Natural cave usage in the Late Roman Empire. Shelter in times of instability?

Abstract

In 2014 we began an ambitious study of the usage of natural caves in between first and fifth centuries AD in the area between the Ebro and the Pyrenees (Navarre, Basque Country, and northern Aragon). The aim was to make an inventory of all natural caves with Roman remains in the western Pyrenees in a database, to clarify the chronology of different cave usages thanks to the study of the archaeological material, to establish the function of those kinds of sites, and finally, to put into relation the caves with their surroundings in the cases that it is possible. In this article, we analyse a disputed subject in the historiography of this phenomenon: the possible use of the caves as shelter in times of instability during the Low Empire period. This interpretation has been repeated since the 70s of the 20th century until today, despite the inexistence of clear evidence.