Termodinámica y poblamiento humano en el bajo Guadalquivir durante la antigüedad tardía (siglos III-VI d.C.)Un enfoque darwiniano

Resumen

This doctoral thesis studies the evolution of human settling in the Lower Guadalquivir Basin during Late Antiquity from a theoretical perspective, which is based on the elementary principles of Non-equilibrium thermodynamics, Niche Construction Theory and Selectionism. The various human settlements in the studied area are conceptualized as dissipative units that are able to influence energetic gradients, while under the selective pressure of their ecosystem. The thesis has been structured according to the following methodological strategy: 1) Defining the general and specific goals of this investigation; 2) Approaching the historic-ecological context of both the time period and the study area in order to surmise which factors make up the selective environments –both anthropic and non-anthropic– that influenced the settlement network; 3) Presenting the database on which later analysis and interpretation will be based; 4) Developing frequency tables, entropy calculations and kernel density estimations (KDE) in order to ascertain the structure and the predominant strategy of the ecological niche, as well as the changes they underwent over time; and 5) Discussing and valuing the results through the elaboration of an alternative explanatory model of the evolution of human settling in the Lower Guadalquivir Basin from the already developed theoretical and conceptual schemes. Because of all this, it is possible to identify four great selective environments between the end of the 2nd century A.D. and the 6th century A.D. that had an effect on the network of human settlements. During the aforementioned time period, the population system did not collapse and the essence of its structure –which consisted predominantly of farms or villae– did not change. However, there were notable expansion and contraction phases, whose adjustments always correspond to the efficiency in the obtainment of resources that are necessary in order to keep the network from reaching thermodynamic equilibrium.