María Martín-Seijo

A Multi-Disciplinary Study of Woodcrafts and Plant Remains that Reveals the History of Pontevedra’s Harbour (Northwest Iberia) Between the 13th and 19th Centuries AD

Waterlogged woodcrafts and other plant remains were recovered at 65 Arcebispo Malvar Street (Pontevedra, Spain) from contexts from the 13th to 19th centuries AD, although most of the artefacts were...

Oak, ash and pine: the role of firewood in funerary rituals at the Roman site of Reza Vella (Ourense, Spain)

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the role of firewood in Roman burial rites of cremation. The case study of Reza Vella (Ourense, Spain) provides valuable information about the uses and the role of plants in a funerary context in northwest Iberia. Archaeobotanical data from Roman cemeteries in this area are very scarce, but they provide valuable information on the funerary customs introduced by the Roman Empire to the provinces, and how this interaction could be reflected in the management of firewood. The structures related to cremation rites include primary and secondary contexts. Charcoal remains recovered inside the structures, of bustum type, are the remains of the fuel burned during the cremation of the corpses. In these primary contexts, the ubiquitous taxa were Quercus sp. deciduous, Fraxinus sp. and Pinus spp. Other taxa, such as Salix/Populus, Prunus sp. and Arbutus unedo, have also been identified in secondary burials. A combination of different factors probably determined their selection for cremation purposes, such as their availability in the environs of the necropolis, differential access to wood resources, their heat potential, technical aspects related to their exploitation and even conceptual aspects, such as their symbolic meaning.