Space and temporality in herding societies : Exploring the dynamics of movement during the Iberian late prehistory

Murrieta-Flores, P. (2013) Space and temporality in herding societies : Exploring the dynamics of movement during the Iberian late prehistory. In: Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory :. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780203379912

Abstract

Approaches that treat the landscape dimension as more than joined ‘dots’, but as a continuum where it is acknowledged that places are related through entangled experiences over space and time, are especially useful in the study of herding societies, as the journeys these societies embark upon are the core of their social and economic strategies. In this chapter, I present a theoretical-methodological approach for the study of herding societies during prehistory, using the theoretical concepts proposed by time-geography 1 , in combination with geographic information systems 2 (GIS). The chapter uses the Copper Age (c.3100-2100 BC), the Early Bronze Age (c.2100-1550 BC), and the Late Bronze Age (c.1550-850 BC) societies of western Sierra Morena in Andalucía in Spain as case studies. The archaeological evidence available is analyzed in an attempt to understand the relationship between the spatial dimension of mundane and sacred places and the role of temporality and memory in herding cycles and prehistoric pastoral orbits.