Tips and Tricks to Study Mudbricks. Experiences from the Protohistoric Site of Casas del Turuñuelo, Spain

Abstract

The main construction technique during the Protohistory in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula was adobe. However, to date, there have been few sites with the necessary state of preservation to conduct studies that provide a holistic view of the architecture. In contrast, the discovery of the Tartessian building at Casas del Turuñuelo (Guareña, Badajoz, Spain) with its exceptional state of preservation has enabled the application of a wide range of interdisciplinary analytical techniques and methodologies—many of which have never before been used together at a single site. In this paper, we present a detailed synthesis of all the strategies, techniques and analyses applied over ten years of excavation, as well as those currently under development. Our aim is to share the insights gained from this specific case study and, more importantly, to provide methodological tools that can be applied to other adobe-using sites, regardless of their chronology or cultural context.