Rees, JW; (2013) Settlement Patterns in Roman Galicia: Late Iron Age - Second Century AD. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis examines the changes which occurred in the cultural landscapes of northwest Iberia, between the end of the Iron Age and the consolidation of the region by both the native elite and imperial authorities during the early Roman Empire. As a means to analyse the impact of Roman power on the native peoples of northwest Iberia five study areas in northern Portugal where chosen, which stretch from the mountainous region of Trás-os-Montes near the modern-day Spanish border, moving west to the Tâmega Valley and the Atlantic coastal area. The divergent physical environments, different social practices and political affinities which these diverse regions offer, coupled with differing levels of contact with the Roman world, form the basis for a comparative examination of the area. In seeking to analyse the transformations which took place between the Late pre-Roman Iron Age and the early Roman period historical, archaeological and anthropological approaches from within Iberian academia and beyond were analysed. From these debates, three key questions were formulated, focusing on the Late Iron Age settlement hierarchy, the impact of the administration of early Roman northwest Iberia on settlement patterns, and the relationship between the pre-Roman and Roman-period communication networks In addressing these issues through a series of landscape analyses, it was established that the so-called ‘Castro Culture’ of northwest Iberia was not homogonous, but structured according to diverse socio-political and environmental factors. In the early Roman period, a series of agricultural producers established themselves in fertile areas, resulting in settlement patterns which were located near communication routes and markets. Binding the landscape together were a series of central places, which were often adapted from pre-Roman settlements. Thus, the region’s pre-Roman identity coupled with Roman practices, created a series of fusions of cultural identity, but from an economic perspective shared many of the agricultural practices common in other parts of the Roman empire.

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