Origen y desarrollo de la huerta de Tortosa (siglos IV-XII). El proceso de formación de un macro-espacio irrigado en el levante peninsular

Using the example of the city of Tortosa, this article focusses on the origin and development of an urban irrigated field in the Mediterranean watershed. This case exemplifies processes that were common between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The analysis has included the study of both printed and unpublished sources, as well as the archaeological results of two years of fieldwork. Main objectives have been an examination of the historical implications of an urban irrigated field that supplied the city and of small agricultural areas on the banks of rivers. Once again, historiography on Andalusian hydraulics and its impact on the indigenous population have been examined thanks to extensive fieldwork and an intensive review of historical sources. Certain conclusions about the acculturation level of this region have been drawn from this analysis and incorporated into the historical debate on the overall Islamisation process of the Iberian Peninsula.