Recent research has demonstrated the importance of rural settlement in the Iberian culture, although there are still few rural sites explored in depth. ‘Rural settlement’ is the term we use to designate the small habitation sites or agricultural structures that became common from the Middle Iberian Period (450–200 bc) onward; such sites constituted the basis of a hierarchical settlement system characteristic of societies developing towards archaic states. These settlements consist of one or two buildings together with silos and/or artisanal features. The main difficulty in studying such sites is their poor preservation. They are usually located on flat areas suitable for cultivation, and research has traditionally prioritised the study of larger sites. In this study, we revise the data from previous investigations in the territory of ancient Iberian Cessetania and present the results of recent research, paying particular attention to the Rabassats site. We compare these rural settlements to those in other nearby territories in the Iberian area as well as in the wider Mediterranean context. Detailed analyses of the remains of rural sites show a greater complexity than is often assumed and suggest that a variety of small settlements, from an economic and probably also from a social point of view, should be included under the generic heading of ‘fourth order’.

Geophysical surveys based on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetic methods have recently been carried out at the Iberian site of Masies de Sant Miquel, which is dated to the Iron Age (seventh-third centuries BC). The design and execution of the

Les excavacions del Centre d’Estudis Lacetans (CEL) als jaciments de Sant Miquel de Sorba i Castellvell d’Olius han permès obtenir noves dades sobre el període ibèric tardà al territori lacetà. Es tracta d’assentaments amb una ocupació intensa i renovada al llarg dels segles II-I aC, que han proporcionat abundant material arqueològic, el qual inclou interessants lots de ceràmiques importades o d’objectes considerats com a militaria. A partir d’aquí, es planteja una reflexió sobre la naturalesa d’aquests nuclis ibèrics tardans i la interpretació de la seva funció en relació amb la dinàmica d’implantació romana a la zona.

Se presentan los resultados históricos derivados de la primera fase de la investigación sobre este importante yacimiento, realizada exclusivamente a partir de métodos no invasivos. Los datos recuperados a partir de la prospección pedestre y geofísica han permitido verificar la condición urbana del asentamiento, atestiguada tanto por sus dimensiones como por su complejidad estructural y la naturaleza de los materiales muebles recuperados, que sugieren actividades económicas especializadas y la coexistencia de distintos sectores sociales. La desaparición del asentamiento en torno a 200 a. C. confirma el profundo impacto de la conquista romana en los patrones de poblamiento del mundo ibérico septentrional.

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