Summary
At the online 2021 AARG meeting, one of us (CP-O) presented a paper with the promising results of a preliminary exploration of the potential of aerial and satellite imagery, combined with Lidar, for detecting archaeological traces around Iron Age hillforts (castros) in the challenging Atlantic landscapes of Galicia (NW Iberia). A formal project followed that initial attempt, aimed at a more systematic analysis to be developed in a wider area, also comprising case studies in Asturias. This ongoing investigation is supported by a larger team and by additional fieldwork stages, including the use of UAVs equipped with different sensors and ground geophysics. After the first months, a significant number of new potential archaeological traces have been identified, including some new sites. Traditionally, most of these castros have been described as small, simple and relatively isolated settlements, belonging to self-sufficient communities completely bounded by the limits of the walls. Settlement architecture would be guided by practical efficiency, with little capacity to invest beyond the functional at least until later periods, under Roman domain. However, these new findings are showing that, in many cases, site architecture was more complex than that. In particular, we will focus on examples of sites with traces of elaborated defended entrances, that can be interpreted as the result of the investment of recurrent social work consumed in the construction of monumental displays aimed to extend the monumentality of the sites to a wider landscape experience.