Luna Celta historical re-enactment, central Spain: Iron Age alive!

Historical re-enactments can be understood as contemporary manifestations of popular culture. Thus, such events become outstanding social contexts for exploring the social and political foundations of ‘bottom-up’ narratives concerning the past. In this paper, we analyse the Luna Celta festival in Solosancho (Ávila province, Spain) as a case study for considering the public reception of the Iron Age in this region. For this purpose we have constructed our theoretical and methodological approach based on public archaeology and heritage studies literature. Materiality and performance as resources deployed by amateur actors are revealed as extremely effective ways of disseminating and naturalising non-academic discourses on the Iron Age, according to our ethnographic account. In contrast, scientific initiatives promoted by archaeologists show more limited success in reaching lay audiences. On-going heritagisation processes around local Iron Age sites (such as the oppidum of Ulaca) and the Vettones are also analysed, assessing the diverse agendas of the different stakeholders involved in the festival.

Cultural heritage studies. Public archaeology. Public participation in heritage. Archaeology and tourism. Cultural heritage resource management.