Late Antique and Early Medieval Rupestrian Monasticism in the Iberian Peninsula. Landscapes and material contexts of the rupestrian settlements

Rupestrian architecture has been traditionally linked to hermits' environments, considering them as isolated because of their topographical features and ‘disconnected’ from the rest of the world. But if we look carefully to their places of location in relation to the existing network of settlement, roads and circuits of production and consumption, the reality is somewhat different. In this sense, the rupestrian architecture linked to monastic communities formed authentic rural settlements, while Christian cult complex, in which a community not exclusively dedicated to religious activities conduct their daily life, because there would not be composed only of monks (as evidenced by their burial areas), forming what we might call “agricultural monasteries” or “village communities”, in which the religious element would be a factor of social cohesion. In the Iberian Peninsula these are generally cult spaces of individual or collective character, with annexed spatial areas equipped with various functionalities. The topographical location of these sites in Hispania is very characteristic, taking advantage of mountainous areas and crags. Nevertheless, his situation is not defined by its “isolation” or “the flight to the desert”, but because of its proximity to the settlement and communication network system.