Castros de Asturias

[Manuell Alvarez]

My current online study and Asturian interest is about the hill top fortresses call Castros in Asturias. The Castro de Coana seems to be the most famous one as a tourist attraction. These communities were apparently built during the iron/bronze age by our Celtic relatives.

I am fascinated by the circular stone structures and architecture having only a doorway entrance. I read that there are probably 250 Castros in Asturias that have been discovered. They kind of remind me of castles.

There are many unanswered questions concerning these sites. My main curiosity is why did the circular style building practices fall out of usage in Asturias over time? One would think that it was a successful design employed to protect everyone in the complex from attack and the weather. Perhaps, outside influences like the Romans brought in other methods and ideas about construction.

Manny

[Jasm]

Castros de Asturias
http://www.castrosdeasturias.es/portada
Parque Histórico del Navia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qG0yKq-xIU
Castro Chao San Martin - Grandas de Salime
http://www.castrosdeasturias.es/descarg ... 09-br2.pdf[/url]

[Art]

My understanding is that the Romans did bring rectangular constructions and that cultural shift to rectangular, at least in a castro in Gijón--Castro de la Campa Torres. may have been fairly quick once the Romans arrived. Of course, the Romans may have been paying for most new construction.

It's an interesting question why we'd choose one over the other. This may not have anything to do with Asturians thinking, but if one were hanging objects on the walls or pushing furniture up against walls, rectangular would make sense.

I see castros as villages on hills. They're impressive, but not as vertical as castles usually are.

[Manuell Alvarez]

The castros were settlements built as hill-forts with earthen walls, battlements, and ditches much like castles. The word castro comes from the Latin castrum which means castle.

The round shapes reminded me of the circular towers situated on each side of a castle's keep.

One can definitely see the Castro Culture's circular construction transition to Romanized structures which are rectangular in shape.

[Indalecio Fernandez]

Mira estas paginas:
https://www.celtiberia.net/es/conocimientos/?idp=1872
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castro_(f ... ci%C3%B3n)
http://www.castrosdeasturias.es/descarg ... rea-nw.pdf
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38828906.pdf