El Castru (Vigaña, Balmonte de Miranda, Asturias): un pequeño poblado fortificado de las montañas occidentales cantábricas durante la Edad del Hierro

Abstract

Este artículo presenta los datos arqueológicos recuperados en las excavaciones del poblado castreño de El Castru, en Vigaña (Balmonte de Miranda, Asturias) realizadas en 2012 y 2013. Dicho yacimiento constituye un buen ejemplo de los pequeños castros de la Edad del Hierro en las montañas del área occidental cantábrica. Por ello, el análisis de las informaciones obtenidas y su contextualización a escala regional ofrecen interesantes aportaciones al debate sobre las formas de poblamiento y subsistencia adoptadas por las comunidades del I milenio a.C. en el Noroeste ibérico. LABURPENA Artikulu honetan bildu ditugu El Castru (Vigaña, Balmonte de Miranda, Asturias) herrixkan 2012an eta 2013an eginiko indusketetan berreskuratutako datu arkeologikoak. Aztarnategi hori Burdin Aroan Kantaurialdeko mendebaldeko mendietan zeuden kastro txikien adibide ona da. Horregatik, eskuratutako informazioak aztertzeak eta informazio horiek eskualdeko testuinguruan kokatzeak elementu interesgarriak dakartzate Iberiar penintsulako ipar-mendebaldean K.a. I. milurtekoan zeuden komunitateek zituzten populaketa-moduei eta biziraupen-moduei buruzko eztabaidara.

Transhumance and long-term deforestation in the subalpine belt of the central Spanish Pyrenees: An interdisciplinary approach

“…Nevertheless, it is difficult to establish the consequences of this extensive grazing and its dependence on long-distance seasonal displacements in search of the best grasslands. Unfortunately, most archaeological remnants (e.g., huts, watering places, stalls) have disappeared because they were only transitory structures or because they were only scarcely studied, except in the Eastern Pyrenees (Ejarque et al, 2010;Bal et al, 2011;Catalán et al, 2013;Gassiot et al, 2014;Palet et al, 2014), in the Pardina Ravine of the Central Pyrenees (Laborda et al, 2017), and in the Cantabrian Mountains (González-Álvarez et al, 2016(González-Álvarez et al, , 2018González-Álvarez, 2019). Another complication is that the Latin terminology is often confusing.…”

Caprine husbandry at the Iron Age settlement of A Lanzada (Pontevedra, Spain)

“…Although, a general decrease in the size of domesticates has been noted also across western Europe between the Neolithic and Iron Age (Trentacoste et al 2018) the case of A Lanzada seems quite extreme, particularly because the sheep from El Castru (no. 5), a Late Iron Age site in the nearby region of Asturias (González Álvarez et al 2018), do not differ much from Cueva de Els Trocs or even from the sheep dated to historical periods (nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9).…”

Autonomous but not isolated: A petrographic study of Iron Age ceramics from a ‘deep‐rural’ community in Asturias (NW Iberia)

“…Iron Age economies relied on combined subsistence strategies involving both herding and agricultural activities. The excavations at El Castru provided evidence for such livelihoods, with a significant abundance of cattle and ova‐caprine bones found throughout the archaeological sequence (González‐Álvarez et al, 2018, 230–233). Similar to preindustrial subsistence strategies in this region—well known by historical and ethnographic accounts—the inhabitants El Castru hillfort would take advantage of the diverse resources at their disposal within the different altitudes in their surroundings.…”

“…An exploratory trench was excavated out of the fortified perimeter of the hillfort, revealing contemporary agrarian activities that modified the topography of the site quite noticeably, as well as a deposit of dark soil with animal bones, which was interpreted as a rubbish dump. The main excavation area was located in the upper area of the settlement, revealing a stratigraphic sequence with six different phases corresponding with successive occupations and different uses in the areas explored (González‐Álvarez et al, 2018). The earliest evidence dates to the Early Iron Age, with the remains of a structure inside the walls (phase 1), followed by phase 2, relating to the transition between Early and Late Iron Age.…”

“…The earliest evidence dates to the Early Iron Age, with the remains of a structure inside the walls (phase 1), followed by phase 2, relating to the transition between Early and Late Iron Age. Phase 3 corresponds with a small complex for metallurgic activities, radiocarbon dated between the fourth and second centuries cal BCE (González‐Álvarez et al, 2018, 220–223). Phases 4 and 5 relate to stone roundhouses, which were built during Late Iron Age and probably abandoned soon after the expansion of the Roman state early in the first century AD.…”