Ancient Sites and Modern People: Raising Awareness of Iron Age Heritage in Central Spain

Abstract

In the last 30 years, considerable effort has been invested in the public presentation of archaeological sites and, in general, in the dissemination of the heritage bequeathed to us by the pre-Roman communities of the western Iberian Peninsula. In this paper, we critically analyse the most outstanding measures implemented in this area by the different administrations and specialists involved. Similarly, we present the main initiatives undertaken in this regard in recent years by our research team within the framework of the REFIT and VETTONIA projects. Finally, we put forward ten essential proposals for future actions to achieve a more effective dissemination and management of Iron Age heritage.

Granite Landscapes and Landforms in the Castro de Ulaca Site (Ávila, Spain): A Narrow Relationship between Natural and Cultural Heritage

“…The site is of great interest due to its size, with more than 70 ha; its walls, which surround the hill and reach 3 km in length, making it one of the largest fortifications of this period in the Iberian Peninsula [22]; and the complex organisation shown by the craft workshops and the cemetery located outside the walls [32]. But it also preserves important material remains and exceptional and well-preserved Celtic structures such as the settlement (oppidum) with the remains of more than 250 dwellings, the altar (rock sanctuary), the keep, the sauna and the quarries [19,[21][22][23]33,34].…”

“…The Ulaca site has been studied since the 1970s and has been interpreted as an urban centre where the elites who exercised control over the adjacent territory resided and as an important witness to the different lifestyles and pastoral strategies of the Vetonean culture [22]. It has a long history of cultural heritage protection, which has taken the form of weak management and maintenance actions [23,35], despite the multiple dissemination initiatives carried out by archaeologists, including innovative analyses and virtual visits [23,36,37]. It is currently a focus of tourist attraction, receiving more than 2500 visitors per year, although visits have been stagnant for the last eight years [23].…”

“…It has a long history of cultural heritage protection, which has taken the form of weak management and maintenance actions [23,35], despite the multiple dissemination initiatives carried out by archaeologists, including innovative analyses and virtual visits [23,36,37]. It is currently a focus of tourist attraction, receiving more than 2500 visitors per year, although visits have been stagnant for the last eight years [23]. It also constitutes an element of identity for the local population due to the numerous activities carried out over the last 20 years.…”

“…These include the Celtic Moon Festival of Solosancho, which brings together more than 3000 people at the site on a night in which a play is performed in the castro, in addition to a full festive programme inspired by the Celtic roots of the municipality. As pointed out by Rodríguez Hernández et al [23], these activities aim to attract visitors and promote sustainable tourism in a very fragile natural environment affected by severe depopulation. The study area and surrounding landscapes were severely damaged by the forest fire of 14 August 2021 that devastated more than 22,000 ha, including the Castro de Ulaca.…”

“…In order to incorporate geomorphosites into Italian geomorphological mapping, they propose a specific, multi-scale legend. But there are other approaches applied in geomorphological heritage studies, such as interpretive mapping oriented to education and geotourism [3][4][5]14,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] or applied to geoconservation and heritage management [8,18,27,28].…”