Elías López-Romero
I am Staff Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC-IAM).
Prior to this I have been Associate Professor in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain, December 2019 - November2021), Junior Chair in Neolithic societies at the LaScArBx Cluster of Excellence in Bordeaux (France, January 2017-November 2019), Marie Curie-IEF fellow in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University (United Kingdom, May 2013-April 2015), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit, Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, 2009-2012), technician at the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid (2008-2009), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the CNRS (Rennes, France, 2006-2007) and held several research grants as postgraduate researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid (1999-2005). I obtained my PhD by the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in june 2005.
My research focuses on Neolithic archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Heritage and Coastal and Island Archaeology.
Added to this I have carried out several short research stays in European universities and research centres: in England (University of Reading, 2001), Spain (Universidad de Sevilla, 2003) and France (UMR6566-Université de Rennes1, several researh placements from 2002 to 2016).
Prior to this I have been Associate Professor in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain, December 2019 - November2021), Junior Chair in Neolithic societies at the LaScArBx Cluster of Excellence in Bordeaux (France, January 2017-November 2019), Marie Curie-IEF fellow in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University (United Kingdom, May 2013-April 2015), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit, Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, 2009-2012), technician at the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid (2008-2009), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the CNRS (Rennes, France, 2006-2007) and held several research grants as postgraduate researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid (1999-2005). I obtained my PhD by the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in june 2005.
My research focuses on Neolithic archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Heritage and Coastal and Island Archaeology.
Added to this I have carried out several short research stays in European universities and research centres: in England (University of Reading, 2001), Spain (Universidad de Sevilla, 2003) and France (UMR6566-Université de Rennes1, several researh placements from 2002 to 2016).
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Landscape Archaeology, Neolithic & Megalithic monu by Elías López-Romero
the European Atlantic façade have been monuments present
in the landscape for millennia. Built between the Neolithic
and the Iron Age, they were intended to signing and
transforming the landscape. Due to their permanence, they
have often been part of the daily life of different societies
which, occupying these same territories centuries later, have
been confronted with their presence. Re-uses, transformations,
interpretations on their construction and their origin have
thus succeeded one another from Antiquity to modern
times. Towards the second third of the 19th century, scientific
approaches to archaeological evidence grew in importance in
France as elsewhere. At the end of the century, there was a
veritable explosion of research and excavations which
resulted in the consolidation of prehistory as a scientific
discipline during the first half of the 20th century. This
scientific perspective – based on the material analysis of the
remains and often led in its beginnings by the economic and
social elite of the time – cohabited with an older vision –
more specific to the modest strata of society – based on
tradition, religion and the rhythms of nature. In this paper,
we will consider this misregarded aspect of the study of
prehistoric monumentality through the analysis of some
transformations and reuse that some of these prehistoric
monuments underwent at that time. Through a series of
examples, we will see that funerary re-use, demonstrations of
power and the conformation of legends are not exclusive to
past societies, and that modern society also used these
remains of the past for its own and various interests.
In this paper we will discuss the different methodologies that had been set up in 1988 and between 2011-2017 on Mound 4 (mámoa 4), a megalithic monument at risk of destruction due to coastal erosion. Among these methodologies, a series of non-invasive and digital tools were used, including geophysical surveys (gradiometer), digital photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning. Added to this, a crowdsourcing initiative (Guidoiro Dixital) was launched in 2014 that aimed to compile old videos and photos of the islet thus generating a response from the local community interested in preserving their heritage while contributing to the long-term analysis of site erosion. The images compiled through this initiative were used to obtain fresh information (generation of additional 3D models) of eroding or already destroyed archaeological sites, including Mound 4.
The combination of these non-invasive and digital approaches has proved to be perfectly adapted to get accurate information on the mounds in Guidoiro Areoso; they were also essential to inform the excavation process that eventually took place on Mound 4 -during the summer of 2017- in order to rescue scientific information from the site before it is destroyed.
http://www.akal.com/libros/La-Prehistoria-en-la-penInsula-IbErica/9788470904882
http://lascarbx.labex.u-bordeaux.fr/Publications/Parution-de-La-prehistoria-en-la-Peninsula-Iberica-i4805.html
In the context of territorial analyses in archaeology, the visual attributes of sites play a key role in the definition of location strategies. This paper studies the Neolithic evidence from the south-western Morbihan area in Brittany (France) from a visual point of view, integrating the previous Mesolithic and the later Bronze Age occupation of the region in order to understand the diachronic evolution of the visual settlement patterns. The role played by the sea seems to be significant throughout the entire occupation of the area, but differences in both intervisibility of sites and the extension of visual areas allow us to make particular observations regarding different cultural uses of the landscape through time.
chronological setting of human activity in the past. In this context, this paper deals with the applicationof Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to the analysis of megaliths. It will explore the research context of this technique, its general principles, and the perspectives and reality of its application to the Later Prehistoric monuments of the European Atlantic façade. As a general conclusion, OSL can be seen so far as a good complementary or – in cases where Radiocarbon is not possible – alternative dating technique with high potential. It
needs, nonetheless, to be further tested. For succeeding in such a goal the role of researchershas now to be active, incorporating the technique when possible into well-defined research protocols.
hispano-portuguesa).
El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar el modo en que la monumentalidad prehistórica ha sido abordada en el noroeste de la Península Ibérica. Para ello, se han utilizado criterios bibliométricos de análisis. Se estudia de forma conjunta la evidencia publicada para Galicia y Norte de Portugal (territorios al norte del Duero); el área occidental
de Asturias ha sido igualmente tenida en cuenta cuando la discusión de los trabajos se enmarcaba explícitamente en los procesos del noroeste, algo que sin embargo es muy poco frecuente. El rango cronológico de la muestra comprende desde finales del siglo XIX (1888) hasta 2010. Se analizan cuestiones como los temas preferentes de investigación, las regiones más intensamente estudiadas o el grado de colaboración e internacionalización de la investigación. Se plantea una síntesis interpretativa sobre los resultados y se ofrece una lectura sobre las tendencias más actuales en la materia y sus posibles líneas de desarrollo
El trabajo se centra en el análisis del fenómeno megalítico y en la consideración diacrónica general de los modos de poblamiento (Neolítico-época romana). El contexto metodológico se inserta en los estudios sobre Arqueología del Paisaje, apoyándose en metodologías SIG y en criterios de discriminación de base estadística.
Palabras Clave: Arqueología del Paisaje, Megalitismo, Análisis diacrónico del poblamiento, cuenca hidrográfica del Sever.
VIEW ON Digital.CSIC:
http://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/34460
the European Atlantic façade have been monuments present
in the landscape for millennia. Built between the Neolithic
and the Iron Age, they were intended to signing and
transforming the landscape. Due to their permanence, they
have often been part of the daily life of different societies
which, occupying these same territories centuries later, have
been confronted with their presence. Re-uses, transformations,
interpretations on their construction and their origin have
thus succeeded one another from Antiquity to modern
times. Towards the second third of the 19th century, scientific
approaches to archaeological evidence grew in importance in
France as elsewhere. At the end of the century, there was a
veritable explosion of research and excavations which
resulted in the consolidation of prehistory as a scientific
discipline during the first half of the 20th century. This
scientific perspective – based on the material analysis of the
remains and often led in its beginnings by the economic and
social elite of the time – cohabited with an older vision –
more specific to the modest strata of society – based on
tradition, religion and the rhythms of nature. In this paper,
we will consider this misregarded aspect of the study of
prehistoric monumentality through the analysis of some
transformations and reuse that some of these prehistoric
monuments underwent at that time. Through a series of
examples, we will see that funerary re-use, demonstrations of
power and the conformation of legends are not exclusive to
past societies, and that modern society also used these
remains of the past for its own and various interests.
In this paper we will discuss the different methodologies that had been set up in 1988 and between 2011-2017 on Mound 4 (mámoa 4), a megalithic monument at risk of destruction due to coastal erosion. Among these methodologies, a series of non-invasive and digital tools were used, including geophysical surveys (gradiometer), digital photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning. Added to this, a crowdsourcing initiative (Guidoiro Dixital) was launched in 2014 that aimed to compile old videos and photos of the islet thus generating a response from the local community interested in preserving their heritage while contributing to the long-term analysis of site erosion. The images compiled through this initiative were used to obtain fresh information (generation of additional 3D models) of eroding or already destroyed archaeological sites, including Mound 4.
The combination of these non-invasive and digital approaches has proved to be perfectly adapted to get accurate information on the mounds in Guidoiro Areoso; they were also essential to inform the excavation process that eventually took place on Mound 4 -during the summer of 2017- in order to rescue scientific information from the site before it is destroyed.
http://www.akal.com/libros/La-Prehistoria-en-la-penInsula-IbErica/9788470904882
http://lascarbx.labex.u-bordeaux.fr/Publications/Parution-de-La-prehistoria-en-la-Peninsula-Iberica-i4805.html
In the context of territorial analyses in archaeology, the visual attributes of sites play a key role in the definition of location strategies. This paper studies the Neolithic evidence from the south-western Morbihan area in Brittany (France) from a visual point of view, integrating the previous Mesolithic and the later Bronze Age occupation of the region in order to understand the diachronic evolution of the visual settlement patterns. The role played by the sea seems to be significant throughout the entire occupation of the area, but differences in both intervisibility of sites and the extension of visual areas allow us to make particular observations regarding different cultural uses of the landscape through time.
chronological setting of human activity in the past. In this context, this paper deals with the applicationof Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to the analysis of megaliths. It will explore the research context of this technique, its general principles, and the perspectives and reality of its application to the Later Prehistoric monuments of the European Atlantic façade. As a general conclusion, OSL can be seen so far as a good complementary or – in cases where Radiocarbon is not possible – alternative dating technique with high potential. It
needs, nonetheless, to be further tested. For succeeding in such a goal the role of researchershas now to be active, incorporating the technique when possible into well-defined research protocols.
hispano-portuguesa).
El presente trabajo tiene por objetivo analizar el modo en que la monumentalidad prehistórica ha sido abordada en el noroeste de la Península Ibérica. Para ello, se han utilizado criterios bibliométricos de análisis. Se estudia de forma conjunta la evidencia publicada para Galicia y Norte de Portugal (territorios al norte del Duero); el área occidental
de Asturias ha sido igualmente tenida en cuenta cuando la discusión de los trabajos se enmarcaba explícitamente en los procesos del noroeste, algo que sin embargo es muy poco frecuente. El rango cronológico de la muestra comprende desde finales del siglo XIX (1888) hasta 2010. Se analizan cuestiones como los temas preferentes de investigación, las regiones más intensamente estudiadas o el grado de colaboración e internacionalización de la investigación. Se plantea una síntesis interpretativa sobre los resultados y se ofrece una lectura sobre las tendencias más actuales en la materia y sus posibles líneas de desarrollo
El trabajo se centra en el análisis del fenómeno megalítico y en la consideración diacrónica general de los modos de poblamiento (Neolítico-época romana). El contexto metodológico se inserta en los estudios sobre Arqueología del Paisaje, apoyándose en metodologías SIG y en criterios de discriminación de base estadística.
Palabras Clave: Arqueología del Paisaje, Megalitismo, Análisis diacrónico del poblamiento, cuenca hidrográfica del Sever.
VIEW ON Digital.CSIC:
http://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/34460
As part of the preparation of the Homer conference held in 2021 on the island of Oléron (Charente Maritime), this international round-table aimed to bring together various actors around questions relating to the impact of climate change on the cultural heritage of coastal areas on both sides of the Atlantic. The aim was to bring together the views of managers, researchers, politicians and actors in the field on the situation of a threatened coastal heritage and the actions undertaken or to be undertaken in the search for solutions. This inventory called for information and synthesis at different scales: local, regional and national. This round table prepared the session 1 "Coastal and maritime archaeology: today's challenges” of the Homer conference in 2021.
Researchers and heritage managers around the world are witnessing severe challenges and developing innovative mechanisms for dealing with them. Increasingly archaeologists are embracing practices learned from the natural heritage sector, which has long worked with the public in practical recording projects. By involving the public in projects and making data accessible, archaeologists are engaging society in the debate on threatened heritage and in wider discussions on climate change. Community involvement also underpins wider climate change adaptation strategies, and citizen science projects can help to influence and inform policy makers. Developing threats to heritage are being experienced around the world, and as this collection of papers will show, new partnerships and collaborations are crossing national boundaries.
With examples from across the globe, this book brings together a selection of papers that detail the scale of the problem through a variety of case studies. Together they will demonstrate how heritage professionals, working in diverse environments and with distinctive archaeology, are engaging with the public to raise awareness of this threatened resource. The contributions in this volume will examine differing responses and proactive methodologies for the protection, preservation and recording of sites at risk from natural forces. It will demonstrate how new approaches can better engage people with the growing number of sites that are under increasing threat of destruction, thus contributing to the resilience of our shared heritage. The new insights using real-life examples presented in this volume will make it a key reference in the field of climate change and heritage studies.
Researchers and heritage managers around the world are witnessing severe challenges and developing innovative mechanisms for dealing with them. Increasingly archaeologists are embracing practices learned from the natural heritage sector, which has long worked with the public in practical recording projects. By involving the public in projects and making data accessible, archaeologists are engaging society in the debate on threatened heritage and in wider discussions on climate change. Community involvement also underpins wider climate change adaptation strategies, and citizen science projects can help to influence and inform policy makers. Developing threats to heritage are being experienced around the world, and as this collection of papers will show, new partnerships and collaborations are crossing national boundaries.
With examples from across the globe, this book brings together a selection of papers that detail the scale of the problem through a variety of case studies. Together they will demonstrate how heritage professionals, working in diverse environments and with distinctive archaeology, are engaging with the public to raise awareness of this threatened resource. The contributions in this volume will examine differing responses and proactive methodologies for the protection, preservation and recording of sites at risk from natural forces. It will demonstrate how new approaches can better engage people with the growing number of sites that are under increasing threat of destruction, thus contributing to the resilience of our shared heritage. The new insights using real-life examples presented in this volume will make it a key reference in the field of climate change and heritage studies.
ISBN: 9781785707049
In continental France, the ALeRT (Archéologie Littorale et REchauffement Terrestre) project has successfully provided -since 2006- a series of tools and methodologies for the recording, the analysis and the recovery of scientific information from coastal archaeological sites threatened of destruction. One of the keys of the project's success relies on its public, community-based, perspective.
Stemming from this experience, we are now extending and adapting our methods to the Caribbean region in partnership with local organisations, agencies and stakeholders. In this paper we present the nature, objectives and advances of this ongoing project in the French Antilles and we discuss how the climatic events of 2017 (i.e. hurricanes Irma and Maria) have influenced its setting up and its perspectives of research.
While the historical, geographical and climatic conditions of this region are different from those we encounter in Atlantic Europe, the versatility of the methodologies and tools developed, as well as the focus on citizen action, comfort us with the idea that multivocal and trans-disciplinary approaches like this are the best way to analyse past climate changes, to confront contemporary ones and to better engage the public with their local heritage. Furthermore, we believe that in the traumatic scenario of post-natural disaster the study and preservation of such heritage can play a role in the reconstruction of the economic tissue and of the collective and individual identities.
During the 1970s and 1980s, intense research was undertaken in the southern magin of the estuary, an area with a long and highly dynamic coastal façade.
In the last few years, the combined action of increased coastal erosion and human pressure seriously threatened the integrity of one of the most relevant archaeological sites in the region (La Lède du Gurp in the municipality of Grayan-et-l'Hôpital) and exposed a whole array of previsouly unrecorded archaeological remains across the coastal band between this site and the northern sandy beaches (Amélie area in the municipality of Soulac-sur-Mer). In this context and since 2014, new interdisciplinary research in this area is providing fresh information on the settlement and landscape dynamics and on the long term interaction between human societies and the environment. Owing to the sedimentary context and of the exceptional preservation conditions of organic remains a multi-proxy approach has been possible which combines archaeological, geomorphological, palaeobiological and geophysical methods. In this paper we will discuss the different methods that have been set up so far for the analysis of these settlement and landscape dynamics in the Gironde estuary from prehitoric times to antiquity, some of the preliminary results obtained as well as the new perspectives implemented in the ECOREST project (funded by the LaScArBx cluster of excellence at Université de Bordeaux) that will run from 2018 to 2020.
Le littoral et son étude à travers les archives de l’ancien Laboratoire d’Anthropologie de Rennes
Cette exposition a pour but d'illustrer la continuité entre les recherches des pionniers de l’Archéologie et les thématiques actuellement développées par les chercheurs. Cette réflexion est ici conduite à partir des archives iconographiques inédites de l’ancien "Laboratoire d’Anthropologie et Préhistoire…" de Rennes, et déclinée autour du domaine géographique particulier que constituent le littoral et les îles.
Bien que la plupart des documents présentés concernent la Bretagne, ces témoignages – d’une richesse que nous ne commençons qu’à entrevoir – sont représentatifs de quelques-unes des premières études scientifiques de terrain et des débuts de l’archéologie professionnelle en France.
Organised by
Tom Dawson, SCAPE Trust / University of St Andrews
Courtney Nimura, UCL / MOLA
Marie-Yvane Daire, University of Rennes
Elias Lopez-Romero, Durham University
There is a long-established tradition of rescue archaeology at sites threatened by development, and the principle of ‘polluter pays’ is referenced in the laws and planning guidance of many European countries. But what happens when there is no developer, when it is natural processes that threaten a site? The threats are many, including flooding, erosion, sea level rise, thawing of permafrost, and drying up of waterlogged deposits; and worryingly, climate change predictions suggest that the problem is likely to increase. The problems are severe, but the mechanisms are still developing. How should heritage professionals work at sites threatened by natural processes?Natural heritage organisations have long involved the public to highlight these problems, and there is an increasing move for archaeologists to engage with this tradition. Our profession has much to learn, but citizen science projects involving the public in collecting data; innovative ways of monitoring; and new, rapid, digital recording techniques are being developed. In addition, digital and social media channels, visualizations and bespoke museum displays should engage the public in the wider debate on the threat to heritage at a time of changing climate. This session will question how heritage professionals can engage more with the public to rescue information before it is too late. It will seek examples of techniques that can be applied for the community recording and monitoring of sites. It will look for examples from across Europe and further abroad with an aim to discussing the pros and cons of community involvement in the recording of sites that will otherwise be lost. The session will focus on, but is not limited to:1. Communication through citizen science and crowd-sourced data2. Digital recording of heritage threatened by climate change3. Developing methods of photogrammetry, aerial and drone photography 4. Innovative methods of communicating archaeology
aims to provide a forum for the discussion of the effects that coastal erosion and climate change are
having within the context of current coastal archaeological research.
In this Durham Forum meeting, emphasis will be placed on the concepts of vulnerability and
resilience. How can current approaches contribute to a better vulnerability assessment of at-risk
coastal archaeological heritage? In what way can specific initiatives (e.g. preservation by record,
engagement of local communities in the research and monitoring processes) help to improve the
resilience of this heritage?
En este pdf 3D presentamos los resultados de la documentación 3D de un fragmento de especial interés localizado en el islote de Guidoiro Areoso, en la Ría de Arousa, Pontevedra. El estilo decorativo responde a una tradición tipo Cogotas I, tan característica de la Meseta y otras zonas peninsulares y muy singular en el NW peninsular y en su fase de expansión fuera de la Meseta, la cronología de esta cerámica se desarrollaría a partir del 1500 BC. Este documento, un pdf 3D, permite interactuar con el modelo 3d: se puede mover el modelo 3D, rotarlo, girarlo, desplazarlo, hacer zoom, cambiar el aspecto e iluminación.
The proposed session will bring together specialists from different periods and regions with the aim of discussing, through a variety of case studies and methodological approaches, the analysis and reconstruction of such moundscapes. The role the latest technological advances play in data acquisition, analysis and interpretation will be central to the session as they contribute to get and collate new information about these landscapes. Thus, we will accept papers related to the following topics:
CALL FOR PAPERS
Submit your paper/poster by 15 Feb 2018
- Data acquisition: proposals involving photogrammetry and remote sensing (e.g. LiDAR) techniques will show how to get accurate information as a basis for the development of good practices in research.
- Analysis and Interpretation: computationally-informed landscape archaeology. GIS and Spatial statistics techniques, with presentations on how these monumental landscapes can be statistically modelled to analyse settlement patterns, locational preferences. Case studies on Viewshed analysis or mobility patterns are also welcome, as they will show how geospatial techniques are fundamental to get new knowledge from past societies.
[ES] El Proyecto "Procesos de Formación y Cambio del paisaje cultural del Parque nacional de las Islas Atlánticas de Galicia" (2011-2013) se propone estudiar los procesos de formación y transformación el paisaje de las islas que componen el Parque (creado en 2002 y ubicado en el suroeste de Galicia). Este trabajo presenta el contexto general del proyecto y discute los resultados obtenidos hasta la fecha en el campo de la Arqueología y, en menor medida, de la etnografía.
In this paper, we review the archaeological evidence in Guidoiro Areoso and we show how archaeological research has revealed a continuous occupation of the islet during Prehistoric times. The results of the latest geomorphological studies and the last archaeological research works developed there between 2016-2017 are also summarized, helping us to contextualize what happened at this key point of the Ría de Arousa some millennia ago. This interdisciplinary research has integrated work by different specialists, thus contributing to apprehend in a better, holistic, way the complex and multi-faceted phenomenon of the human occupation of coastal areas, the impact of our current activity in these coastal environments and the effects of current climate change on the cultural and natural heritage of these regions.