People and Agrarian Landscapes: An Archaeology of Postclassical Local Societies in the Western Mediterranean

Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo is Professor of Archaeology at the University of the Basque Country. His principal interests are focused on landscapes, social archaeology and historical archaeologies. He has directed several projects devoted to the study of early medieval local societies, social complexity and inequality. As a result, he has published several volumes on these topics, including Social Inequality in Early Medieval Europe Local Societies and Beyond (Brepols 2020).Josu Narbarte Hernández is a Margarita Salas fellow researcher at the University of the Basque Country. His research interests regard the long-term historical and geoarchaeological characterisation of agrarian landscapes, based on a multi-proxy methodological approach. He has recently undertaken a research project on the evolution of the estuarine landscapes of the Basque coast.

• Sunflowers, Agrarian Capitalism and Traditional Landscapes. Agrarian Archaeology in the postclassical age – Juan Antonio Quirós Castillo ; Medieval Agrarian Landscapes seen by French School of Archaeogeography – Magali Watteaux ; Defying limits. Archaeology of social landscapes in high mountain areas of the Central Pyrenees – Ermengol Gassiot Ballbè ; A historical context for rural landscapes: the contribution of Environmental Resources Archaeology (ERA) (NW Italy) – Roberta Cevasco, Carlo Montanari, Diego Moreno, Alessandro Panetta, Valentina Pescini, Anna Maria Stagno ; Archaeology of the agrarian landscapes in al-Andalus: new paths towards integrated interpretation – Jorge A. Eiroa ; Archaeology of forest and mountainous areas: The Zigoitia Research Project (Basque Country) – Jose Rodríguez Fernández, Ángel Martínez Montecelo ; Agrarian Archaeologies in the Basque Country. Long-term agrarian landscapes and practices in a social context – Juan Antonio Quirós-Castillo, Josu Narbarte Hernández, Eneko Iriarte ; The archaeological study of agricultural sustainability: the cases of Konso (S Ethiopia) and Engaruka (N Tanzania) – Cruz Ferro-Vázquez; Daryl Stump

'In summary, this cohesive and rewarding volume presents very interesting overviews of some of the most significant and current trends in Agrarian Archaeology which have emerged in parts of the Mediterranean West: it highlights the methodological and theoretical tools and strategies needed for studying pre-industrial societies effectively, and it shows how we need to recognise that modern landscapes are a material product of and link to the past and, accordingly, we should understand these equally alongside developing a fuller awareness of present-day agrarian policies and issues (whether threats, sustainability, losses and climate impacts).' – Pilar Diarte-Blasco (2023): Medieval Archaeology vol 67.2