La fi d'un poblat medieval: deserció o canvi d'assentament? el cas de l'Esquerda

Abstract

This paper attempts to explain the evolution of a medieval village in central Catalonia, since its origins in the 8th. century B.C. until its ending in medieval times. Both documents and archaeology show that in roman times L'Esquerda was also deserted. The site was reoccupied in the early Middle Ages. The medieval village evolution and the process of its last desertion is focused from the spatial analysis (location by a river, natural defence settlement, wa- ter, cultivated fields and natural communication ways), and from the socioeconomic and political changes which happened during late medieval times.