Longhouses, biografía de la casa y complejidad social en el noroeste peninsular en la alta edad media

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze large-sized domestic architectures dated in the early medieval period attested in some areas of North-western Iberia, defined as longhouses. This term has been used implicitly by different archaeological traditions to designate elongated structures that have very heterogeneous dimensions, functionalities and social meanings. Some European traditions have defined this type of structures in functional (byre-houses), formal (elongated plants) or typological terms, while in central Italy early medieval longhouses are considered as residence of intermediate elites. The Alava Plain case study is discussed in order to analyze the social context of longhouses occupations. Hereafter, these buildings are analyzed in the context of the house biography approach, arguing these households had a seminal role in the articulation of local and supralocal political communities.