Uma; Ela Navigability in the past.

The case study of the Vouga River in Roman times.

Abstract

This article presents the scientific results of one of the chapters from the author’s master’s dissertation, entitled Landscape Archaeology: Analysis of Romanized ‘Castros’ in the Present-day Municipality of São Pedro do Sul. Located in a territory marked by a singular landscape and abundant natural resources, this area has experienced continuous occupation of its physical space.
With the aim of reconstructing the character of the hillfort landscape during the Roman period in what is today the municipality of São Pedro do Sul, Portugal, the author considered it pertinent to investigate the plausibility of the navigability of the River Vouga — a fluvial resource that appears to have been central and relevant to both the subsistence of local populations and the structuring of the landscape.
To address this topic, documentary, bibliographic, and cartographic sources were consulted, followed by a description and analysis of the landscape context based on Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of the study region, using the tools provided by Geographic Information Systems (GIS).