## 1 Introduction
To this end, photogrammetric flights were conducted and a general inventory was made of the area's monumental and natural resources, which served as the documentary base for the project. More specifically, the resources were digitized by means of photogrammetric acquisitions using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), airborne thermal and RGB captions, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data from the free access IGN files. Subsequently, a monographic study was carried out for the cases that make up this landscape discourse. Regards this second objective, we were particularly interested in the most significant heritage resources located on public land, such as Belmez Castle, which is presented here as an example of the methodology used. The social function of heritage is an essential aspect of the very notion of a cultural landscape [16], which requires multidisciplinary and cross-cutting collaboration between various scientific and technological agents. For this reason, our research was not framed within a specific method, theme, or discipline. Rather, we have drawn on the diverse disciplines of heritage science (earth observation, remote sensing, nature conservation, archeology, and computation) as an opportunity for the social improvement of the area and the configuration of this landscape narrative, where digitization plays a fundamental role in the enjoyment, promotion, and visualization of heritage [17]. Figure 2: Monuments located in the area surrounding the Cerro del Castillo of Belmez (CCB). Copyright \({}^{\ast}\)Ager Mellariensis\({}^{\ast}\)/AEI FEDER HAR 77136-R. **(a)** Casas de Don Pedro magalithic monument (5500–2500 BC). **(b)** Roman road in Espiel (1 BC). **(c)** Andalusi fortress in El Hoyo (10 AD). **(d)** Medieval church of Belmez (13 AD). A wide range of comprehensive actions have been employed for the recovery of heritage in rural areas of Spain [18; 19]. Because these areas are typically characterized by a low population density and low wealth, their cultural heritage is usually not as well conserved as that of large cities or historical sites, which are generally more successful in securing funding and attracting leading research teams. As a result, the country's rural heritage has taken longer to be defined conceptually [20]. However, under the Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) of the European Union and its implementation in the region of Andalusia, heritage development has become a key instrument for rural development and a strategy to curb depopulation in these areas [21]. This paper presents a multidisciplinary research project for the social and cultural recovery of a rural archeological landscape known as the Cerro del Castillo (CCB) located in the town of Belmez, Cordoba (southern Spain); a site that has not undergone any recuperation actions. The general strategy consisted of the digitization of the site's material and natural heritage resources, after which the research was conducted and the results were disseminated. In the first stage of the project, photogrammetric flights were conducted over the area surrounding the CCB to obtain a geomorphological map covering more than 800 hectares. This information was then used for the volumetric recomposition of the most significant heritage elements and previously identified archeological sites [22]. A more detailed and specific photogrammetric model of the CCB and the fortress was also obtained. Regarding the area's natural heritage, the flora and fauna were catalogued, with the aim of protecting the species and integrating them in the general heritage discourse. Given that the castle as it stands today is the result of several construction phases, stratigraphic studies were performed to determine the building's historical construction, damage, and rehabilitation phases. Finally, based on the research findings, a landscape of more than 60 km wide and 40 km deep was virtualized in 3D in order to protect, extend, and develop the full social potential of this archeological and natural heritage.