Paisaje y gestión de los recursos vegetales en el yacimiento Romano de Gabia (Granada) a través de la arqueobotánica

Abstract

Anthracological and carpological findings are presented for the Roman villa of Gabia, which gives us important knowledge concerning the exploitation of the environment and the diverse use of plant resources. The results confirm the existence of a strongly humanized landscape, with relatively open vegetation where shrubby and thicket species have great importance, with the Holm oak and the Aleppo pine being the representatives of the tree stratum. Crops would predominate the setting, where cereals, i.e. barley and glumeless wheat, occupying land reclaimed from the forest, while legumes such as chick-peas, lentils, grass peas, sweet peas, and fava beans were also cultivated. The fuel for fireplaces came from wood gathered from the forest as well as the remains from pruning cultivated trees. For the construction of posts and beams, large trees were used, these offering long, straight logs in the case of pines and elms, and branches of great strength such as walnut and Holm oak. For the construction of roofs, shrub species were used: common junipers, legumes, broom, and rosemary.