Cited by 2Urbanism, Landscape, and Tourism StudiesHistorical Geography and Geographical ThoughtArchaeology and Cultural Heritage

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Un ensayo metodológico de caminería y geografía históricas en el valle de Lamasón (Cantabria)

Open access
Ansola Fernández, Alberto·2018·Cuadernos Geográficos

Abstract

A methodological essay on historic road and geography in the valley of Lamasón (Cantabria) After reviewing the different approaches that historical road studies have developed in Spain, a new integrative methodology is presented between the historical road and the historical geography of the landscape carried out in an investigation in the valley of Lamasón (Cantabria). Methodology characterized by going from the whole (road network) to the parts (roads), to develop a regressive approach from front to back and to combine documentary and archaeological sources, and which has allowed to rebuild the previous roadway to the current and study of all its vestiges. The results are considered very positive within the studies of historical road, but in those of historical geography of the landscape was not reached completely to the objectives marked in the beginning. Nevertheless, it is still considered the most suitable method for the study of the historic road networks and their interrelation with the rest of the elements of the landscape.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This methodological essay tests Éric Vion’s regressive road-network method in the Lamasón valley (Cantabria), combining archival and archaeological fieldwork to move from the present network to historical paths. It reconstructs mainly a 17th–19th-century road network and road typologies, but source and archaeological limits prevent reaching medieval or earlier networks and deeply linking roads to the wider historical landscape.

Key findings

  • The method allowed reconstructing the historical road network as a whole and descending to individual paths, including local/agrarian ones, not only supralocal routes; most road structures were reconstructed.
  • The dominant historical road type was a cut/sunken cross-section with rough cobbled pavement and small stone retaining walls; widths ranged from “metro escaso” to “dos metros largos,” allowing pack traffic and local carts, with no clear typological difference between main and local paths.
  • Documentary work concentrated on the 17th–19th centuries, especially 18th-century notarial protocols from the Archivo Histórico Provincial de Cantabria (legs. 2.348, 2.405, 2.418–2.424, 2.488–2.494, 2.509), yielding many road mentions and toponyms.
  • In historical geography of landscape, results were “más confusos y discutibles”: the study could not go beyond the 17th–19th-century network or deeply interrelate roads with settlement, terrazgo, and monte.

Methods

  • Design: methodological essay applying Vion’s regressive/systematic method—start from the current road network, strip modern roads/tracks, and work backward to old paths—while combining documentary, oral, field, and archaeological evidence.
  • Study area: Lamasón, western Cantabria, a closed medium-mountain valley of about 7,000 ha.
  • Analysis: documentary sources (notarial protocols, 19th-century cartography, geographic dictionaries, Real Chancillería de Valladolid lawsuits/plans), field survey of surviving segments/elements, and coding similar to the Swiss IVS with three digits (main route, branch, segment); examined sections, widths, pavements, and associated features for traffic/function/chronotypology.

Limitations

  • Paper states: documentary scarcity below the 17th century prevented reaching medieval and earlier networks; unlike Liébana, there were no cartularies, diplomatic collections, or monastic apeos rich in road/toponym references.
  • Paper states: archaeological limits—no network-scale anomalies due to lack of earlier-network information and mountainous relief that forced routes; at path scale, scarce datable materials left dating to chronotypologies, weak for marginal/local paths; a requested archaeological prospection with material movement at Venta de los Lobos was denied by the Consejería de Cultura de Cantabria.
  • Paper states/evident: the method is complex and difficult; Vion himself acknowledged difficulties, and attempts to combine scales and periods often complicated results, with the transition from network to concrete paths rarely completed. The article itself says it is reduced to a “simple esbozo.”

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.30827/cuadgeo.v57i3.6226

Cites

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Imagen 1. Vista panorámica del centro del valle de Lamasón.
Imagen 1. Vista panorámica del centro del valle de Lamasón.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Mapa 1. Red viaria actual de carreteras y pistas del valle de Lamasón.
Mapa 1. Red viaria actual de carreteras y pistas del valle de Lamasón.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Mapa 2. Red viaria actual e histórica del valle de Lamasón.
Mapa 2. Red viaria actual e histórica del valle de Lamasón.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Mapa 3. Red viaria histórica del valle de Lamasón.
Mapa 3. Red viaria histórica del valle de Lamasón.CC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Mapa 4. Segmentos del camino Real de La Montaña y su entorno
Mapa 4. Segmentos del camino Real de La Montaña y su entornoCC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Image 6
CC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Imagen 3. Segmento de un camino de acceso a invernales
Imagen 3. Segmento de un camino de acceso a invernalesCC-BY-NC · From the PDF
Imagen 4. Camino viejo a su paso por una antigua ería
Imagen 4. Camino viejo a su paso por una antigua eríaCC-BY-NC · From the PDF

Verification

Claims the paper makes

27 Own interpretation · 23 Sources not found · 14 Own result · 10 No basis given

Show all 14 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 35
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 45
60 of 60
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    El giro metodológico de Vion es aplicable al estudio de la caminería histórica del valle de Lamasón.

    “el grupo de Geografía Histórica del Paisaje de la Universidad de Cantabria decidió adoptar también ese giro metodológico en sus estudios camineros.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La red viaria de la Edad Moderna y buena parte de la Contemporánea se fue configurando durante los siglos medievales.

    “cuando es de prever que se fuese configurando la red viaria de la Edad Moderna y buena parte de la Contemporánea”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    El trazado de la red viaria actual puede servir como punto de partida para reconstruir la red viaria histórica una vez expurgado de los elementos más recientes.

    “se partió del trazado de la red viaria actual para, una vez expurgada de esos elementos más recientes y novedosos, y con la ayuda del trabajo de campo y del de archivo, ahondar en la histórica”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Las tipologías constructivas de los caminos (cronotipologías) pueden aportar temporalidades relativas para los caminos históricos.

    “con el fin de conseguir información arqueológica que pudiese enfocar hacia tipos de tráficos (de herradura o carreteros), funcionalidades (supralocales o locales) y, sobre todo, temporalidades relativas a través de sus tipologías (cronotipologías).”
4 of 4

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

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Metadata

Authors
Ansola Fernández, A.
Venue
Cuadernos Geográficos
Published
2018-12-17
Volume
57
Issue
3
ISSN
  • 0210-5462 (ISSN-L)
  • 2340-0129
OpenAlex
W2903863543
Cited by
2
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.60
Type
journal article
Language
es
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc
Locations
  • Cuadernos Geográficos (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • e-rph (University of Granada) (submittedVersion)
  • Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) (submittedVersion)
  • UCrea (University of Cantabria) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Urbanism, Landscape, and Tourism Studies
  • Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Historical Geography and Geographical Thought
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Archaeology and Cultural Heritage
Keywords
historical cartography, historical road networks, Cantabria, road network reconstruction

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