Peñas de la Cerca
The site was excavated in two consecutive seasons in 2007 and 2008 by the PIDPAPZ project scientific team and supervised by the archaeologists Jose Carlos Sastre Blanco (University of Granada) and Oscar Rodriguez Monterrubio (UNED).
It covers an area of around 2 hectares and settlement is distributed on tells, being the highest where a major number of dwelling structures and artefacts have been identified.
Excavations and surveys on the site have made possible the identification of several enclosures covering the north slope of the hill where the settlement was constructed.
Without more accurate findings marking a concrete date, the chronology could cover an enormous gap of time similar to what happens in other northwestern Spanish hillforts belonging to the so-called Hillforts culture (Cultura Castreña) Excavation areas 2 and 3, on the second tell between the top-hill wall and the interior wall, had unearthed housing materials and structures related with three different periods of occupation of the settlement.
This first and the most ancient dwelling so far is defined by an ashen level where remains of wooden structures, grain store pits, plinth stones and a depot of burnt nuts (hazelnuts and acorns).
It is a hut-like structure with a uniform ground prepared to be dwelt and furnish with the basic Iron Age housing elements: Pit holes to support the structure, millstones, hand-mills, metalworking (bronze), remains of a bonfire, grain store pits and pieces of pottery.
No Roman remains were found in the site so far so the settlement was probably abandoned (or not romanised) after the 1st century BC, in favour of other close sites as the gold mines of Los Corralones, Santo Toribio Hill or the valley of Vidriales (Eastwards into the plateau) Last campaigns have dug up a large number of materials which contribute to know more precisely the Iron Age living standards.
Among the most significant materials: a bronze brooch (fibula) as a sample of metalworking used in clothing found in a primary location (dwelling): flint arrow heads teach us about hunting and weaponry; millstones and hand-mills used to mill grain and seeds to obtain flour and pastes; pieces of pottery used in cooking, serving or storing, of many shapes (bowls, plates, pots, vases and jars), plain and decorated with engravings, printed or polishings.
One of the most astonishing aspects of the site is the large number of stone tools, more common during the Neolithic but still working during the Late Prehistory, instruments such as polishers, cutters, mortars, hand-mills, millstones, bullets, weights used in looms (weaving), roofs (construction) or nets (fishing), more than 90 pieces have so far been found.
