Multiscaled Archaeological Survey in Eastern Iberia: Ancient Settlement Dynamics, Agrarian Practices, and Rural Landscapes

Abstract

This paper presents the ancient settlement pattern and rural landscape recognized in the archaeological survey of the Upper Vinalopó Valley (Alicante Province, eastern Spain). The archaeological fieldwork was assisted by geospatial techniques such as GIS, lidar, GPS, and GPR that allowed analyzing the obtained results along multiple scales. Through this data, we analyze the occupation dynamics and ancient land use during ancient times (2nd century b.c.–3rd century a.d.), attending especially to the intensification process linked to agrarian practices such as manuring. In this sense, the historical dynamics of the region are recognized and compared within a regional framework. In addition, we propose a socio-economic organization of agricultural work that contributes to the global discussion of intensification processes and agrarian strategies worldwide.