Summary
My doctoral thesis project aims to provide a large-scale temporal and spatial interpretation of the social dynamics that took place in the Upper-Middle Ebro and Upper Duero basins (Northern Spain) during the Iron Age (8th–2nd c. BC). This period is characterised by a type of settlement whose most significant features are defensive earthworks. These material manifestations have been the focus of interest in the research tradition, generating qualitative studies offering different interpretative perspectives in the proposed study area.Building on methodological proposals applied in other areas (NW Iberia) and making use of non-invasive methods and geospatial analyses, this paper presents a preliminary quantitative and systematic approach to explore the multifaceted character of these elements, either as functional devices, as monumental displays or as both. The variables analysed are: 1) the monumentality of the defensive systems, 2) the effort invested in their construction and 3) their relationship with their immediate surroundings in terms of prominence.From a diachronic perspective, the results show variations in locational decisions, monumentality, and the effort invested in the construction of defensive systems. In other words, the fortified landscapes of the Iron Age differ and change when we compare the Early Iron Age (8th–5th c. BC) with the Late Iron Age (5th–2nd c. BC).In this paper, I will present the results obtained and the methodology proposed for studying these fortified landscapes as manifestations of violence and power dynamics in Iron Age societies.