Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools

Menéndez Blanco, Andrés; García Sánchez, Jesús; Costa-García, José Manuel; Fonte, João; González-Álvarez, David; Vicente García, Víctor

doi:10.3390/geosciences10120485

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Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools

Andrés Menéndez Blanco

^1,*

Jesús García Sánchez

José Manuel Costa-García

João Fonte

⁴

David González-Álvarez

⁵

and

Víctor Vicente García

Independent Researcher and Archaeologist, Ayande, 33880 Asturias, Spain

Archaeology Institute of Mérida (CSIC-Government of Extremadura), Plaza de España 15, 06800 Mérida, Extremadura, Spain

Department of History, University of Santiago de Compostela, Praza da Universidade 1, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

⁴

Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK

⁵

Institute of Heritage Sciences, Spanish National Research Council (Incipit-CSIC), Avenida de Vigo, s/n, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Geosciences 2020, 10(12), 485; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10120485

Received: 19 October 2020 / Revised: 24 November 2020 / Accepted: 27 November 2020 / Published: 2 December 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Satellite, Aerial and Ground-Based Remote Sensing for Archaeological and Heritage Research)

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Abstract

Sixty-six new archaeological sites have been discovered thanks to the combined use of different remote sensing techniques and open access geospatial datasets (mainly aerial photography, satellite imagery, and airborne LiDAR). These sites enhance the footprint of the Roman military presence in the northern fringe of the River Duero basin (León, Palencia, Burgos and Cantabria provinces, Spain). This paper provides a detailed morphological description of 66 Roman military camps in northwestern Iberia that date to the late Republic or early Imperial eras. We discuss the different spatial datasets and GIS tools used for different geographic contexts of varied terrain and vegetation. Finally, it stresses out the relevance of these novel data to delve into the rationale behind the Roman army movements between the northern Duero valley and the southern foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains. We conclude that methodological approaches stimulated by open-access geospatial datasets and enriched by geoscientific techniques are fundamental to understand the expansion of the Roman state in northwestern Iberia during the 1st c. BC properly. This renewed context set up a challenging scenario to overcome traditional archaeological perspectives still influenced by the cultural-historical paradigm and the pre-eminence of classical written sources. View Full-Text

Keywords: Roman military archaeology; remote sensing; geosciences; archaeological survey; satellite imagery; aerial photography; airborne LiDAR; Iberian Peninsula

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MDPI and ACS Style

Menéndez Blanco, A.; García Sánchez, J.; Costa-García, J.M.; Fonte, J.; González-Álvarez, D.; Vicente García, V. Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools. Geosciences 2020, 10, 485. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10120485

AMA Style

Menéndez Blanco A, García Sánchez J, Costa-García JM, Fonte J, González-Álvarez D, Vicente García V. Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools. Geosciences. 2020; 10(12):485. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10120485

Chicago/Turabian Style

Menéndez Blanco, Andrés, Jesús García Sánchez, José Manuel Costa-García, João Fonte, David González-Álvarez, and Víctor Vicente García. 2020. "Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools" Geosciences 10, no. 12: 485. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10120485

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Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools

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