Dunefield transgression and the lost fishing settlement of La Barrosa de Do\xf1ana

Abstract

Considering its etymological meaning, the aim of this work was to identify the location of La Barrosa, a lost fishing settlement located on the dynamic coast of Doñana, and to relate the origin of the name (barrosa = muddy), and the causes of its disappearance to its geomorphological landscape context, tracing its recent evolution over time. Historical documentation and cartography about the coast of Doñana have been analysed to find records on La Barrosa and contrasted with the geomorphological information available for the area. The results have shown that La Barrosa went from being a shallow pond on the coast during the fifteenth century, which mud was used in pottery, to a fishing settlement on the coastline (first quarter of the seventeenth century), to finally disappear in the second half of the seventeenth century. Due to its location, close to the anchorage of the Doñana coastal spit barrier, its origin could be related to the mouth of an old marsh channel that drained the ancient marshland, or to an outflow to the sea from the ancient Santa Olalla lagoon. Its disappearance under transgressive dunes seems to be related to two pulses of dune building that took place around 1560 and 1661. This study shows that the use of toponymy, historical sources, and geomorphological knowledge must be considered in the interpretation of recent geomorphological landscape changes to broaden our understanding of the dynamic of coastal environments.