| Castro (village) |
Article Index for Castro |
Website Links For Castro |
Information AboutCastro (village) |
|
The larger castros are called Citania s or cividades. ARCHEOLOGY , Spain .]] Castros were located in the top of hills which allowed Tactical control over the surrounding countryside, and provided natural defenses. These invariably had a Fountain or small Creek to provide water, and in some large Reservoirs were built to use during Siege s. Tipically a Castro has a triple loose stone and earth Wall , which complements the natural defenses of the hill. The houses inside are about 3,5 to 5 metres long, mostly circular with some rectangular, stone-made and with hay roofs which rested on a wood column in the centre of the building. Their streets are somewhat regular, suggesting some form of central organization. Castros vary in diameter from some dozens of metres to several hundred. Castros were mostly places of refuge during the frequent Celtic Tribal Wars, although many, including all the Citanias, were inhabited continuously as well. HISTORY Many Castros were already inhabited during the Bronze Age , long before the Celtic Invasions and it is thought that the Iberian culture of these settlements largely survived the Celtic influx, with which it blended, adopting the Celtic Language as a Lingua Franca with their commercial contacts along the Atlantic Coast. Indeed many of the Megalith s from the Bronze Age like Menhir s and Dolmen s which are frequently located nearby the Castros, predate the Celts in Portugal and Galicia as well as in Atlantic France , Britain and Ireland , but they were probably reutilized in syncretic rituals by the Celtic Druid s. Many Castros were destroyed by the Romans, but others were expanded into proper cities. |