Strategies and exploitation of the Paramos Miocene limestones in the construction el early medieval hispanic buildings

Abstract

The Paramos limestones of lacustrine origin are contextualized in one of the largest Spanish Cenozoic Basins, specifically the Duero Basin, in the northern region of the Iberian Peninsula. They are massive limestones with fossil remains of gastropods, operculums, caraceae and ostracods, which usually appear in the form of molds (moldic porosity), and outcrop on the tops of the hills, ending the Miocene series. The study of the architecture dated to early medieval architecture (8th-10th centuries) in this context has allowed us to know in detail the construction sequence of two important buildings from this period, the churches of Santa María de Wamba and San Cebrián de Mazote, both in the province of Valladolid in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León (Spain). Both buildings were analyzed in a multidisciplinary way by means of archeological and geological methodologies, establishing their different construction phases and identifying and characterizing the stone materials used in order to approach their origin and extractive areas. With this information, we are able now to better understand the production of these buildings and their links with the physical environment over the Early Middle Ages.