Ancient Iberian Peninsula Settlements
Settlements in the Iberian Peninsula
In the first millennium BC, peoples more advanced both materially and spiritually reached the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Hence, we call them colonizing peoples. They came with economic and commercial interests, since the eastern Mediterranean peoples were much more advanced and had developed substantial trade in the Mediterranean, especially in metals like copper, tin, gold, and silver. They were also interested in salted products, jewelry, and salt. These people left their presence as an important mark on the more backward peoples of the Iberian Peninsula.
The Phoenicians
They were the first to arrive, in the 9th century BC. They founded:
- Gades between 800 and 775 BC
Later, they settled in other parts of the Andalusian coast. Their main interest was the mines of Huelva.
From the 8th century BC, Phoenician towns went into decline due to the fall of Tyre at the hands of the Babylonians, affecting their colonies on the peninsula.
The Greeks
In the 6th century BC, Greek colonization occurred throughout the coast of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. In the case of the Iberian Peninsula, Phocaean players were in possession of a large colony in the south of present-day France: Massalia (today Marseille). The main colony was:
- Ampurias, created around 575 BC.
Another colony in Catalonia was Rhode (Rosas). Other colonies were Mainake (Málaga), Abdera (Adra), and Hemeroskopeion (Denia). Their main economic activity was trade, especially with Tartessos.
The Carthaginians
Carthage, in modern Tunisia, was a Phoenician colony that inherited their business in the western Mediterranean. They developed a great business from Ibiza, which became a major center of trade, and the other Balearic Islands and the rest of the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia and Levante.
The legacy of these settlements is very important, with the introduction of new crops such as olives, the potter’s wheel, currency, both Greek and Phoenician alphabets, a great impetus to urban life and art, and also the use of slaves as labor.
Pre-Roman Peoples
Tartessos
This is the name given to a culture developed in the first half of the 1st millennium BC in the southwest of the peninsula. Important treasures related to this culture have been found, which tell of significant economic development related to trade with the Phoenicians (minerals such as gold, silver, and copper), major agricultural development, and strong social differentiation with the emergence of an aristocracy that controlled most of the wealth.
Iberians
These were peoples in the south and east, with common cultural traits, and probably spoke the same language. They were heavily influenced by the colonizers. Their economy was based on agriculture and livestock, but mining and textile activities were also important, as was intensive trade with the settlers, from whom they learned the use of money.
Urban nuclei appeared. The basis of social structure was the tribe, but an aristocracy stood out, giving us an idea of a very hierarchical society.
Peoples of the Central and Western Peninsular
These received lower influences from settlers and they are detected more Celtic influence. They were denoted by Roman sources as Celtic or Celtiberians. Villages closer to the Iberian area were called Celtiberians (Arevaci, Lusones, Pelendones, etc.). Besides Celtiberians, we find Lusitanians, Vaccaei, and others.
Some had a mainly agricultural economy, others a livestock-based one. We found little development of handicrafts and trade. Iron metallurgy dominated, and occasionally, we find fortified villages.
Peoples of the North
These were Galicians, Asturians, Cantabrians, Basques, and others. These towns were more backward: their main activity was farming, along with gathering and fishing. The Galicians developed the culture of the Castros, characterized by fortified settlements with circular housing.