Ligustinus Project: New Survey Techniques for an Ancient Riparian Landscape.

Project Information

LiguSTAR

Grant agreement ID: 798529

DOI

10.3030/798529

Project terminated on 31 January 2021

EC signature date 2 May 2018

Start date 1 March 2019

End date 28 February 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 180 277,20

EU contribution

€ 180 277,20

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI SIENA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LiguSTAR (Ligustinus Project: New Survey Techniques for an Ancient Riparian Landscape.)

Reporting period: 2019-03-01 to 2021-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

During ancient times, the southern Iberian Peninsula was incorporated into the Roman Empire and the Hispania Baetica province was established in the late first century BC. Baetica was rich in resources such as metals, oil and wine and there were many towns and cities which controlled an intensive exploitation of their territories through the villae systems. The goods they produced were exported through the main fluvial route, the Guadalquivir River or Baetis . The mouth of the river was an estuary, a large coastal lake known as lacus Ligustinus in Late Antiquity. Nowadays it is transformed, as a result of the silting up effects and geomorphological changes . Most of the area is now marshland and predominantly part of the National Natural Park of Doñana (Andalusia). From this chronological, geographic and conceptual framework, the project aims at investigating the historical settlement pattern that has produced the landscape configuration on the banks of lacus Ligustinus. Rural settlements located in its paleo-banks were dedicated to farming, and the subsequent processing and export of agricultural products. Moreover, the proximity of ancient settlements on the riverbanks played a role as an enabler of fluvial-maritime communications, oriented toward the export of the products to the Mediterranean markets. The identification of these archaeological remains allows us to propose the theoretical restitution of paleo-banks, in coordination with geomorphological and geographical studies also being carried out. The LiguSTAR project is oriented towards designing and applying a method to identify and analyse these archaeological landscapes using non-invasive techniques, such as remote sensing techniques on different scales. The methodology has been designed in the University of Siena’s Laboratory of Landscape Archaeology & Remote Sensing (LAP&T).
The overall objectives of the project are the integral study and the reconstruction of the Roman settlement patterns, and their diachronic evolution, along the riverbanks of the paleo-estuary. To achieve this objective, a methodology using non-invasive survey techniques, such as remote sensing and so called “traditional” ones, has been carried out in different scales of analysis.
The research focus of the LiguSTAR project has contributed to the advance in the historical knowledge of the ancient human occupation of the estuary’s riverbanks. In addition, the Guadalquivir River was one of the most important fluvial routes of the Iberian Peninsula, in comparison to other important deltas and estuaries in the Mediterranean and Atlantic spaces. Estuaries and their banks are vulnerable ecosystems, where many landscapes transformations occur. Due to global climate change, these landscapes are being degraded and disappearing altogether. The usages of these ecosystems by traditional societies (including ancient ones) are more sustainable with the environment than in comparison with modern usages. For this reason, we can learn about the human interaction with the riparian environments and recover and put into practice the traditional knowledge to restore and keep the water ecosystems safe. In addition, the advance of the historical knowledge of the spatial configuration of the riverbanks and its surroundings in the Low Guadalquivir region, helps society to understand the current configuration of the land and its past.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The LiguSTAR project has included different methodological phases to achieve its overall objectives. During the first stage, all the historical, archaeological and environmental information about the study area (macro area, the left bank of the lacus Ligustinus) was collected and implemented in the LiguSTAR GIS database. Then, the selection of a local scale area (meso-scale), where applying the non-invasive techniques was made in the Cádiz province (Spain). The centre of the area was the Évora site (Sanlúcar de Barrameda municipality), a protohistoric city placed on the Ligustinus riverbanks, next to the mouth of Guadalquivir into the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounding lands were selected, (a buffer of 5 km. of radius) where secondary ancient settlements (more than 40 sites), related with the main city of Évora, composed the local areas of study. The diachronic evolution of the human settlement pattern was analysed, through the application of different techniques of archaeological prospection (non-invasive and field-walking surveys). During two fieldwork expeditions (34 days of fieldwork), a territory of more than 700 hectares was surveyed. As a result, more than 8000 fragments of surface archaeological material were recorded. In addition, more than 15 hectares was prospected with Geophysical techniques and consequently more than 100 subsurface anomalies were detected (ancient walls, field marks, ancient roads, etc), and more than 20 drone flights (visual and thermal photography). One of the most important results has been the detection of an ancient building related to a Roman rural settlement and exploitation next to the ancient city of Évora. Furthermore, a new ancient site, “Haza de Santa Catalina”, next to the Évora site, with ancient structures was attested. Then, the post-processing of all of the data taken during the fieldwork has been realised in the laboratory and analysed towards achieving a global historical interpretation oriented to the diachronic evolution of the settlement pattern in the ancient Ligustinus, in relation to its environmental transformation. To disseminate and exploit the results, different actions were carried out. Directed toward the scientific audience, LiguSTAR has been presented or will be presented (due to COVID restrictions) in different international conferences. One open access article was published. Then, the LiguSTAR project has been present in diverse seminaries at the University of Siena (UniSI) . In addition, activities oriented to the outreach audience were realised, including conferences, the participation of the European Researchers’ Night 2020 at Siena. Nevertheless, due to COVID restrictions of public activities, the actions were mainly realised by Internet, through web pages, blog entries, newspapers, etc.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The LiguSTAR project has advanced in a qualitative and quantitative way of the previous state of the art. On the one hand, the knowledge of the functionality and chronology of the ancient sites (cities and secondary settlements) has advanced in relation to the research undertaken before. On the other hand, a new ancient site was discovered, as a part of the ancient city of Ebura, with the result of its inclusion in the official catalogue of archaeological heritage of the Spanish government and with the establishment of protection measures to ensure its conservation. At the same time, new techniques such as GPR and magnetometer surveys to detect subsurface structures were applied at this study area at the first time. As a consequence, the advance of the knowledge of the urban and rural features that comprised the ancient sites was reached. In addition, the research carried out during the LiguSTAR project, the data and the results could be the base for future research of the Ligustinus area, in relation to environmental studies performed in the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and the evolution of the ancient estuary.

Results of the applications of non-invasive techniques

Non invasive archaeological survey techniques

LiguSTAR study area, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Jerez de la Frontera, Southern of Spain