El arado y los yacimientos paleolíticos. Una década de investigación sobre el efecto del laboreo en los páramos del Duero

Abstract

On the Duero basin plateaus (Castille and León region, north-central Spain), an abundant open-air Early and Middle Palaeolithic record has been preserved. In this area and since 1996 a long-term landscape archaeology project has been underway. A number of studies have been carried out in order to evaluate the role played by post-depositional factors in the refuse patterns observed. The main post-depositional disturbance forces are cultural ones and relate to the development of intensive, mechanized agriculture. The landscape project on the Duero basin plateaus constitutes the first case in the Iberian Peninsula in which the effects of ploughing have been monitored from a wide variety of approaches in a single area and on a long-term basis. This paper summarizes the main research lines on ploughzone archaeology carried out between 1996 and 2007 within the landscape archaeology project undertaken in the Palaeolithic sites of the Duero plateaus and stresses the main assets of the archaeological record affected primarily by ploughing.