Towards the end of the 8th Century B.C., a new phase began in which each peninsular region formed independently, as the native substratum fused with various Mediterranean peoples. Between the 6th and 3rd Centuries B.C., the Iberian period reached its greatest zenith. The Oretani were Iberian people that settled to the South of the Carpetanos (between the Tagus and Guadiana Rivers) and they also extended towards the other side of the Sierra Morena. Its main cities were Oretum in Granátula de Calatrava and Castulo in Linares.
The cultivation of cereal and, to a lesser extent, of grapevines and olive trees, as well as livestock, became the two main sources of the economy. This was complemented by hunting.
The majority of the settlements were fortified and were located in areas close to the rivers that represented a natural means of infrastructure and that provided very fertile land.
El Cerro de las Cabezas - Valdepeñas
It is situated in the South of the province of Ciudad Real, 8 Km from Valdepeñas. The abandonment of this settlement at the end of the 3rd Century and its virtually non-existent reoccupation in subsequent years have enabled the study and excavation of the settlement.
It was a large oppidum measuring 140,000 m2, situated alongside the Jabalón River and perched on a hill 805 m high. A defensive wall measuring 1,600 metres was built along this hill. They solved the problem of the natural steep incline of the hill by constructing terraces and retaining walls.
Cerro de las Cabezas has various elements that are worth highlighting. Firstly, its urban structure, its defence system and rich repertoire of archaeological material from the Bronze Age until the end of the 3rd Century B.C. that allow us to see the historical and material evolution of these settlements of the South of the Meseta (central plateau).
Cerro de las Cabezas was firstly occupied by settlements of the Late Bronze Age, around the 7th and 6th Centuries B.C. The settlers, in these areas close to the Jabalón River, built their dwellings in semi-oval shapes without any type of urban order. It was between the 5th and 3rd Centuries B.C. that the current urban order began to take shape and the majority of the defence system was built.
- Defence system: ein these 1,600 lineal metres: box walls, cyclopean walls, casemate walls, walls with several faces, circular bastions, rectangular bastions, circular towers, road gates, drainage systems.
- The town planning: what we can see is the result of an evolution from the first stages of the late Bronze Age, with semi-rectangular structures, and handmade ceramics that appeared at this time, dating from between the 7th and 6th Century B.C., with the first streets, construction of the defence system and the use of dividing walls for the construction of houses. During the 5th Century and primarily in the 4th Century B.C., the settlement’s town planning was structured around main and secondary streets which resulted in an urban order that centred around large residential areas to form individual blocks and neighbourhoods.
- The dwellings: A variety of paving can be observed, from those made with large slabs of slate, limestone or quartzite to those that are more simple and rudimentary and made from tamped ash and clay.
At the end of the 3rd Century the city was abandoned, and not reoccupied until the Medieval period, when sporadic occupations from the areas above El Cerro settled there.
Alarcos - Ciudad Real
At present, Alarcos is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in the region, not only because of its expanse (33 hectares within the walls), but also because of the importance of the Iberian and Medieval ruins.
It is situated in the centre of the province of Ciudad Real, and is eight kilometres from the capital and three kilometres from the town of Poblete. The hill is situated 100 metres above the Guadiana river, overlooking the only ford that this river has in this area. This position allowed it to control the routes that historically crossed the region from east to west and north to south.
The archaeological ruins show that the hill was occupied by man from the Bronze Age to the High Middle Ages, with a long period in-between when it was depopulated in the Roman and Visigothic Ages.
The excavation and restoration work that has been carried out at the site since 1984 have enabled the recovery of a sector of the urban layout of the Iberian city, as well as a significant part of the wall and medieval castle. Moreover, Alarcos was the scene of one of the most important battles of the peninsular Middle Ages, which took place between the Christians and the Almohads in 1195. The remains of this battle have now been discovered, and have uncovered a unique set of weapons.
Iberian/Oretani City: The oldest settlement dates to the Late Bronze Age with the construction of a settlement high up on the western part of the hill, looking over the ford of the Guadiana River and the roads to Andalusia and Levante.
Towards the 9th Century B.C. during the transition to the first Iron Age, the settlement moved to other areas of the hill, while maintaining contact with other areas of the Peninsula, in particular with the South-East and the North Meseta. These contacts were maintained and increased in the following centuries.
In the 5th Century B.C., the Iberian-Oretani culture was fully formed and consolidated in Alarcos, and developed spectacularly throughout the 4th and 3rd Centuries. The settlement grew and spaces that were formerly used as a necropolis were occupied by dwellings. Throughout this long period, at least three phases of occupation have been documented in which it is possible to appreciate the changes that occurred in the settlement.
- The rectangular-shaped houses had one or two rooms with stone skirting, cob walls and thatched roof. They are arranged around streets paved with quartzite or limestone slabs. Materials used by the inhabitants have been found inside them, such as ceramics, and tools made from bronze, iron and bone, etc.
- A sacred area is located around 100 metres away, which has been greatly affected by subsequent constructions. A rectangular-shaped structure filled with stone stands out in the space with its monumental appearance within the framework of a street paved with limestone slabs. Around 60 bronze votive offerings have been found in this area. Votive offerings are small figures that the Iberians offered to their gods, a tradition that has not been lost in El Cerro, continuing with the current devotion to the Virgen de Alarcos. Campanese Greek ceramics and a whole series of objects that we could interpret as offerings were also associated with this area.
- The main necropolis was situated on the south side of the hill. Zoomorphic stone sculptures were found in this area along with a Celtic-Italic helmet (which is now in the Provincial Museum), the chronology of which corresponds to the Oretani city’s moments of great splendour, which have been gradually brought to light with the passage of time.
