Historical Ecologies, Heterarchies and Transtemporal Landscapes

Abstract

In light of new thinking about Iron Age societies, the authors propose an analysis of the political and territorial characteristics of Northwestern Iberian societies at the end of the Iron Age and the beginning of Roman dominion (2 nd and 1 st centuries BC). This essay documents the emergence in that period of large settlements that replaced the traditional dispersed, small-scale Iron Age castros (small fortified agrarian settlements). Territorial analyses reveal that these new settlements entailed a change of scale, but reveal no evidence for centralized structures, and offer no strong qualitative differences from the previous castros. By analyzing the characteristics of these late Iron Age settlements, this essay focuses on the variety of interactions fostered by Roman military presence in the region, and the relevance of heterarchical approaches for understanding evolving power flows and material culture.