Excavaciones arqueológicas en el yacimiento altomedieval de Revenga: Nuevos datos para el conocimiento de los espacios de hábitat altomedieval en el Alto Arlanza (Burgos). Early medieval habitat, worship and production structures at Revenga (Comunero de Revenga, Burgos): Archaeological evidence for a new historical approach

Las dificultades inherentes al análisis de las estructuras de poblamiento y organización del territorio en el periodo altomedieval se deben en buena medida a la escasez de fuentes para su conocimiento. Los trabajos de excavación arqueológica en el yacimiento de Revenga (Comunero de Revenga, Burgos), han permitido conocer los rasgos característicos del espacio de hábitat anexo a una de las necrópolis más conocidas del Alto Arlanza y han aportado información muy valiosa para el conocimiento de estas comunidades. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de las primeras intervenciones realizadas y se interpretan las implicaciones históricas de dichos datos, que permiten adelantar al menos dos siglos las cronologías tradicionalmente atribuidas a estos enclaves.The Upper Arlanza Basin is part of a complex scenario. The archaeological site of Revenga (Comunero de Revenga, Burgos) is one of the rock-cut necropolises existing between the headwaters of rivers Arlanza and Duero. These sites are identified by the archaeological remains of a church, a cemetery of rock-cut tombs, and a settlement in the annexe area. The inhabitation areas of the landscape at the Upper Arlanza Basin have been known for the first time since the archaeological fieldwork started in 2014 at the archaeological site of Revenga. The main features of settlements at the Upper Arlanza Basin seem to relate to the association between cemeteries, churches and habitat –inecclesiamento, according to M. Lauwers (2005, 2013). This would have settled a network that cannot be related with a clear and systematic organization or with firm and well-settled power structures at least during the earlier period.The study of the vast 800-square-metre-wide area at the north-east of the necropolis and the archaeological excavation carried out during 2014 and 2015 revealed the existence of a considerable amount of habitat units, generally identified as sunken-featured buildings. Also few production areas exploited in at least three different phases were discovered. These remains prove the existence of an intensely occupied space during an extended period of time. In this paper we will introduce a brief summary of results obtained until the present day, their implications for the historical narrative and the new work hypotheses that can be formulated.Recent fieldwork at the site of Revenga revealed the existence of such architecture, from which only the footprint on the rocky surface has been preserved. A considerable amount of oval and squared mostly sunken-featured buildings have been found out at the site of Revenga, occasionally with associated sediment. Some of them are related to use and abandonment layers, others appeared just after the rock surface cleaning and finally some others were identified during the lab phase, when studying the site outline and the aerial photography.The entire assemblage exhibits similar and quite homogeneous features. These structures are cut on the floor surface according to an oval or squared plan. They are between 5 and 10-m2-wide and occasionally larger, reaching about 15m2 wide, even though these larger structures do not transform significantly the overview of the site. This panorama does not seem to be really different than protohistoric habitat found in mountain areas of the Cantabrian range (Ruano, 2015). The assemblage of data gathered at the archaeological site strengthens the hypothesis of a long-lasting settlement at the site of Revenga in accordance with different phases. These imply the transformation and rebuilding of habitat and worship structures. The relative chronology of layers defines at least two different phases of settlement: one of structures predominantly oval and a later one of squared structures.Main volumes of ceramic sherds, generally scarce, can be attributed to the Late Antique period, potentially to the 4th – 6th Centuries, which stands for the occupation of these sites earlier than assumed. Data gathered from the archaeological approach in recent campaigns suggest that the occupation of Revenga might have taken place at least a couple of centuries earlier than considered in previous research (Padilla & Álvaro, 2010: 293). Habitat structures and open-air production areas would have been occupied from the 7th Century onwards, according to similar chronologies suggested at some other similar sites (Vigil-Escalera, 2007). Therefore, the panorama is that of settlement patterns still forming in early medieval times the origin of which has its roots in the late antique period.