Use and exploitation of water in the domestic and industrial spheres through archaeological sources: four examples from the medieval and modern times

Abstract

We present four examples of water use in the Middle Ages and Modern we have been documented through archaeological research conducted in recent years and which correspond to different chronologies: The use of rainwater in a  late antiquity and high medieval age habitat of Els Altimiris (5th-8th Centuries); control and use of water in the iron industry of Fabregada (11th-13th centuries); the water circuit in the Castell de Mur (11th-15th centuries) and the exploitation of groundwater with the qanat system in La Sinia (16th Century). All of these examples we interpret it within its historical and archaeological context. Finally we do an assessment of the effectiveness of these modest hydraulic systems and their importance in the Middle Ages and Modern.