Abstract
The results of the uncharred wood and charcoal analysis carried out on samples from the site are presented in this work. The assemblages comprised debris from combustion structures, remains related to the funerary burnings and torches, and also fragments of uncharred wood probably related to the funerary rite. The cave of Riocueva was used as a burial place at some point between the 7th and 8th centuries cal. AD. Archaeological work carried out between 2010 and 2014 has recovered the remains of at least eight young individuals and many associated objects: glass beads, rings, spindle hooks, knives and pot sherds, among others. As in other burial caves of similar chronologies from the Cantabrian region, rituals linked to the treatment of corpses have been detected. The destruction and burning of the skulls is the most stunning of them. Furthermore, burning grain beside the bodies, a custom forbidden by medieval penance books, has been tentatively suggested as a possible practice forming part of the rituals.
Highlights
This paper presents the results of uncharred wood and charcoal analysis from samples recovered at the cave of Riocueva (Entrambasaguas) in the Cantabrian region (Northern Spain)
The pottery was initially ascribed to the Iron Age (MORLOTE et al 1996) but a Visigothic chronology (6th-8th centuries AD) was later suggested (HIERRO-GÁRATE 2002)
The following taxa have been identified in the charcoal assemblages: oak, hazel (Corylus avellana), beech (Fagus sylvatica), pine (Pinus sp. and Pinus tp. pinea/pinaster), shrubby Fabaceae, maple (Acer sp. including Acer gr. campestre and pseudoplatanus), ash (Fraxinus sp.), chestnut (Castanea sativa), oak/chestnut (Quercus sp./Castanea sativa), alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus), plums/cherries
Summary
This paper presents the results of uncharred wood and charcoal analysis from samples recovered at the cave of Riocueva (Entrambasaguas) in the Cantabrian region (Northern Spain). Archaeological surveys have been carried out in this cave between 2010 and 2014 within the framework of the Mauranus research project (GUTIÉRREZ CUENCA & HIERRO GÁRATE, 2014; GUTIÉRREZ CUENCA & HIERRO GÁRATE, 2016). The earliest archaeological works on the site were undertook in the 1950s, when some finds dated to the Palaeolithic, Late Prehistoric and Visigothic periods were retrieved from the outer part of the cave (PEÑIL & RUIZ 1971). The cave of Riocueva belongs to a karstic system over 3km long (Fig. 1). The cave has a small entrance and chamber that leads into a low crawling passage which ends in the gallery known as “Galería del Campamento”. Medieval archaeological remains are spread along the first half of this gallery, about 60 m long, due to the existence of post-depositional disturbances –mainly animal burrowing–. The complete absence of sunlight and high levels of humidity make it unsuitable to be used as shelter
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