Castro Carvalhelhos
The Castro Carvalhelhos (also called Couto dos Mouros) is located above the Aguas Santas de Carvalhelhos on the Rio Beça, about five kilometers west of Boticas in the far north of Portugal . It was excavated intermittently from 1951 until the early 1980s.
Since 1951 the complex has been registered and protected as IIP - Imóvel de Interest Público.
You can see restored fortification walls and the ruins of many round and some rectangular houses. The three deep trenches that one crosses at the entrance to the Castro are remarkable, as well as the Piedras hincadas or Cheval de frise made of slate in front of the wall.
These plants are mainly found in northern Spain and northern Portugal in the region ( Alto Trás-os-Montes ).
The finds include a lot of tin cinder and tin stone , which came to light all over the inner surface. In 1944/45 village boys discovered and sold a hoard of around 200 kg of cassiterite .
Datable finds from Castro, e.g. B. Coins of Augustus and Tiberius and Aucissa Bibles (Legionnaires' Brooches) point mainly to the older Roman Empire . It seems plausible that local miners were active here before the political system of the empire was implemented across the board. The value of the metal would explain the elaborate defenses of this relatively small castro. It can be assumed that the tin exploitation was the economic basis or the reason for the existence of the settlement, especially since old tin mines are occupied in the area.
literature
- JR Santos Júnior: 30 anos de escavações no Castro de Carvalhelhos (Boticas - Vila Real) . Revista de Guimarães, 94 (1984) Guimarães, pp. 411-424
- Thomas G. Schattner (Ed.): Archaeological guide through Portugal (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 74). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2313-1 p. 76
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A. Martins: Castro de Carvalhelhos. Direção-Geral do Património Cultural, accessed December 31, 2017 .
Coordinates: 41 ° 41 ′ 54.3 " N , 7 ° 43 ′ 57.5" W.