Un enfoque múltiple para resolver problemas geoarqueológicos:inferencias de la minería de oro romana en el valle del Eria (León)

Abstract

The Eria River valley exhibits one of the largest gold mining com- plexes in NW Iberia from Roman age. In this study, a geoarchaeo- logical work is presented, combining a multiapproach based on air- borne LiDAR remote sensing, descriptive geology and radiocarbon dating. The studied area is characterized by the presence of a mi- ning infrastructure comprised of hydraulic canals driving the water at different levels to the mines. Mining works were associated with Plio-Quaternary raña deposits and Quaternary materials consisting of hillside and periglacial deposits, and fluvial terraces. The washing of the gold deposits used the hydraulic force to break up and drag out the sediment, giving rise to three different types of exploitation depending on the characteristics of the different materials. The re- sults shed light on the geological materials exploited and other geo- graphical aspects that conditioned the exploitation techniques. The work contributes to improving the knowledge about Roman gold mining and its geological context in northwest Iberia