- Chapter Twenty-Eight -
Figure 28.3 The castro 'El Castillo' Castilfrio de la Sierra, Soria.
(With kind permission of F. Romero Carnicero, University of Valladolid.)stones. Round graves covered by cairns of stones are also known. Personal items,
ornaments and weapons of bronze and iron were deposited both in and beside the
urns. We have little knowledge about the associated settlements. Fortified settlements
on hills exist near Aguilar de Anguita and Luzaga (Guadalajara). The Castro de
Castilviejo was fortified by chevaux-de-frise, but this is an exception. The large ceme-
teries come into existence around 600 Be. Many end around 400 Be, such as
Alpanseque and La Mercadara (both Soria), but others continue into the later Iron Age.
Settlements of the EI Soto de Medinilla (Valladolid) type are situated in the fertile
valleys of the middle Douro and its tributaries. The houses are built with clay
bricks and are round in plan; occasionally they form small 'tells'. The population
was mainly engaged in agriculture, but there are a few signs of animal husbandry,
particularly of sheep and goats. Metallurgy was dominated by bronzeworking. Iron
was unknown at the beginning of the period and remained rare later on. Here, too,
burials are completely lacking.
The typologically distinct group known as the Miravecche Group is found in the