Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CASTRO CULTURE
1 Introduction
3 The castros
18 Economic activity
23 Warfare
26 BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
Introduction
Castro of Barona, Porto do Son. Galicia
02
02
The
Castros
Bath complex. Castro of Coana. Asturias
04
In Galicia most of the castros were medium or small size; the
small ones appear in all the stages of this culture, whereas
the big ones only belong to the final moment. In the first stage
(until the 5th-4th centuries b.C.) they were located basically
on high, easy-to-defend places. In the second stage (until the
end of the 2nd century b. C.) they were situated in places
where both strategic position and access to resources were
important; at this time the hillside hillfort appeared. The last
stage (until the end of the 2nd century a.D.), after the Roman
conquest, was that of big villages.
05
The castro people used to place their villages in places that
combined defensive position and proximity to arable lands,
except some castros situated in inhospitable places like
Baroa or Porto do Son. In approximately one kilometre
around the hillfort there were the arable lands and all the
resources like water, firewood, pastures and so on.
06
A romanized castro, at Viladonga, Castro de Rei, Galicia
08
Pre-Roman tribes in Gallaecia
09
Regarding the system of inheritance of property, Strabo
commented that it was women who received the dowry, who
inherited, and afterwards they had the responsibility to fix
their brothers matrimonial arrangements. We can assume
from this that the real property (the property or usufruct of the
family lands) was transfered by the mothers lineage and it
was women that were in charge of cultivating the land. Men
would get the livestock, the booty conquered in the war
expeditions and the gold or silver articles like torques. This
system of inheritance and property implies that men would go
to live to their wives homes.
10
03
Language
and
religion
Votive inscription to Lugus: LUCOUBU ARQUIEN(OBU) SILONIUS SILO EX VOTO
13
On the contrary, some authors think that the presence of
archaic elements is not a solid and conclusive criterion to
deny that the Lusitanian language belonged to the Celtic
group of languages.
14
Concerning religion, we have the same or even more
difficulties that in other fields to characterize this culture
because all the data are the result of the contact with the
Roman religion, in fact we dont have any castrexo
document about religion. We can say that they practised the
polytheism, because we know many names of gods
worshipped by this people, but the frequency with which
they are mentioned lets us think that some of them would be
more important than others, which also leads us to believe
that there should exist a defined and perfectly structured
pantheon.
15
The religious pantheon was extensive, and
included local and pan-Celtic gods. Among the
later ones the most relevant was Lugus; 5
inscriptions are known with dedication to this
deity, whose name is frequently expressed as a
plural dative (LUGUBO, LUCOUBU). The votive
altars containing this dedications frequently
present three holes for gifts or sacrifices. Other
pan-European deities include Bormanicus (a god
related to hot springs), the Matres, and Sulis or
Suleviae (SULEIS NANTUGAICIS).
Late Bronze Age golden helmet The largest number of indigenous deities found in
the whole Iberian Peninsula are located in the
Lusitanian-Galician regions, and models proposing
a fragmented and disorganized pantheon have
been discarded, since the number of deities
occurring together is similar to other Celtic peoples
in Europe and ancient civilizations.
Economic
activity
"Rapa das bestas". Lugo. Galicia
20
It seems that these communities were self-sufficient to cover
most of their basic needs and they had an even capacity to
produce surpluses. On the other hand, they could not satisfy
directly the supply of mineral or metallic objects to make
weapons or jewels.
They also needed some other goods like wine, balls of glass
or different kinds of ceramics.
21
For two-thirds of the
year the mountaineers
feed on the acorn,
which they dry, bruise,
and afterwards grind
and make into a kind
of bread, which may
be stored up for a long
period.
(Strabo, Geography,
III, 3, 7)
05
Warfare
Bronze swords
24
Some historians state there should be a hierarchy in the
group of warriors: there would be an elite, made up of those
who had a heavier and more sophisticated weaponry and
fought on horseback and in a lower position we would find
people armed in a lighter manner who probably fought on
foot. This practice fitted in with what was usual in other Indo-
European societies.
25
06
Further
readings
ARIAS VILAS, FELIPE (2009). A cultura castrexa na
provincia de Lugo. Aspectos diferenciais in Actas do curso
A prehistoria en Lugo luz das descubertas recentes.
Lugo, 24th e 25th April 2009.
27