The CSIC's HINTERLAND project has uncovered buried structures expanding the traditional view of castros in northwest Iberia. Using drones, LiDAR sensors, and historical images, researchers identified ditches, paths, and activity areas beyond known walls. These findings, published in Archaeological Prospection, challenge the notion that they were mere fortified villages.
Castros, Iron Age fortified settlements from the 8th century BC to the 1st century AD, were located on elevations with stone walls and ditches, housing agricultural and pastoral communities organized in clans. Traditionally seen as confined to their walled perimeters in Galicia, Asturias, and northern Portugal, a new CSIC study from the Institute of Heritage Sciences alters this view.
The HINTERLAND project, led by César Parcero-Oubiña, used remote sensing to examine three 2,000 km² areas. They documented over 2,000 potential archaeological traces, including 30 unknown castros. The methodology combined extensive exploration with local analysis: historical and satellite images for areas of interest, followed by drone flights, magnetometers, and ground-penetrating radars to map subsoils without digging.
At Coto das Medorras in A Coruña, historical and modern images revealed concentric ditches suggesting a multiple defensive system, expanding the site's area despite agricultural damage. In Montes Claros, also in A Coruña, multispectral drones and magnetic surveys detected a second enclosure and additional ditches, possibly for production or burials. The Alobre castro in Vilagarcía de Arousa showed three large ditches and rectangular structures in its southern zone, indicating a hierarchical layout with specialized spaces.
These results, published in the journal Archaeological Prospection, highlight more elaborate defensive systems, like Castromaior with seven walls or Cabo Blanco with five ditches. They suggest modified landscapes with paths and production areas, reflecting complex social and economic organization. Researchers plan selective excavations to confirm chronologies and functions, bolstering understanding of the Iron Age in northwest Iberia.