Reassessing Roman military activity through an interdisciplinary approach: Myth and archaeology in Laboreiro Mountain (Northwestern Iberia)

•An archaeological survey at Lomba do Mouro is presented, a c. 25 ha enclosure located in the upland border between Portugal and Galicia.•Complementary absolute dating methods were used, including luminescence and radiocarbon dating, providing dissimilar results.•The results indicate that Lomba do M...

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Published inJournal of archaeological science, reports Vol. 49; p. 103993
Main Authors Fonte, João, Rodrigues, Ana Luísa, Dias, Maria Isabel, Russo, Dulce, Pereiro, Tiago do, Carvalho, José, Amorim, Sérgio, Jorge, Carlos, Monteiro, Patrícia, Ferro-Vázquez, Cruz, Costa-García, Jose Manuel, Gago, Manuel, Oltean, Ioana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2023
Subjects
Absolute dating
Archaeological survey
Luminescence
Radiocarbon
Remote sensing
Roman camp
Roman camp
Absolute dating
Radiocarbon
Archaeological survey
Remote sensing
Luminescence
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Summary:•An archaeological survey at Lomba do Mouro is presented, a c. 25 ha enclosure located in the upland border between Portugal and Galicia.•Complementary absolute dating methods were used, including luminescence and radiocarbon dating, providing dissimilar results.•The results indicate that Lomba do Mouro may have been a Roman military camp of late-Republican chronology.•Both Lomba do Mouro and Chaira da Maza may have been part of a penetration route of the Roman army across the Laboreiro Mountain, between the rivers Lima and Minho. The present work aims at the archaeological characterisation and historical contextualisation of two large enclosures recently located through remote sensing in the Laboreiro Mountain on the border between Portugal and Galicia: Lomba do Mouro and Chaira da Maza. Ancient written sources, remote sensing, archaeological survey, and absolute dating will be combined in order to shed new light on these enclosures. Given the specificity of the archaeological structures and contexts under study, the need to use complementary absolute dating methods will be discussed, including luminescence and radiocarbon dating. The results in the case of the Lomba do Mouro enclosure point to it possibly being a Roman military camp of late-Republican chronology.
ISSN:2352-409X
DOI:10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.103993