Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2018) 133: 375
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2018-12233-5

Regular Article

Chronological characterization of Medieval Villages in Northern Iberia: A multi-integrated approach

¹ University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy
² Universidad del Pais Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, UPV/EHU, Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, C/Tomás y Valiente s/n, 01006, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

^* e-mail: paola.ricci@unicampania.it

Received: 3 July 2018
Accepted: 4 August 2018
Published online: 20 September 2018

Abstract

Defining the occupation sequence of medieval rural farming sites in Northern Iberia is complicated, since they feature low density of stratigraphic relationships and few finds and because of the intensive agricultural activities developed there during the last few decades. This paper presents the chronological characterization of the medieval village of Zornoztegi, located in the Basque Country, in the province of Alava. At this site, dwellings extend over an area of approximately two hectares and consist mainly of negative structures excavated in the bedrock. Radiocarbon dating measurements carried out on 32 samples, together with mortar optical microscopic analyses and other information obtained from stratigraphic relationships, changes in the settlement organization and the study of material culture, allowed structuring and characterizing the occupation sequence of the site of Zornoztegi. Furthermore, Bayesian statistics was used to reduce the range of the calibrated dates and to refine the chronology of the sequence.