Trabancos River - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Trabancos River

Sovereign state

A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

España (Spain)

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

—>

Length

In geometric measurements, length most commonly refers to the longest dimension of an object.In certain contexts, the term "length" is reserved for a certain dimension of an object along which the length is measured. For example it is possible to cut a length of a wire which is shorter than wire...

85.86 kilometres (53.4 mi)

Elevation at source

1120 metres (3,674.5 ft)

Provinces

Ávila

Ávila (province)

Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...

and Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

Valladolid is a province of central/northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, León, Palencia, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila, and Salamanca....

River mouth

Duero River near the Village
of Pollos (Valladolid province

Valladolid (province)

)

Elevation at mouth

657 metres (2,155.5 ft)

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

- Hydrology

Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...

The Trabancos is a river in Spain that flows between the Zapardiel and the Guareña rivers, and is a tributary of the Duero river

Douro

The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...

. The source of the Trabancos is in Moraña

Moraña

Moraña is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra....

, a region in the north of the province of Ávila

Ávila (province)

, near Blascomillán. The Trabancos is at an elevation of approximately 1100 metres (3,608.9 ft), is approximately 85 kilometres (52.8 mi) long and, although its river bed

Stream bed

A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins, during all but flood stage, are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto...

is stable, only has a constant water flow during and immediately after torrential rains

Extreme weather

Extreme weather includes weather phenomena that are at the extremes of the historical distribution, especially severe or unseasonal weather. The most commonly used definition of extreme weather is based on an event's climatological distribution. Extreme weather occurs only 5% or less of the time...

Fluvial Geomorphology

From its source in the province of Ávila, to its mouth in the village of Pollos ("Village of Chickens" in Spanish) in the Vallisoletana

Valladolid (province)

("confluence of waters") region, the course of the Trabancos is markedly affected by a geologic fault

Geologic fault

In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces...

originating in the Tertiary era

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

—likely pre-Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

that, like most of the observed faults

Geologic fault

of that geological era

Geologic time scale

The geologic time scale provides a system of chronologic measurement relating stratigraphy to time that is used by geologists, paleontologists and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of the Earth...

, follows a NNE-SSW direction. As shown in the graph below, the fault separates material laid down during the Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

epoch on the right margin, from material laid down during the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

epoch on the left margin. The surface level represents material deposited during the Quaternary

Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

period.

Archeological research in areas that surround the Trabancos River, between the villages of Castrejón and Pollos (Valladolid province

Valladolid (province)

) have been compared with the specialized bibliography and the published geological charts (infra). This produed identified a sequence of river terraces as follows, on the left hand margin of the chart: TT-1 platform (the most ancient, at +35/40 meters over the flood plain); the TT-2 platform (the second one at +25/30 meters); the TT-3 platform (at +15 meters over the floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

); and the TT-4 platform (at +10 meters, the last and most recent).

The right hand margin of the designated chart depicts a gravel plateau present along the middle and final courses of the Trabancos River. The scientist Alfredo Pérez-Gonzalez named this formation "Superficie de Alaejos" ("The Plateau of Alaejos", after a nearby village). The Alaejos Plateau incorporates a number of different types of materials, including, among others: red argillic soil

Alfisols

Alfisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Alfisols form in semiarid to humid areas, typically under a hardwood forest cover. They have a clay-enriched subsoil and relatively high native fertility. "Alf" refers to aluminium and iron . Because of their productivity and abundance, the...

and a colluvium

Colluvium

Colluvium is the name for loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low-grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, transported by gravity. The deposits that collect at the foot of a steep slope or cliff are also known by the same name. Colluvium often...

build up of gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

s with rounded stones of quartz

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

and quartzite

Quartzite

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...

.

The terraces of the Trabancos River only occur on the left hand side of the valley. Their sediments overlie Miocene sediments

Miocene

. This is the result of a hard slope in the opposite margin, where the terrain is heavily eroded, which renders the formation and maintenance of river terraces impossible.
Of the previously mentioned river terraces, the one known as TT-4 is only visible near Narros del Castillo (Ávila

Ávila (province)

). Terrace TT-3 is the best preserved of the lot; although its height on the bed of the stream is not constant, it clearly stands out on the floodplain

Floodplain

. Terrace TT-2 is quite well preserved as well, although it has been more heavily sculptured by other small tributaries of the Trabancos River. By contrast, terrace TT-1 is greatly eroded; although some sections survive to the south of the municipality of Alaejos (Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), they are very difficult to differentiate from the colluvium

Colluvium

floor that covers the Superficie de Alaejos. Entering into land in the municipality of Pollos, the stream stops to form river terraces, cutting traversely and lowering enough (between 40 and 60 meters) to meet the terrace deposits of the Duero River.

The TT-3 platform features a very compact and thick Miocene

Miocene

epoch conglomerate

Conglomerate (geology)

A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...

formed of river-smoothed pebbles

Pebble

A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of 4 to 64 millimetres based on the Krumbein phi scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered to be larger than granules and smaller than cobbles . A rock made predominantly of pebbles is termed a conglomerate...

of quartzite

Quartzite

, most likely cut by the Trabancos River ages ago, and cemented together by chalk

Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....

and sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

materials. While this Miocene conglomerate emerges from the banks of each river terrace, the quartzite in the conglomerate on the TT-2 platform, just northwest of the municipality of Siete Iglesias de Trabancos, likely derives from the action of the Duero River rather than the Trabancos River, as a slope in the terrain is thought to have caused the formation of an alluvial fan

Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...

that deposited quartzite on the fluvial fossil river bed of the Trabancos.

The fact that the river terraces of the Trabancos River cut and cross some terraces of the Duero River indicates the affected Duero River terraces are younger than those not formed from activity of the waters of this river. The "superficie de Alaejos" carve-out intrudes 4 to 6 meters into the Duero River terrace designated TD-7 (+74/80 m) to the northwest of Siete Iglesias de Trabancos village. Likewise, the TT-2 fluvial terrace of Trabancos cuts some Duero River terraces. Since the previously mentioned Duero River terrace named TD-7 has been dated by Alfredo Pérez-González (op.cit.) to the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene

Middle Pleistocene

The Middle Pleistocene, more specifically referred to as the Ionian stage, is a period of geologic time from ca. 781 to 126 thousand years ago....

, meaning the river terraces of Trabancos River are younger than the "Superficie de Alaejos", it appears plausible that this postdates the creation of Trabancos valley: the proposed date could, thus, be halfway through the Middle Pleistocene

Middle Pleistocene

The Middle Pleistocene, more specifically referred to as the Ionian stage, is a period of geologic time from ca. 781 to 126 thousand years ago....

or later.

History of the Trabancos region

Although the eastern portion of the river is of insignificant hydrographic
Hydrography
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...

importance, at least until the 13th century, it played an important role in the history of the North Spanish Plateau.

Prehistoric era

Evidence of prehistoric human habitation has been unearthed in hillsides in some areas of Narros del Castillo (Ávila

Ávila (province)

), and in Siete Iglesias de Trabancos (Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), dating from the Quaternary period, and have been further pinpointed as originating in the lower Paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

era. At both sites, collections of lithic stone artifacts knapped

Flintknapper

Knapping is the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian or other conchoidal fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls, and flushwork decoration.- Method :Flintknapping...

during the Acheulean period

Acheulean

Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...

are found on the surface (not as a result of archeological excavation), including among others: centripetally knapped lithic core

Lithic core

In archaeology, a lithic core is a distinctive artifact that results from the practice of lithic reduction. In this sense, a core is the scarred nucleus resulting from the detachment of one or more flakes from a lump of source material or tool stone, usually by using a hard hammer percussor such...

s, others displaying non-arranged lithic reduction

Lithic reduction

Lithic reduction involves the use of a hard hammer precursor, such as a hammerstone, a soft hammer fabricator , or a wood or antler punch to detach lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone called a lithic core . As flakes are detached in sequence, the original mass of stone is reduced; hence the...

, as well as lithic flake

Lithic flake

In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage. The objective piece, or the rock being reduced by the removal of flakes, is known as a core. Once the proper...

s characteristic of both the Levallois

Levallois technique

The Levallois technique is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed by precursors to modern humans during the Palaeolithic period....

and Kombewa techniques, chopping tool

Chopping tool

In archaeology, a chopping tool is a form of prehistoric stone tool, considered to be a refinement of the earlier chopper.Unlike the crude chopper, the chopping tool is created by removing flakes from two sides of a lithic core...

s and handaxes.

Only ambiguous archaeological evidence has been found dating from the late Roman period. It has been suggested by some that this is a result of the severity of the land and weather in the Trabancos valley and its surrounding regions. Possibly, during the pre-Roman period the territory was a no-man's-land between the Hispanic tribes of the Vaccei and Vettoni

Vettones

The Vettones were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula .- Origins :...

.

Some archaeological remains have been found in the municipality of Siete iglesias de Trabancos (Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), but they are not well-preserved, having been situated on the surface of the terrain. Such remains consist of, for instance, broken pieces of comb-decorated pottery that appear to date from Spain's Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

. There are few other examples of prehistoric findings directly along the Trabancos river. However, in the surrounding regions, such as the municipality of Alaejos (Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), archaeological investigation has unearthed several human burials sites that have been dated to the Bronze Age. In addition, some prehistoric remains have been found near the mouth of the Trabancos River, in Pollos village that originated from the Duero River. These include relics of the Spanish Bronze Age classified as Cogotas pottery, as well as Proto-Cogotas pottery, both featuring incised decoration.

Archaeological remains of pottery found near the Trabancos river basin

Roman times

The Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

likely came to the Trabancos region in the 2nd century, during the campaigns of Lucius Licinius Lucullus

Lucius Licinius Lucullus

This article is on the Consul of 151 BC. For the descendent see Lucullus, and for others of this name see Licinia .Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a novus homo who became Consul in 151 BC. He was imprisoned by the Tribunes for attempting to enforce a troop levy too harshly...

(152 BC), but the area was peripheral to the regions of principal occupation, as well as to the creation of early towns and more importantly, trade routes: most travel routes were in the east of this region, which followed the river Eresma from the town of Coca (Cauca, in Roman times) and Matapozuelos village (Nivaria in Roman times), up to Simancas

Simancas

Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León...

(Septimanca); and at the west, for the "Vía de la Plata" ("silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

road"), the most important Roman route in Lusitania

Lusitania

Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...

Province. Nevertheless, it is known that in the Vallisoletan area, there was several villages that probably are of pre-Roman origin. In fact, the etymology

Etymology

Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

of the word 'Trabancos' suggests a name originating before the Roman occupation.

At the Lavachicha site (municipality of Castrejón, Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

) several pieces of typical Roman pottery named terra sigillata hispanica have been unearthed and there was also an archaeological excavation in the 1980s that revealed a necropolis

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...

from late Roman times

Late Antiquity

Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...

or, perhaps, from Visigoth

Visigoth

The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...

ic times. Similar remains of late Roman pottery, have been found in Carpio (Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), but only at ground level, and not from archaeological excavation. Another municipality crossed by the Trabancos River is Nava del Rey (a small town located in Valladolid

Valladolid (province)

), where, once again, are found superficial pieces of terra sigillata hispanica and a striking plate fragment with red gloss, resembling those that were carried by Roman legionaries

Legionary

The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...

on military campaign

Military campaign

In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...

The Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, the area remained a zone of little interest. No written documents exist prior to the 12th century that mention the region. It is known, however, that between 711 and 740 AD the Berbers

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

had stationed troops in the valley of the Duero, but the majority of these peoples left the area because of a severe drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

that occurred sometime between 750 and 753 AD. Only the most important centers of habitation survived (Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo is a town located in the middle of the Spanish Meseta Central, in the province of Valladolid, Castile-Leon autonomous region, 45 km from Valladolid. It is the capital of a farming area, far away from the great economic centres.-History:...

, Olmedo, Alcazarén

Alcazarén

Alcazarén is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Spain. with a population of 702 . Its name originates from the Arab "al-qasrayn" which means "the two castles". In the Tierra de Pinares region it is located 35 km South of the...

, Tordesillas

Tordesillas

Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....

, etc.).

During the Christian conquest

Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

, little emphasis was placed on resettling the region, as it was essential for the sovereigns of the time to consolidate more strategic zones (in the 11th century, priority was placed on the south of the Sistema Central

Sistema Central

The Sistema Central is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula.-Description:The Sistema Central is a primary feature of the Meseta Central, the inner Iberian plateau, splitting the meseta into two parts...

, a mountain range located in the center of the Iberian peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

), which is why Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo

remained intact into the 12th century.

Nevertheless, Tomas Mañanes, a professor at the University of Valladolid

University of Valladolid

The University of Valladolid is a public university in the city of Valladolid, province of Valladolid, in the autonomous region of Castile-Leon, Spain...

, who investigated the Trabancos valley and Guareña area, found numerous defensive turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

s or "Torrejones" (according to the local dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

) that were dated to the 11th century; that is to say, previous to any official resettlement. Specifically, more than ten defensive structures of various sizes were verified along the course of the Trabancos River in the province of Valladolid.

Character and purpose of the Torrejones

Almost all the torrejones are in areas now uninhabited (except those in Castrejón and Alaejos, both of which were turned into castles, in later history). The torrejones were relatively simple square

Square (geometry)

In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...

or egg-shaped structures, with several floors, built of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

or brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

. At least two categories of torrejones can be identified: The first have small peepholes in their walls and are built in regions that were in isolated areas at the time of use, and the other are small castles located in what were rural farming villages (though today they are deserted

Deserted medieval village

In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more...

).

Nevertheless, the typological similarity of the structures and the relatively short distance between them (ideal for visual communication), has led some to think that they were on opposite sides of the frontier line between the Kingdoms of León

Kingdom of León

The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

and Castile

Kingdom of Castile

Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

(in Salamanca

Salamanca

Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

there is a town names Zorita de la Frontera ("Zorita on the Border") in memory of those times). These fortresses were reinforced in the 12th and 13th centuries due to conflicts between the two kingdoms; but it appears that they are more plentiful on the Castilian

Castile (historical region)

A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

side (near the Trabancos) than on the Leonese side (near the River Guareña). This has been seen as indicative of a certain independence on the part of the militia of the Community of Medina del Campo and surrounding areas, which was thereby forced to defend itself without outside help, while the Leonese side would have been able to rely on the help of Royal

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

troops, and the Knights Hospitaller

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, billeted in Castronuño and Torrecilla de la Orden.

Trabancos River area becomes strategically important

As indicated at the start of the discussion of the area during the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

, despite its history as a fortified border from the tenth century, the area was unimportant until the thirteenth. The King of the (now united) Kingdom of Castile and Leon, Alphonse VII (1126–1157), made a series of internal territorial changes that transferred Leonese territories to the Crown of Castille: specifically, The Tierra de Campos to the north of the Duero, an area valued at the time for its riches, and the alfoz de Medina del Campo (to the south of the Duero), a poor and sparsely populated zone, although it possessed a certain strategic value in terms of the defense of the passes of the Duero valley. During the time of the union of the two crowns, the question of who owned these areas was of little importance; however, upon the death of Alphonse VII and the division of his possession amongst his sons, continuous conflicts arose over the control of the area, especially Tierra de Campos, but also, though less importantly, over the area of Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo

.

The wars over the area intensified between 1178 and 1181. The Leonese Alfoz de Toro was heavily defended, thanks to the Fortress of Castronuño, with a vicious battle taking place even on the shores of the Trabancos River itself. Of particular note is an encounter in 1179 between Leonese and Castilian forces, just outside the Fortress of Cast'cam (Castrejón), which led to the signing of a peace treaty

Peace treaty

A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...

between Alphonse VIII of Castille and Ferdinand II of León

Ferdinand II of Leon

Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...

. But in fact peace came to a swift end in the year 1183, when the Kings of Castille and Leon made camp on the outskirts of the towns of Carpio

Carpio, Valladolid

Carpio, Valladolid is a village in Valladolid, Castile-Leon, Spain....

and Fresno el Viejo (both towns in the Province of Valladolid) respectively.

After the death of Ferdinand II, fighting resumed (interspersed with a short truce in 1204 thanks to the marriage of Alphonse IX

Alfonso IX of Leon

Alfonso IX was king of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death...

of León to his niece, Berenguela of Castile); but the marriage was annulled by her father because of the close blood-relationship

Consanguinity

Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...

of the spouses. Finally, the Crowns of both kingdoms were taken by King Ferdinand III of Castile

Ferdinand III of Castile

Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

.

The logical conclusion of these events was that the border was heavily militarized, involving the building of castles and reinforcements of troops in the areas surrounding the Trabancos River, with some castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

s being erected in the west, such as in Alaejos. Paradoxically, the wars increased the value of the region, and for the first time there began to appear documents recording the area in the files of the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

s of Zamora, Salamanca

Salamanca

and Segovia

Segovia

Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...

including documents regarding: Siete Iglesias de Trabancos ("Seven Churches at Trabancos") in 1178, Alaejos (Falafeios) in 1167, and in 1180, Eván de Arriba, Eván de Abajo, Valdefuentes and Pedroso (which are now deserted villages

Deserted medieval village

), together with Nava del Rey in 1265, among others.

This last date, 1265, corresponds to a document found in the 'Book of Loans' of Salamanca cathedral, which records the result of a new conflict: the battle between the dioceses of Salamanca and Segovia for the possession of the parishes to the east of the Trabancos; an area that hitherto had been accorded little worth. Salamanca had made use of the frontier

Frontier

A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...

struggles to take possession of the towns of Medina del Campo, provoking a conflict of interest since the region was under Castilian

Kingdom of Castile

rule, and Salamanca belonged to the crown of León. In fact, the Salmantinos created new parishes, like Siete Iglesias de Trabancos in 1167, and Alaejos in 1185.

Trabancos River area today

Looking at the Trabancos today and at a time when it is dry, it might seem preposterous that at one time it held a position of strategic importance for the town of Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo

, and also, for the so-called "Extremadura Catellana" (the wildest border of Castile

Castile (historical region)

A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

). However, the area's archaeological heritage is fast disappearing.

ZEPA designation

The middle and final course of the river Trabancos has been included in the ZEPA (Zona Especial de Protección para las Aves [Special Zone for Protection of Birds]) Tierra de Campiñas ("Land of champaigns"; Special Protection Area

Special Protection Area

A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...

("SPA")).

ZEPA SPAs, are catalogued by the member states of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

as natural zones of special interest for the conservation

Conservation status

The conservation status of a group of organisms indicates whether the group is still extant and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future...

of bird species threatened with extinction, in accordance with the criteria established by the community board Birds Directive 79/409/CEE and subsequent modifications by the (Directiva de Aves) "Aviary Regulation Board" of the EU.

Although the designation also includes a portion of the Guareña River's course to the west, and the Zapardiel River's course to the east, the Trabancos River ZEPA SPA designated area is the largest in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, since it covers almost 1,400 square kilometres, including the Campo de Peñaranda (in Salamanca

Salamanca

), the Moraña (in Ávila) and, especially, a large part of the Tierra de Medina del Campo

Medina del Campo

. In all, 73% of the territory of the Trabancos ZEPA SPA corresponds to the province of Valladolid.

The designated region is largely uninhabited —97% of the area is agricultural land, with an emphasis on cereal crops and other irrigation farming

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

purposes. The areas of ecological interest are found in the remaining 3% percent of the terrain. The region is characterized by tilled land and pastures, small pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

woods

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

and holm oak

Holm Oak

Quercus ilex, the Holm Oak or Holly Oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It takes its name from holm, an ancient name for holly...

woods

Forest

, with interspersed wasteland areas covered in halophile

Halophile

Halophiles are extremophile organisms that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. The name comes from the Greek for "salt-loving". While the term is perhaps most often applied to some halophiles classified into the Archaea domain, there are also bacterial halophiles and some...

bushes. There are also many small ephemeral

Ephemeral

Ephemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....

ponds; a characteristic of Spanish steppe

Steppe

In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

s, which are only water-filled during the winter. From a conservation standpoint, such ponds, like nearby segments of the Trabancos River's banks, are in a precarious ecological state. Nevertheless, the areas are still capable of sustaining the flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

and faun

Faun

The faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...

a commensurate with a natural riverside environment.

The Trabancos region stands out for its concentration of great bustards

Great Bustard

The Great Bustard is in the bustard family, the only member of the genus Otis. It breeds in southern and central Europe, where it is the largest species of bird, and across temperate Asia...

(more than 2000); as well as having the largest reproductive concentration of black-bellied sandgrouse

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

The Black-bellied Sandgrouse is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family.The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form P. o. arenarius is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan...

s (Pterocles orientalis) in Castile and León (with more than 200 mating pairs). It is also the winter season nesting ground of more than 1,500 red kite

Red Kite

The Red Kite is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just...

s (Milvus milvus). There are also numerous birds of prey

Bird of prey

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

; the most abundant are montagu's harriers

Montagu's Harrier

The Montagu's Harrier is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. Its common name commemorates the British naturalist George Montagu.-Plumage:...

(Circus pygargus, 50 mating pairs) and lesser kestrel

Lesser Kestrel

The Lesser Kestrel is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across southern central Asia to China and Mongolia. It is a summer migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and sometimes even to India and Iraq. It is rare north of its breeding range, and declining in its European...

s (Falco naumanni; almost 150 mating pairs), but there are also hawk

Hawk

The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...

s, goshawks, falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

s, owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

s, and others. The region is also host to numerous gamebirds

Game (food)

Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...

, including the red-legged partridge

Red-legged Partridge

The Red-legged Partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. It is sometimes known as French Partridge, to distinguish it from the Grey or English Partridge....

(Alectoris rufa).

Despite their importance, the population of little bustard

Little Bustard

The Little Bustard is a large bird in the bustard family, the only member of the genus Tetrax. It breeds in southern Europe and in western and central Asia. Southernmost European birds are mainly resident, but other populations migrate further south in winter...

(Tetrax tetrax) in the region appear to be diminishing. Although not all the species protected in this ZEPA SPA can be listed, the protected area is a migratory crossing site and wintertime nesting area that, along with the Riberas de Castronuño (Valladolid) nature reserve, is frequented by many waterfowl (cranes

Crane (bird)

Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...

, geese, etc.), some of which even take advantage of the area ephemeral

Ephemeral

Ephemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....

ponds for nesting during humid winters.

External links

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