RT Book,_Section
T1 ‘Linking megaliths’. A computational approach to the study of movement and mobility in the megalithic complex of Galicia (Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula)
A1 Carrero Pazos, Miguel
A1 White, Devin A.
A2 Higginbottom, Gail
A2 Verdonkschot, Jadranka
A2 Scarre, Chris
A2 González García, A. César
A2 Criado Boado, Felipe
K1 Megaliths
K1 Spain
K1 Least-Cost Path
K1 Viewshed
K1 Geographic Information Systems
K1 Spatial statistics
K1 Geography of movement
AB In this paper we study the spatial relation of more than 3,000 mounds with the natural movement through the landscape in Galicia (NW Spain). We adopt a computational approach by creating three geospatial models of pedestrian transportation networks in a GIS environment which comprised the creation of almost 19 billion routes in the whole region, taking into consideration as the mobility factors the slope, rivers, and land cover. In a second step, we generated an aggregate viewshed map using a regularly-spaced grid of observers across the region, in order to see if the megaliths are located in areas of high visual prominence. Finally, spatial statistical analyses were applied to see if the sites are situated near places that would naturally channel pedestrian movement at local and regional scales, and areas with high visibility.The results point out a clear spatial relation of the megalithic monuments with the movement through the landscape, a trend that might be common to the Atlantic façade of Europe. We argue that this relation could be interpreted as a way of connecting the daily lived human landscapes and long-distance routes which not only physically connected the communities but also enabled the expansion of funerary ideas through terrestrial routes.
PB Archaeopress
SN 978-1-80583-076-4
YR 2026
FD 2026-03-16
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46466
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46466
LA eng
NO Carrero-Pazos, M., White, D. A. (2026). ‘Linking megaliths’. A computational approach to the study of movement and mobility in the megalithic complex of Galicia (Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula). In Higginbottom, G., Verdonkschot, J., Scarre, C., González-García, A. C., Criado-Boado, F., "Megalithic societies. Old questions, new narratives". Oxford: Archaeopress.
NO European Megalithic Studies Group. This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 886793.
DS Minerva
RD 18 may 2026