Poblamiento y organización del espacio : la Tarraconense pirenaica en el siglo VI

The donation and will of Vicente of Asán, dating from AD 551 and 576 respectively, are two basic documents concerning the property structure in the Visigothic period. These documents have been subjected to specialised research for nearly a century; however, the exact location of the toponyms contained in them –a fundamental point for a full understanding of the structure of Vicente’s properties– remains an unsolved question. This paper tackles this problem, combining archaeological field work with the historical review of the document, as well as the study of mediaeval documentation in order to trace the survival of sixth century toponyms in the subsequent period. We can now identify with certainty approximately 50% of minor toponyms, which makes possible a historical analysis of how Vicente of Asán’s patrimony was organised. His centre of interest is clearly located in the Pyrenean area of Huesca, in the La Fueva and Boltaña valleys (the ancient terrae terrantonensis and boletana of the document). Later the patrimony also included land along the Esera and Cinca valleys, reaching even the Ebro valley, with properties in the territories of Barbotum, Labitolosa, Ilerda and Caesaraugusta. From this we can infer a complementary economy between the lands on the valleys of the main rivers and the mountain areas, which allowed diversification of production and better exploitation of resources. Cattle raising was an important activity, and there was short-distance seasonal transhumance. Furthermore, the reconstruction of microtoponymy allows us, first, to define with some detail the borders of the urban territories mentioned by the texts, and second, to detect that the lines of inner mediaeval colonisation followed those documented for the Visigothic period. [Authors]