Pastoralism and Peasant Accounting in Post-Roman Times: The Numerical Slates of the Sistema Central

Abstract

Numerical slates that appear in certain areas of the Iberian Peninsula in the post-Roman period have aroused considerable academic interest. Yet there is minimal agreement concerning the function of this accounting system. Various explanations have been proposed, from tolls related to cattle transit to fiscal documents, with scholars who focus on their elite origins. The present study addresses this issue by undertaking a regional analysis of numerical slates found in the Sistema Central. Since the numerical slates have been understood as a tool of “vertical” control related to taxation, it has been suggested that they were used exclusively by elites, an interpretation that downplays the possibility that peasant communities developed accounting systems'. This study compares archaeological evidence with written sources from the sixth and seventh centuries, arguing that peasant communities could have used numerical slates for some non-administrative purposes to suit their daily needs.