Castro culture
Encyclopedia
Castro culture is the archaeological term for naming the Celtic archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula
(roughly present-day northern Portugal
, together with Galicia, Asturias
, and northern and western León
in Spain) from the end of the Bronze Age
(c. 9th century BC) until it was subsumed in local Roman culture. The most notable characteristics of this culture are, first, its walled oppida and hill forts, known locally as castros, from Latin castrum "castle", and second, the absence of visible burial practices, while there were frequent depositions of prestige items and goods, swords and other metallic riches, in rocky outcrops, rivers and other aquatic contexts, since the Atlantic Bronze Age
. This cultural area extended east to the Cares river, and south beyond the Douro
.
The area of Ave Valley
was the core region of this culture, with a large number of small Castro settlements, but also including larger and later oppida, the cividades (from Latin civitas, city), some known as citânias by archaeologists, due to their city-like structure: Cividade de Bagunte, Cividade de Terroso
, Citânia de Briteiros
, and Citânia de Sanfins.
river up to the Minho
, but soon expanding north along the coast, and east following the river valleys, reaching the mountain ranges which separate the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula from the central plateau or meseta. It was the result of the autonomous evolution of Atlantic Bronze Age
communities, after the local collapse of the long range Atlantic network
of interchange of prestige items.
, along the coastal areas of northern Portugal, during the last two centuries of the second millennium BCE a series of settlements were established in high, well communicated places, irradiating from a core area north of the Mondego, and usually specializing themselves in the production of Atlantic Bronze Age
metallurgy: cauldrons, knives, bronze vases, roasting spits, flesh-hooks, swords, axes and jewelry, related to a noble elite who celebrated ritual banquets and who participated in an extensive network of interchange of prestige items, from the Mediterranean and up to the British Isles
. These villages were closely related to the open settlements which characterized the first Bronze Age, frequently established near the valleys and the richer agricultural lands.
From the beginning of the first millennium, the network appears to collapse, probably because the Iron Age
had outdated the Atlantic tin and bronze products in the Mediterranean region, and the large scale production of metallic items was reduced to the elaboration of axes and tools, which are still found buried in very large quantities all along the European Atlantic coast.
During the transition of the Bronze to the Iron Age, from the Douro in Portugal and up along the coasts of Galicia until the central regions of Asturias, the settlement in artificially fortified places substituted the old open settlement model. These early hill-forts were small (1 ha at most), being situated in hills, peninsulas or another naturally defended places, usually endued with long range visibility. Its artificial defenses were initially just composed of earthen walls, battlements and ditches, which enclosed an inner habitable space. This space was mostly void, non urbanized, used for communal activities, and it comprised just some few circular, oblong, or rounded squared huts, of some 5 to- of largest dimension, built with wood, vegetable materials and mud, sometimes reinforced with stony low walls. The major inner feature of these multi-functional undivided cabins were the hearth
, circular or quadrangular, and which conditioned the uses of the other spaces of the room.
In essence, the main characteristic of this formative period is the assumption by the community of a larger authority at the expenses of the elites, reflected in the minor importance of the prestige items production, while the collective inverted important resources and labor in the communal spaces and defenses.
Not only did the number of settlements grown during this period, but also their size and their internal density. First, the old familiar huts were frequently substituted by familiar groups of housings, composed generally of one or more huts with heath, plus round granaries, and elongated or square sheds and workshops. At the same time, these houses and groups tended to occupy most of the internal room of the hill-forts, reducing the communitarian open spaces, which in turn would had been substituted by other facilities such as saunas, communitarian halls, and shared forges.
Although most of the communities of this period had mostly self-sufficient isolated economies, one important change was the reactivation of the commerce with the Mediterranean by the now independent Carthage
, a Western Mediterranean thriving power. Their merchants brought a number of Mediterranean imports (wine, glass, pottery...) commerced through a series of emporia
, commercial post which sometimes included temples and other installations. At the same time, the archaeological register shows, trough the finding of large quantities of fibulae, pins, pincers for hair extraction, pendants, earrings, torc
s, bracelets, and other personal objects, the on-growing importance of the individual and his or her physical aspect. While the communities of the Castro Iron Age shows themselves as very egalitarian, these findings imply the development of a privileged class with superior access to prestige items.
From the 2nd century BCE, specially in the south, some of the hill-forts turned into semi-urban fortified towns, oppida; their remains are locally known as cividades or “cidades”, cities, with populations of some few thousand inhabitants, such as Cividade de Bagunte (50 ha), Sanfins (15 ha), Briteiros (24 ha), San Cibrao de Lás (20 ha), or Santa Tegra (15 ha); some of them were even larger than the cities, Bracara Augusti and Lucus Augusti, that Rome established a century later. These hill-forts were characterized by their size and by urban features such as paved streets equipped with channels for stormwater runoff, reservoirs of potable water, and evidence of urban planning. Many of them also presented an inner and upper walled space, relatively large and scarcely urbanized, called acrópole by local scholars. These oppida were generally surrounded by concentric ditches and stone walls, up to five in Briteiros, sometimes reinforced with towers. Gates to these oppida become monumental, and frequently have sculptures of warriors.
The oppida's dwelling areas are frequently externally walled, and kitchens, sheds, granaries, workshops and living rooms are ordered around an inner paved yard, sometimes equipped with fountains, drains and reservoirs.
Cividade de Bagunte was one of the largest cities with 50 hectares. The cities are surrounded by a number of smaller castros, some of which may have been defensive outposts of cities, such as Castro de Laundos, that was probably an outpost of Cividade de Terroso. A cividade may also have been the origin of Bracara Augusta, although there are no archaeological findings apart from an ancient parish name and pre-Roman baths. Bracara Augusta later became the capital of the Roman province of Gallaecia
, which encompassed all the lands once participant of the Castro culture.
fighting Romans, and as a result the Roman general Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus
led a successful punishment expedition into the North in 137 BCE; the victory he celebrated in Rome granted him the title Callaicus (“Galician”). During the next century Gallaecia
was still theatre of operation for Perpenna (73 BCE), Julius Caesar
(61 BCE) and the generals of Augustus
(29-19 BCE). But only after the Romans defeated the Asturians and Cantabrians in 19 BCE is evident—thought inscriptions, numismatic and other archaeological findings—the submission of the local powers to Rome.
While the 1st century BCE represents an era of expansion and maturity for the Castro Culture, under Roman influence and with the local economy apparently powered more than hindered by Roman commerce and wars, during the next century the control of Roma became political and military, and for the first time in more than a millennium new unfortified settlements were established in the plains and valleys, at the same time that numerous hill-forts and oppida were abandoned. The culture went through somewhat of a transformation, as a result of the Roman conquest and formation of the Roman province of Gallaecia
in the heart of the Castro cultural area; by the 2nd century CE most hill-forts and oppida had been abandoned or reused as sanctuaries or worshipping places, but some others kept being occupied up to the 5th century, when the Germanic Suevi established themselves in Gallaecia.
economy was based on the exploitation and exportation of mineral local resources, tin and cooper, and on mass production and long range distribution of prestige items, Iron Age
economy was based on a economy of necessity goods, as most items and productions were obtained in situ, or interchanged thought short range commerce. Anyway, in the southern coastal areas the presence of Mediterranean merchants from the 6th century BCE onward, would had occasioned an increase in social inequality, bringing a large number of importations (fine pottery
, fibulae, wine
, glass
...) and technological innovations (as round granite
millstones) which would had melted with the Atlantic local traditions. Finally, military Roman
presence in the South and East of the Iberian peninsula since the 2nd century BCE would had reinforced the role of the autochthonous warrior elites, with superior access to local prestige items and importations.
s and field
s expanding at the expense of woodland
. Using three main type of tools, plough
s, sickle
s and hoe
s, together with axe
s for woodcutting, the Castro inhabitants grew a number of cereals: (wheat
, millet
, possibly also rye
) for baking bread, as well as oats
, and barley
which they also used for beer
production. They also grew beans, peas
and cabbage
, and flax
for fabric and clothes production; other vegetables where collected: nettle
, watercress
. Large quantities of acorns have been found hoarded in most hill-forts, as they were used for bread production once toasted and crushed in granite stone mills.
The second pillar of local economy was animal husbandry
. Gallaecians breed cattle
for meat, milk and butter production; they also used oxen for dragging carts and ploughs, while horses were used mainly for human transportation. They also breed sheep and goats, for meat and wool, and pigs
for meat. Wild animals like deer
or boars were frequently chased. In coastal areas, fishing
and collecting shellfish
were important activities: Strabo
wrote that the people of northern Iberia used boats made of leather, probably similar to Irish currach
s and Welsh coracle
s, for local navigation. Archaeologists have found hooks and weights for net
s, as well as open seas fish remains, confirming inhabitants of the coastal areas as fishermen.
. Gold, iron, copper, tin, and lead were the most common ores mined. Castro metallurgy
refined the metals from ores and cast them to make various tools.
During the initial centuries of the first millennium BCE bronze was still the most used metal, although iron was progressively introduced. Main products include tools (sickles, hoes, ploughs, axes), domestic items (knives and cauldrons), and weapons (antenna swords, spearheads). During the initial Iron Age the local artisans stopped producing some of the most characteristic Bronze Age items such as carp tongue, leaf shaped and rapier swords
, double ringed axes, breastplates and most jewellery. At the same time new type of items, such as fibulae and pendant type earrings—initially based in Mediterranean models—were produced, while some other types were reactivated, mostly based on Central and Atlantic European models and under direct or indirect Mediterranean influences: gold torc
s (some 120 ones are known) with large, void terminals containing little stones, which allowed them to be also used as rattles; antenna-hilted swords and knives; Montefortino helmet
s with local decoration; and sacrificial or votive axes depicting themselves complex sacrificial scenes (similar to classical suovetaurilia
), with torcs, cauldrons, weapons, animals of diverse species, and string-like motives.
Decorative motifs include rosette
s, triskelion
s, swastika
s, spiral
s, interlaces, as well as palm tree, herring bone and string motives, many of which were still carved in Romanesque churches, and are still used up to day in local folk art and traditional items in Galicia, Portugal and northern Spain. These same motifs were also extensively used in stone decoration. Castro sculpture also reveal that locals carved these figures in wood items, such as chairs, and weaved them into their clothes.
File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|Torc terminal from the oppidum of Santa Tegra, A Guarda
.
File:Golden torch from Santiago de Compostela.JPG|A Gallaecian torc.
File:Arracadas castrejas.JPG|Castro style pendant earrings.
File:Torques de Xanceda.jpg|Torcs from Xanceda, Galicia.
File:Torque galaico-asturiano de Labra (M.A.N. 33132) 01.jpg| An Asturian torc.
File:Castro culture antenna-hilted knife.jpg|A common knife.
File:Sedente con trisquel.JPG|Back of a sitting statue.
File:Trisquel de Castromao.JPG|Triskelion of the oppidum of Coeliobriga.
File:Torso de guerreiro.JPG|A fragmentary warrior statue.
File:Martin of Braga Basilica (5).JPG|An sculped stone reused in the foundations of a Suevic church (6th century).
File:Citania de Briteiros Pedra Formosa suroeste.jpg|'Pedra Formosa', Briteiros.
File:Cabeza cortada castrexa.jpg|A 'severed head' carving.
Pottery
was produced in the region, although wealthier people frequently imported Mediterranean products.
Each populi or civitas was composed of a number of castella, each one comprehending one ore more hill-forts or oppida, by themselves an autonomous political chiefdom, probably under the direction of a chief and a senate. Under Roman influence the tribes or populi apparently ascended to a major role, at the expense of the minor entities. From the beginning of our era a few Latin inscriptions are known where some individuals declare themselves princeps or ambimogidus of a certain populi or civitas.
and other deities) and pan-Celtic (Lugus
, Matres
, Suleis...) deities. Hundreds of Latin inscriptions have survived with dedications to gods and goddesses. Archaeological finds such as ceremonial axes decorated with animal sacrificial scenes, together with the severed head sculptures and the testimonies of classical authors, confirms the ceremonial sacrifice of animals, probably including humans, as among Lusitanians and Gauls.
Funerary rites are mostly unknown except at Cividade de Terroso
, where cremation
was practiced.
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
(roughly present-day northern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, together with Galicia, Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
, and northern and western León
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
in Spain) from the end of the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(c. 9th century BC) until it was subsumed in local Roman culture. The most notable characteristics of this culture are, first, its walled oppida and hill forts, known locally as castros, from Latin castrum "castle", and second, the absence of visible burial practices, while there were frequent depositions of prestige items and goods, swords and other metallic riches, in rocky outcrops, rivers and other aquatic contexts, since the Atlantic Bronze Age
Atlantic Bronze Age
The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Portugal, Andalusia, Galicia, Armorica and the British Isles.-Trade:...
. This cultural area extended east to the Cares river, and south beyond the Douro
Douro
The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
.
The area of Ave Valley
Ave River
Ave River is a river in Portugal. Vizela River flows into it....
was the core region of this culture, with a large number of small Castro settlements, but also including larger and later oppida, the cividades (from Latin civitas, city), some known as citânias by archaeologists, due to their city-like structure: Cividade de Bagunte, Cividade de Terroso
Cividade de Terroso
Cividade de Terroso was an important city of the Castro culture in North-western Iberian Peninsula, located in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.The city, known in the Middle Ages as Civitas Teroso, was built at the top of Cividade Hill, in the parish of Terroso, in Póvoa de Varzim, less than 5 km...
, Citânia de Briteiros
Citânia de Briteiros
The Citânia de Briteiros is an archaeological site of Castro culture in the north-western Iberian Peninsula, significant for its size, urbanism, and architecture...
, and Citânia de Sanfins.
History
The Castro culture emerged during the first two centuries of the first millennium BCE, in the region extending from the DouroDouro
The Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
river up to the Minho
Minho
-People:* Lee Min Ho, a South Korean actor* Choi Minho , a member of the Korean boy-band Shinee-Portugal:* Entre-Douro-e-Minho, a historical province of Portugal * Minho Province, a historical province of Portugal...
, but soon expanding north along the coast, and east following the river valleys, reaching the mountain ranges which separate the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula from the central plateau or meseta. It was the result of the autonomous evolution of Atlantic Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
communities, after the local collapse of the long range Atlantic network
Atlantic Bronze Age
The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Portugal, Andalusia, Galicia, Armorica and the British Isles.-Trade:...
of interchange of prestige items.
The end of the Atlantic Bronze Age
From the Mondego river up to the Minho riverMinho River
The Minho or Miño is the longest river in Galicia, Spain, with an extension of 340 km.Both names come from Latin Minius...
, along the coastal areas of northern Portugal, during the last two centuries of the second millennium BCE a series of settlements were established in high, well communicated places, irradiating from a core area north of the Mondego, and usually specializing themselves in the production of Atlantic Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
metallurgy: cauldrons, knives, bronze vases, roasting spits, flesh-hooks, swords, axes and jewelry, related to a noble elite who celebrated ritual banquets and who participated in an extensive network of interchange of prestige items, from the Mediterranean and up to the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. These villages were closely related to the open settlements which characterized the first Bronze Age, frequently established near the valleys and the richer agricultural lands.
From the beginning of the first millennium, the network appears to collapse, probably because the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
had outdated the Atlantic tin and bronze products in the Mediterranean region, and the large scale production of metallic items was reduced to the elaboration of axes and tools, which are still found buried in very large quantities all along the European Atlantic coast.
Formative period
Hearth
In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...
, circular or quadrangular, and which conditioned the uses of the other spaces of the room.
In essence, the main characteristic of this formative period is the assumption by the community of a larger authority at the expenses of the elites, reflected in the minor importance of the prestige items production, while the collective inverted important resources and labor in the communal spaces and defenses.
Second Iron Age
Since the beginning of the 6th century BCE the Castro culture experimented an inner expansion: hundreds of new hill-forts are founded, while some older small ones are abandoned for new emplacements. These new settlements are founded near the valleys, close to the richest agricultural lands, and they are generally protected by several lines of defence, composed of ramparts, ditches, and sound stony walls, probably built not only as a defensive apparatus but also as a feature which could confer prestige to the community. Sometimes, human remains have been found in cists or under the walls, implying some kind of foundational protective ritual.Not only did the number of settlements grown during this period, but also their size and their internal density. First, the old familiar huts were frequently substituted by familiar groups of housings, composed generally of one or more huts with heath, plus round granaries, and elongated or square sheds and workshops. At the same time, these houses and groups tended to occupy most of the internal room of the hill-forts, reducing the communitarian open spaces, which in turn would had been substituted by other facilities such as saunas, communitarian halls, and shared forges.
Although most of the communities of this period had mostly self-sufficient isolated economies, one important change was the reactivation of the commerce with the Mediterranean by the now independent Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, a Western Mediterranean thriving power. Their merchants brought a number of Mediterranean imports (wine, glass, pottery...) commerced through a series of emporia
Emporia
Emporia can be several things:Places in the United States* Emporia, Florida* Emporia, Indiana* Emporia, Kansas* Emporia, VirginiaOther uses* Emporia , an ancient term for Phoenician city-states in north Africa...
, commercial post which sometimes included temples and other installations. At the same time, the archaeological register shows, trough the finding of large quantities of fibulae, pins, pincers for hair extraction, pendants, earrings, torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
s, bracelets, and other personal objects, the on-growing importance of the individual and his or her physical aspect. While the communities of the Castro Iron Age shows themselves as very egalitarian, these findings imply the development of a privileged class with superior access to prestige items.
The oppida
Cividade de Bagunte was one of the largest cities with 50 hectares. The cities are surrounded by a number of smaller castros, some of which may have been defensive outposts of cities, such as Castro de Laundos, that was probably an outpost of Cividade de Terroso. A cividade may also have been the origin of Bracara Augusta, although there are no archaeological findings apart from an ancient parish name and pre-Roman baths. Bracara Augusta later became the capital of the Roman province of Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...
, which encompassed all the lands once participant of the Castro culture.
Roman era
The first meeting of Rome with the inhabitants of the castros and cividades was during the Punic wars, when Carthaginians hired local mercenaries for fighting Rome in the Mediterranean and into Italy. Later on, Gallaecians backed LusitaniansLusitanians
The Lusitanians were an Indo-European people living in the Western Iberian Peninsula long before it became the Roman province of Lusitania . They spoke the Lusitanian language which might have been Celtic. The modern Portuguese people see the Lusitanians as their ancestors...
fighting Romans, and as a result the Roman general Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus
Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus
Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus was a Roman politician and general of the 2nd century BC. He was the son of the consul Marcus Junius Brutus and brother of the praetor Marcus Junius Brutus; he himself was appointed consul in 138 BC...
led a successful punishment expedition into the North in 137 BCE; the victory he celebrated in Rome granted him the title Callaicus (“Galician”). During the next century Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...
was still theatre of operation for Perpenna (73 BCE), Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
(61 BCE) and the generals of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
(29-19 BCE). But only after the Romans defeated the Asturians and Cantabrians in 19 BCE is evident—thought inscriptions, numismatic and other archaeological findings—the submission of the local powers to Rome.
While the 1st century BCE represents an era of expansion and maturity for the Castro Culture, under Roman influence and with the local economy apparently powered more than hindered by Roman commerce and wars, during the next century the control of Roma became political and military, and for the first time in more than a millennium new unfortified settlements were established in the plains and valleys, at the same time that numerous hill-forts and oppida were abandoned. The culture went through somewhat of a transformation, as a result of the Roman conquest and formation of the Roman province of Gallaecia
Gallaecia
Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...
in the heart of the Castro cultural area; by the 2nd century CE most hill-forts and oppida had been abandoned or reused as sanctuaries or worshipping places, but some others kept being occupied up to the 5th century, when the Germanic Suevi established themselves in Gallaecia.
Economy and Arts
As stated, while Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
economy was based on the exploitation and exportation of mineral local resources, tin and cooper, and on mass production and long range distribution of prestige items, Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
economy was based on a economy of necessity goods, as most items and productions were obtained in situ, or interchanged thought short range commerce. Anyway, in the southern coastal areas the presence of Mediterranean merchants from the 6th century BCE onward, would had occasioned an increase in social inequality, bringing a large number of importations (fine pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, fibulae, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
...) and technological innovations (as round granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
millstones) which would had melted with the Atlantic local traditions. Finally, military Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
presence in the South and East of the Iberian peninsula since the 2nd century BCE would had reinforced the role of the autochthonous warrior elites, with superior access to local prestige items and importations.
Food and food production
Pollen analyses confirms the Iron Age as a period of intense deforestation in Galicia and Northern Portugal, with meadowMeadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s and field
Field (agriculture)
In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
s expanding at the expense of woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
. Using three main type of tools, plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, sickle
Sickle
A sickle is a hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock . Sickles have also been used as weapons, either in their original form or in various derivations.The diversity of sickles that...
s and hoe
Hoe (tool)
A hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural tool used to move small amounts of soil. Common goals include weed control by agitating the surface of the soil around plants, piling soil around the base of plants , creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting seeds and bulbs, to chop...
s, together with axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
s for woodcutting, the Castro inhabitants grew a number of cereals: (wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, millet
Millet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
, possibly also rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
) for baking bread, as well as oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, and barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
which they also used for beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
production. They also grew beans, peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....
and cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, and flax
Flax
Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...
for fabric and clothes production; other vegetables where collected: nettle
Nettle
Nettles constitute between 24 and 39 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution. They are mostly herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annual and a few are shrubby...
, watercress
Watercress
Watercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings...
. Large quantities of acorns have been found hoarded in most hill-forts, as they were used for bread production once toasted and crushed in granite stone mills.
The second pillar of local economy was animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
. Gallaecians breed cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
for meat, milk and butter production; they also used oxen for dragging carts and ploughs, while horses were used mainly for human transportation. They also breed sheep and goats, for meat and wool, and pigs
PIGS
PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
for meat. Wild animals like deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
or boars were frequently chased. In coastal areas, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and collecting shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
were important activities: Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
wrote that the people of northern Iberia used boats made of leather, probably similar to Irish currach
Currach
A Currach is a type of Irish boat with a wooden frame, over which animal skins or hides were once stretched, though now canvas is more usual. It is sometimes anglicised as "Curragh". The construction and design of the currach is unique to the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, with variations in...
s and Welsh coracle
Coracle
The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...
s, for local navigation. Archaeologists have found hooks and weights for net
NET
NET or Net may refer to:* Net , fibers woven in a grid-like structure* Net , any textile in which the warp and weft yarns are looped or knotted at their intersections* New Jersey Nets, a basketball team...
s, as well as open seas fish remains, confirming inhabitants of the coastal areas as fishermen.
Metallurgy
Mining was an integral part of the culture, and it attracted Mediterranean merchants, first Phoenicians, later Carthaginians and RomansAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. Gold, iron, copper, tin, and lead were the most common ores mined. Castro metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
refined the metals from ores and cast them to make various tools.
During the initial centuries of the first millennium BCE bronze was still the most used metal, although iron was progressively introduced. Main products include tools (sickles, hoes, ploughs, axes), domestic items (knives and cauldrons), and weapons (antenna swords, spearheads). During the initial Iron Age the local artisans stopped producing some of the most characteristic Bronze Age items such as carp tongue, leaf shaped and rapier swords
Bronze Age sword
Bronze Age swords appear from around the 17th century BC, in the Black Sea region and the Aegean, evolving out of the dagger. They are replaced by the Iron Age sword during the early part of the 1st millennium BC....
, double ringed axes, breastplates and most jewellery. At the same time new type of items, such as fibulae and pendant type earrings—initially based in Mediterranean models—were produced, while some other types were reactivated, mostly based on Central and Atlantic European models and under direct or indirect Mediterranean influences: gold torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
s (some 120 ones are known) with large, void terminals containing little stones, which allowed them to be also used as rattles; antenna-hilted swords and knives; Montefortino helmet
Montefortino helmet
The Montefortino helmet was a type of Celtic, and later Roman, military helmet used from around 300 BC through the 1st century AD with continuing modifications...
s with local decoration; and sacrificial or votive axes depicting themselves complex sacrificial scenes (similar to classical suovetaurilia
Suovetaurilia
The suovetaurilia or suovitaurilia was one of the most sacred and traditional rites of Roman religion: the sacrifice of a pig , a sheep and a bull to the deity Mars to bless and purify land ....
), with torcs, cauldrons, weapons, animals of diverse species, and string-like motives.
Decorative motifs include rosette
Rosette (design)
A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
s, triskelion
Triskelion
A triskelion or triskele is a motif consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry. Both words are from Greek or , "three-legged", from prefix "τρι-" , "three times" + "σκέλος" , "leg"...
s, swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
s, spiral
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
s, interlaces, as well as palm tree, herring bone and string motives, many of which were still carved in Romanesque churches, and are still used up to day in local folk art and traditional items in Galicia, Portugal and northern Spain. These same motifs were also extensively used in stone decoration. Castro sculpture also reveal that locals carved these figures in wood items, such as chairs, and weaved them into their clothes.
File:Torque de Santa Tegra 1.JPG|Torc terminal from the oppidum of Santa Tegra, A Guarda
A Guarda
A Guarda is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra.-External Links:*...
.
File:Golden torch from Santiago de Compostela.JPG|A Gallaecian torc.
File:Arracadas castrejas.JPG|Castro style pendant earrings.
File:Torques de Xanceda.jpg|Torcs from Xanceda, Galicia.
File:Torque galaico-asturiano de Labra (M.A.N. 33132) 01.jpg| An Asturian torc.
File:Castro culture antenna-hilted knife.jpg|A common knife.
Stonework
While the use of stone for constructions is an old tradition in the Castro culture, dating from the first centuries of the first millennium BCE, sculpture only became usual from the 2nd century BCE, specially in the southern half of the territory, associated to the oppida. Five main types are produced, all of them in granite stone:- Guerreiros or 'Warrior statues', usually representing a male warrior in a standing pose, holding ready a short sword and a caetra (small local shield), and wearing a cap or helmet, torc, viriae (bracelets), and decorated shirt, skirt, and belt.
- Sitting statues: They usually depicts what is considered to be a god sitting on a decorated throne, wearing viriae or bracelets, and holding a cup or pot. Although the motives are autochthonous, their model are clearly Mediterranean; nevertheless, unlike the Gallaecian ones, the Iberian sitting statues usually depicts goddesses. Some few statues of feminine divinities are also known representing a standing nude woman only wearing a torc, as the male warrior statues.
- Severed heads: similar to the têtes coupées from France; they represent dead heads, and were usually located in walls of ancient hill-forts, and are still found reused near of them. Unlike all the other types, these are more common in the North.
- Pedras formosas (literally 'beauty stones'), or elaborated and sculpted slabs used inside saunas, as door frame of the inner room.
- Architectural decoration: The houses of the oppida of southern Galicia and northern Portugal frequently contains architectural elements which were decorated with geometric auspicious motives: rosettes, triskelions, wheels, spirals, swastikas, string like and interlaced designs, among others.
File:Sedente con trisquel.JPG|Back of a sitting statue.
File:Trisquel de Castromao.JPG|Triskelion of the oppidum of Coeliobriga.
File:Torso de guerreiro.JPG|A fragmentary warrior statue.
File:Martin of Braga Basilica (5).JPG|An sculped stone reused in the foundations of a Suevic church (6th century).
File:Citania de Briteiros Pedra Formosa suroeste.jpg|'Pedra Formosa', Briteiros.
File:Cabeza cortada castrexa.jpg|A 'severed head' carving.
Pottery, and other crafts
Castro ceramics
Castro ceramics were a part of the Castro Culture of the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. The ceramics were made mostly by hand, although in some cases a pottery wheel was used. In many cases, signs of smoothing and flattening are visible on the pots....
was produced in the region, although wealthier people frequently imported Mediterranean products.
Society and government
At the beginning of our era more than 700,000 people were living in the main area of the Castro culture, in hill forts and oppida. Northern Gallaeci (Lucenses) were divided into 16 populi or tribes: Lemavi, Albiones, Cibarci, Egivarri Namarini, Adovi, Arroni, Arrotrebae, Celtici Neri, Celtici Supertamarci, Copori, Celtici Praestamarci, Cileni, Seurri, Baedui. Astures were divided in Augustani and Transmontani, comprising 22 populi: Gigurri, Tiburi, Susarri, Paesici, Lancienses, Zoelae, among others. Southern Gallaecians (Bracareses), comprising the area of the oppida, were composed of 24 civitates: Helleni, Grovi, Leuni, Surbi, Bracari, Interamnici, Limici, Querquerni, Coelerni, Tamagani, Bibali, Callaeci, Equasei, Caladuni...Each populi or civitas was composed of a number of castella, each one comprehending one ore more hill-forts or oppida, by themselves an autonomous political chiefdom, probably under the direction of a chief and a senate. Under Roman influence the tribes or populi apparently ascended to a major role, at the expense of the minor entities. From the beginning of our era a few Latin inscriptions are known where some individuals declare themselves princeps or ambimogidus of a certain populi or civitas.
Toponymy and Language
The name of some of the castles and oppida are known through the declaration of origin of persons mentioned in epitaphs and votive inscriptions (BERISAMO, LETIOBRI, ERCORIOBRI, LOUCIOCELO, OLCA, SERANTE, TALABRIGA, AVILIOBRIS, MEIDUNIO, DURBEDE...), through the epithets of local Gods in votive altars (ALANIOBRICA, VERUBRICO, AETIOBRIGO, VIRIOCELENSE...), and the testimony of classic authors and geographers (Adrobrica, Ebora, Abobrica, Nemetobriga, Brigantium, Olina, Caladunum, Tyde, Glandomirum, Ocelum...). Some more names can be inferred from modern place names, as those containing an evolution of the Celtic element brigs meaning "hill", characteristically ligated to old hill-forts (Tragove, O Grove < Ogrobre, Canzobre < Caranzobre, Cortobe, Lestrove, Landrove, Iñobre, Maiobre...) Approximately half the pre-Latin toponyms of Roman Gallaecia were Celtic, while the rest were either non Celtic western Indo-European, or mixed toponyms containing Celtic and non-Celtic elements.Religion
The religious pantheon was extensive, with local (Cossue, Bandue, NaviaNavia
Navia is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It lies on the Cantabrian Sea, and is bordered by the municipalities of Villayón to the south, Valdés to the east, and Coaña to the west...
and other deities) and pan-Celtic (Lugus
Lugus
Lugus was a deity of the Celtic pantheon. His name is rarely directly attested in inscriptions, but his importance can be inferred from placenames and ethnonyms, and his nature and attributes are deduced from the distinctive iconography of Gallo-Roman inscriptions to Mercury, who is widely believed...
, Matres
Matres
The Matres and Matrones were female deities venerated in North-West Europe from the 1st to the 5th century AD...
, Suleis...) deities. Hundreds of Latin inscriptions have survived with dedications to gods and goddesses. Archaeological finds such as ceremonial axes decorated with animal sacrificial scenes, together with the severed head sculptures and the testimonies of classical authors, confirms the ceremonial sacrifice of animals, probably including humans, as among Lusitanians and Gauls.
Funerary rites are mostly unknown except at Cividade de Terroso
Cividade de Terroso
Cividade de Terroso was an important city of the Castro culture in North-western Iberian Peninsula, located in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.The city, known in the Middle Ages as Civitas Teroso, was built at the top of Cividade Hill, in the parish of Terroso, in Póvoa de Varzim, less than 5 km...
, where cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
was practiced.
Sites
- Castro de Coaña, AsturiasAsturiasThe Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
[es] - Castro del Chanu, León.
- Castro Ventosa, León.
- Castro de Baroña, Galicia.
- Castro of Troña, Galicia.
- Castro de Noega-Gijón, Asturias, Spain [es
] - Castro de Alvarelhos, Trofa, Portugal
- Castro do Monte de Santa Tegra [es
], A Guarda, Galicia. - Citânia de Sanfins, Paços de FerreiraPaços de FerreiraPaços de Ferreira is a city in Portugal. It is sometimes also called Capital do Móvel , since the city is home to numerous furniture manufacturing plants. Besides older Portuguese furniture companies, Portugal's major industrial operations of IKEA are also located there...
, Portugal - Citânia de Briteiros, Portugal http://citania.csarmento.uminho.pt/default.asp?language=2
- Castro do VieitoCastro do VieitoThe Castro do Vieito is an archaeological site of Castro culture in the north-western Iberian Peninsula, significant for the area excavated . Excavations at the site have revealed evidence of an occupation in the early imperial phase.-References:SILVA, A. J. M. , Vivre au delá du fleuve de l'Oubli...
, Viana do Castelo, Portugal - Castro de Viladonga [en
]. Lugo, Galicia.
See also
- Castros in SpainCastros in SpainA Castro is a fortified settlement, usually pre-Roman, some from late Bronze Age and Iron Age, the oldest research associated with the Celtic culture...
- Celts
- Gallaeci
- Galician Institute for Celtic StudiesGalician Institute for Celtic Studies-Aims and history:The Instituto Galego de Estudos Célticos is a Galician non-profit learned society established in 2009...
- Gallaecian languageGallaecian languageThe Northwestern Hispano-Celtic, Gallaecian or Gallaic, is classified as a Q-Celtic language under the P-Q system and was closely related to Celtiberian...
- Lusitanian languageLusitanian languageLusitanian was a paleohispanic language that apparently belonged to the Indo-European family. Its relationship to the Celtic languages of the Iberian Peninsula, either as a member, a cousin , or as a different branch of Indo-European, is debated. It is known from only five inscriptions, dated from...
Literature
- Arias Vila, F. (1992). A Romanización de Galicia. A Nosa Terra. 1992. ISBN 84-604-3279-3.
- Ayán Vila, Xurxo (2008). A Round Iron Age: The Circular House in the Hillforts of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 903-1003. UW System Board of Regents, 2008. ISSN 1540-4889.
- Calo Lourido, F. (1993). A Cultura Castrexa. A nosa Terra. 1993. ISBN 84-89138-71-0.
- García Quintela (2005). Celtic Elements in Northwestern Spain in Pre-Roman times. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 497-569. UW System Board of Regents, 2005. ISSN 1540-4889.
- González García, F. J. (ed.) (2007). Los pueblos de la Galicia céltica. AKAL. 2007. ISBN 978-84-460-2260-2.
- González Ruibal, Alberto (2004). Artistic Expression and Material Culture in Celtic Gallaecia'. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 113-166. UW System Board of Regents, 2004. ISSN 1540-4889.
- Júdice Gamito, Teresa (2005). The Celts in Portugal. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 571-605. UW System Board of Regents, 2005. ISSN 1540-4889.
- Marco Simón, Francisco (2005). Religion and Religious Practices of the Ancient Celts of the Iberian Peninsula. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 287-345. UW System Board of Regents, 2005. ISSN 1540-4889.
- Parcero-Oubiña C. and Cobas-Fernández, I (2004). Iron Age Archaeology of the Northwest Iberian Peninsula. In e-Keltoi, Volume 6: 1-72. UW System Board of Regents, 2004. ISSN 1540-4889.
- Prósper, B. M. (2002) Lénguas y religiones prerromanas del occidente de la península ibérica. Universidad de Salamanca. 2002. ISBN 84-7800-818-7.
- Rodríguez-Corral, Javier (2009). A Galicia Castrexa. Lóstrego. 2009. ISBN 978-84-936613-3-5.
- Romero, Bieito (2009). Xeometrías Máxicas de Galicia. Ir Indo. 2009. ISBN 978-84-7680-639-5.
External links
- HILLFORT GUIDE: Galicia and Northwest Portugal (in Engish).
- Silva, A. J. M. (2009), Vivre au déla du fleuve de l'Oubli. Portrait de la communauté villageoise du Castro do Vieito, au moment de l'intégration du NO de la péninsule ibérique dans l'orbis romanum (estuaire du Rio Lima, NO du Portugal), Phd Thesis presented at Coimbra University in March 2009, 188p. PDF version.