (P) and the ratio between annual precipitation and evapotranspiration (P/E) from the d13C of fossil charcoal. In general, estimated water availability in the past was higher than present values, indicating that latter-day
(semiarid) conditions are mostly due to recent climate changes. The good agreement between our findings and other evidence indicates that the analysis of d13C in charcoal may be useful to expand current palaeoclimate records as it provides a complementary (and quantitative) source of information to assess climate dynamics.
developed in the Mediterranean during the second half of the first millennium BC and the beginning of the Common Era. These were the
Olynthus mill, the rotary hand mill, the Iberian rotary pushing mill, the Morgantina mill, the Pompeian mill, the ring mill, the Delian mill,
the watermill and the geared mill. Although studies of aspects of this subject have appeared in the past, these have usually been limited to
one mill type or region. In this paper we intend to present an overview of the dynamics of innovation, continuity, influences and spread of
these different milling systems.
the 7th century BC by native Gauls and foreign Etruscan
and Greek merchants to establish a commercial enclave.
Then, in the early 5th century BC, this initial settlement at
La Cougourlude with post-built houses on the banks of the
small coastal river Lironde was relocated to the margins of
a nearby lagoon along the Mediterranean coast, giving rise
to the walled port city of Lattara. Archaeological excavations
undertaken in the 2000s along the southern wall of
Lattara in Quarter 27 revealed three houses which contained
almost exclusively Etruscan pottery. The objective
of this study is to analyse the archaeobotanical remains
from these dwellings so as to identify the plant foods which
were consumed and used by their inhabitants, as well as the
methods of storage. The question arises whether anything
particularly relating to Etruscan origins can be detected
from the diet of the inhabitants. To study this aspect we
have compared the data collected during the excavation
with research undertaken at neighbouring settlements
dating from periods either older, contemporary with or
younger than Lattara, as well as research undertaken at
sites in the Etruscan area of Italy.
This is a pioneering study in the field of medieval Islamic agriculture. Archaeobotanical samples obtained from the excavations at Pla d’Almatà (Balaguer), Lleida and Tortosa, and more specifically, from the levels corresponding to the Islamic period (Madîna Balagî, Madîna Lârida and Madîna Turṭûsa), have yielded a large volume of data. Analyses have been carried out on a considerable number of seeds and fruits found in a charred or mineralised state. Cereals are particularly abundant, and consist mainly of hulled barley and naked wheat. Evidence for several oil plants (gold of pleasure, flax) and fruits (fig, olives, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts, apples, melon/cucumber, peaches, pine nuts and almonds) has also been noted. The taxa cited in the written sources as having been introduced during the Islamic period have proven to be very difficult to characterise archaeobotanically, and few have been identified.
we estimated annual precipitation (P) and the ratio between annual precipitation and evapotranspiration (P/E) from the d13C of fossil charcoal. In general, estimated water availability in the past was higher than present values, indicating that latter-day
(semiarid) conditions are mostly due to recent climate changes. The good agreement between our findings and other evidence indicates that the analysis of d13C in charcoal may be useful to expand current palaeoclimate records as it provides a complementary (and quantitative) source of information to assess climate dynamics.
storage systems among the Ouarten. Nowadays they are no longer used, but they can be documented in an abandoned state, and some of them have been reused as rubbish dumps. As part of an ethnoarchaeological project we excavated two of them, one of which reused as rubbish dump about AD2000.This paper presents the results of the excavation of these silos, that allowed us to record these structures in detail and to recover numerous organic remains, mainly animal bones, charcoal, seeds and fruits, which correspond to residues from various domestic food preparation activities.
Desde la materia troncal de tercer curso “Didáctica de las Ciencias Sociales – Historia General de Europa”, los tres profesores que la imparten tienen como leitmotiv el desarrollo de contenidos curriculares y de metodologías didácticas a través del análisis del entorno cultural, haciendo especial hincapié en los elementos y contextos patrimoniales como contextos de aprendizaje diversos y ricos. En concreto, aquello que se pone de manifiesto es el potencial didáctico de estos entornos tanto desde el análisis y estudio en profundidad de lo que se ve como desde sus contenidos invisibles. En el fondo, el objetivo último es fomentar en los futuros maestros y futuras maestras una comprensión tanto del patrimonio tangible como del intangible; de los restos visibles del pasado a la vez que de sus conexiones con todo aquello invisible cuyo conocimiento aporta una mayor comprensión del presente.
A partir de estas premisas, el profesorado plantea la asignatura con un cuádruple objetivo: aproximarse a los contenidos y competencias curriculares del área de conocimiento del medio social y cultural, sin olvidar las conexiones con el medio natural; tomar conciencia del entorno cultural a través de sus restos o fuentes y aprender a establecer conexiones con sus contenidos inmateriales; trabajar la historia a través de sus métodos, y, finalmente, aprender de manera isomórfica metodologías y estrategias de didáctica de las ciencias sociales.
En concreto, en la asignatura se muestra cómo se da voz a las personas /individuos /colectivos del pasado, que por definición son invisibles, a través del estudio y análisis de sus restos, de sus objetos, de sus hábitats, etc. Se basa, pues, en un trabajo de la historia social, de los contextos humanos, de su relación con el paisaje y con el medio. El objetivo es que los alumnos hagan visible, es decir, construyan representaciones propias de personas, conocidas o anónimas, del pasado, para poder trabajar así la empatía histórica, además de visualizar, al mismo tiempo, no solo el pasado de los contextos urbanos, sino que se hace también especial hincapié en los contextos rurales, muy importantes en el entorno de muchos de nuestros alumnos.