habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

EXCAVATED DWELLINGS IN SPAIN. FEATURES AND DISTRIBUTIONJ. Higón Calvet, J. Albert Ballester, M. Gimenez Ribera, F. Hidalgo Delgado, P. Cabezos Bernal, H. Barros CostaDepartment of Graphic Expression in Architecture. Polytechnic University of Valencia, SpainThe phenomenon of excavated dwellings (also known as pithouses or cave dwellings) is linked to a practice that is quiteprevalent in the Mediterranean basin. In Spain, for example,despite the fact that this type of dwelling first appeared inthe Iberian Peninsula during the Arabic occupation in the 7 thCentury, it is still a relatively recent phenomenon, linked topopulation shifts triggered by the industrial revolution of the19 th Century.The majority of the settlements of excavated dwellings are locatedin three geographical areas: Eastern Andalusia, Aragonand the Spanish Levante (the regions of Valencia and Castile -La Mancha); although there are groups of excavated dwellingsoutside these areas, they are not normally very representativenor on a large scale.The present study will provide a summary description of eachof the geographical areas mentioned above, describing themost representative sites as well as their main features andstructural attributes.Eastern AndalusiaThe excavated dwellings in Eastern Andalusia are one ofthe densest and numerically the largest groups to be foundin Spain. Although some of the settlements can be found inCadiz, Cordova and Malaga, 90% of them are located in theprovinces of Almeria and Granada. In the case of Almeria,the settlements are located along the Andarax and Almanzorariver valleys. In the province of Granada, the settlements aremore scattered, principally located in the areas known as theBaza-Huéscar altiplano (or high plateau) and the Hoya deGuadix (a natural plain to the north of the province).The geological conditions of both areas are determined bythe surrounding relief of the land. In the case of Almeria, thesettlements are typical of the foothills of the Subbaetic system,comprising sedimentary rocks, predominantly cohesivebreccias and limestone. In the case of the Baza altiplano andthe Hoya de Guadix, the geology is typical of sedimentarydeposits from the Baetic and Subbaetic Mountains with thepresence of sedimentary limestone, sandstone and breccias,which continues through the whole geological region. Withregard to the climate, it is predominantly arid, which favoursthe low humidity conditions required for digging through rockmade from lightly cohesive materials. Although in the case ofAlmeria, there are notable Mediterranean influences, in thecase of Granada, the climatic conditions have continental influences,the result of occlusion caused by the mountains.As is the case with the settlements in the rest of Spain, thereis no way to trace back to their actual origins, although it iscommonly accepted that their origins are Arabic. Levels ofFig. 1 Geographical areas under study115volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 115 16/11/2012 15:02:06