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Paleofloods and ancient fishing weirs in NW Iberian rivers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Willem Viveen ,
Jorge Sanjurjo-Sanchez ,
Ana Goy-Diz ,
Antonie Veldkamp  and
Jeroen M. Schoorl
Willem Viveen*
Affiliation:
Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, NL-6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands Instituto Universitario de Geologia, Edificio de Servicios Centrales de Investigacion, Campus de Elviña, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Jorge Sanjurjo-Sanchez
Affiliation:
Instituto Universitario de Geologia, Edificio de Servicios Centrales de Investigacion, Campus de Elviña, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Ana Goy-Diz
Affiliation:
Facultad de Humanidades, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Antonie Veldkamp
Affiliation:
ITC Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
Jeroen M. Schoorl
Affiliation:
Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, NL-6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author at: Soil Geography and Landscape Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, NL-6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.E-mail address:willem.geo@gmail.com (W. Viveen).
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Abstract

A 15-m-thick, fluvial sedimentary record of the NW Iberian lower Miño River was studied. Grain-size analyses were performed and twelve samples were dated using optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques, documenting a 1300-yr-old reconstructed fluvial record that does not match with known climate fluctuations in the area, but is linked instead to the construction of a series of ancient fishing weirs (pesqueiras). The sedimentation phases are in agreement with known episodes of increased population density, which suggests active use of the pesqueiras. A number of sedimentation hiatuses in the fluvial record point towards damage to the pesqueiras during large-scale flooding in the Miño River basin, and a sudden drop in population probably due to the arrival of the plague in the 13th century AD. The oldest sedimentation phases started just after 700 AD, and we infer that the first pesqueiras were constructed around this time. This timing coincides with the transition of the NW Iberian landscape towards a more intensively used agricultural landscape, as evidenced from other geo-archeological investigations. The results demonstrate that the pesqueiras are several hundreds of years older than known from historical records, but not so old as to date back to the Roman occupation.

Keywords

Miño RiverMinhoOSL datingGeoarcheologyFish trap
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 82 , Issue 1 , July 2014 , pp. 56 - 65
Copyright
University of Washington

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