In the past, the areas cultivated with wheat, barley or vine were much more extensive, as a result of supply needs, but today most of these lands are pastures, and many of them have been urbanized in recent years.

Likewise, in the excavations carried out in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Oak, remains of a settlement with Roman culture dated between the 4th and 6th centuries have been found.

However, after a short time, due to family circumstances, the kings of Castile themselves would become lords of Biscay, so Artziniega did not fulfill his strategic function and remained as a second-order town in terms of commercial importance.

During the Middle Ages, like the rest of the country, Artziniega lived marked by the Wars of the Bands between rival clans that fought for control of the territory.

Artziniega was located in a strategic place of commercial interchange between the Kingdom of Castile and the ports of the Bay of Biscay, which meant that there were some lineages of a certain wealth (for example, the Bengoa, Ortiz de Molinillo-Velasco, and Monteano), but in reality the local activities were primarily agrarian in nature.

An example of the impact of this violent period, is the request[specify] made by the Artziniega ironworks to the Monarchs in 1491, as a result of the abuses they had suffered at the hands of Largacha of Iratzagorría, whose family's interest in the iron trade had long been great.

In the 15th century, the town was endowed with ordinances that give testimony of daily life and the then-current economic activities: cultivation of wheat, grapevines, livestock, and the work of the mills, and urban trades such as weavers, waiters, and bakers.

After the first years of transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, Artziniega experienced a period of expansion in which space outside the walls began to be occupied and the wealth generated by discovery directly resulted in the development of the Villa.

During the last Carlist war, Artziniega suffered fighting and the archives and Civil Registry of the Villa were burned, losing important documents.

With the entry of the rebellious troops, the mayor of Artziniega, Juan Zabalgoitia, of the PNV, was imprisoned, sentenced to jail and transferred to the El Puerto de Santa María prison.

In the last years of the dictatorship, the urbanization of land near the Villa took place in Artziniega, and the new neighborhoods of Eguzkimendi, Arenaza or El Palacio emerged.