Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of an urban archaeological site: The Roman Salt mines of Vigo, northwest Iberia

Abstract

Pedostratigraphy applied to urban archaeological coastal sites, combined with coastal geomor-phological and archaeological data, provide important information for interpreting the complexity of coastal urban areas and their environment. This paper applies this methodology in the case of the Roman salt mines of Vigo, northwest Spain, and presents geomorphological and geoarchaeo-logical data (stratigraphy, physicochemical soil properties, mineralogy, radiocarbon dating) for the museum where these remains are located. A 2000 year pedostratigraphic sequence was recon-structed, showing coastal evolution from beach to marshland. This change, along with more favorable climatic conditions related to the Roman Warm Period and dynamics associated with late Holocene rising sea level, created suitable conditions for the establishment of a salt mine. Geoar-chaeological work is essential in archaeological excavations of modern urban areas, as demon-strated at Vigo where the study of pedostratigraphy provides crucial information on past envi-ronmental changes and human activities. Pedostratigraphic records and archaeological remains should be considered part of the geological and cultural heritage of urban areas