Iron Age Urbanism in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula: New Challenges Provided by Non-Invasive Archaeology

During the 1st millennium BCE, the Iron Age communities in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula adopted a settlement pattern that, as far current research shows, was monopolised by the castros (=hillforts): monumentalised villages with complex defensive systems inhabited by agricultural groups tending towards self-sufficiency. These settlements show organic building patterns, with open spaces and circulation areas adapted to the topography of the terrain on which they were built. The building traditions are diverse, with variations over time and across the area under consideration. At some phases and regions, the domestic space is architecturally simple, while in other places and stages, complex domestic units composed of several structures develop. Urbanism and Architecture models differ from the patterns observed in other Iberian regions, which several authors have examined. This paper analyses Iron Age urbanism in NW Iberia, focusing on the capabilities of non-invasive archaeological methods for its study. To this end, the preliminary results of the HINTERLAND project (PID2021-122434NB-I00) and other complementary actions are presented and discussed. In these, remote sensing studies were developed using satellite images, aerial photographs, or different datasets produced by airborne sensors on drones, in addition to geophysical prospections with GPR and magnetometer. Therefore, this line of research in NW Iberia converges with similar projects developed more extensively in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula concerning Iron Age landscapes.

Landscape Archaeology. Remote Sensing. Archaeological prospection. Iron Age.