The Mouth of the River Ter in the Early Middle Ags in the Mediterranean Coast

Abstract

The River Ter is one of the axes which, in a west-east direction, has historically articulated the population of the extreme north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. Although its upper, middle and part of the lower courses do not present any problems in its course, its mouth in the Mediterranean Sea has raised many questions due to the existence of two potential branches, one to the north that would flow into the Gulf of Roses and another to the south that would flow into the Bay of Pals. In 2016, an exhaustive documentary study on the potential southern branch provided exhaustive information on the existence of lake areas and their relationship with the settlement between the 9th and 11th centuries, but raised doubts about the existence of the river in the bay from Pals. Subsequently, between 2020 and 2022, geological studies have been carried out in this area which demonstrate the existence of the river in this area but with a variable course, with changes in the river channel (meandering, diffuse and braided), and with notable changes that conditioned the settlement of this sector of the coast and as was recorded in written documentation between the 9th and 11th centuries