Water networks of Roman gold mines of Northwestern Iberian Peninsula

This paper presents a synthesis of the work done by the research group Social Structure and Territory—Landscape Archaeology (Institute of History, CSIC) in North Western Spain, for which the study and analysis of hydraulic networks related to Roman mining exploitation has been a fundamental part. The gold-bearing areas of the Iberian Peninsula’s North West had a great importance for the Roman Empire, which integrates their exploitation in the overall control of the territory from the very beginning of the 1st century AD. To ensure the essential supply of water for the whole of the mining process was one of the main axes of the reorganization of the provincial territories. The aim of this paper is to present both the historical context of these water networks and the methodology and approach of our work, in which the fieldwork and network analysis is an important research aim. We will do this by using the example of the Roman gold mines of the Sierra de Francia region where an extensive and very well preserved hydraulic system has been recorded and analysed. Our team has gathered archaeological evidence for the study of water networks and mining exploitation and their incidence on the revaluation of natural resources in the region.