Arquitectura en tierra en la meseta norte en los albores de la Edad del Hierropervivencias e innovaciones en un periodo de transición

Résumé

The transition between the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the Early Iron Age (EIA) on the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula (ca. 1100-600 BC) is a period of transformation, marked by a major change in the socio-economic structure of local groups, promoted by southern and eastern contacts. This process is reflected in agricultural practices, as well as in the emerge of a renewed ceramic repertoire and new construction techniques: while LBA sites are characterised by wattle-and-daub huts, EIA settlements are dominated by mudbrick buildings. However, this is not a radical change, as the new techniques were experimented with for three centuries, an idea that is supported by the presence of both systems in the same settlements, as well as mixed techniques. Although much has been written about these changes, earthen architecture has been little studied in this context, leading to a conceptual confusion that overlooks the socio-economic practices involved in the different construction processes. In this paper we review the published and grey literature published on sites with these remains, with the aim of finding out what evidence we have to characterise the building traditions used in the Northern Plateau throughout Late Prehistory. Discerning the techniques and their respective operational chains can help us to better understand these social and demographic changes, which seem to indicate a progressive adaptation of local traditions to outside innovations.