NATIVE PEASANTS, SETTLER COLONIZATION AND DRY FARMING IN CASARABONELA (MÁLAGA), XVTH-XVITH C.
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-11-09

The conquest of the emirate of Granada by Castile (1482-92) was the beginning of a long and complex process of colonization that meant the construction of a new social organisation. The previous agrarian regime was confronted with the imposition of a new colonial order that implied changes in the land property, the taxation, the productive orientation and the organization of peasant work among other aspects. With the study of the small town of Casarabonela, in the western part of the district of Malaga, we have carried out a detailed research on how that transformation took place. It has been especially useful for studying to what extent the Castilian colonization implied a rupture in the rainfed agriculture regime or if there were elements of continuity. It has also been, possible to compare the dynamics of dry farming with the situation in other agricultural sub sectors such as irrigated agriculture or livestock. Based on the analysis of an extensive colonial documentary record and the methodology of landscape archaeology, we have identified the spatial distribution of the properties of colonisers and the native peasants immediately afterward the conquest and its transformation throughout the sixteenth century, up until the moment of definitive rupture that entailed the expulsion of the native population. Finally the arrival of new settlers after 1570 was used for a whole reorganization of dry farming land ownership that meant a break with the previous state of affairs.


Author(s): López García, Esteban (Esteban López García)