a window that goes from the Castro era to the Middle Ages

The Cies Islands They are a natural gem. We have known that for a long time. It was first confirmed by Congress, which in 2002 declared them a National Park (along with other islands in the Rías Baixas), and later the British newspaper Guardianwhose reporters concluded almost two decades ago that the Galician archipelago hides the best beach on the planet. Which we just discovered Thanks to the archaeologists, the islands that appear in the Vigo estuary are something more: a site that tells us a story which extends from before the arrival of the Romans to the Middle Ages.

Now the experts want to go one step further.

What has happened? that archaeologists have rescued secrets that have been hidden for centuries on a hillside in the Cíes, the Vigo estuary archipelago that has been declared a Natural Park since 1980 and has been integrated into the Atlantic Islands National Park for almost a quarter of a century.

Between April and the beginning of May, a group of researchers from the University of Vigo carried out a series of surveys on the islands that have allowed them to shed more light on their past. To be more precise, it has expanded what we know about life in the archipelago along a wide range from the castro culture to the Middle Ages.

What exactly have they done? Focus on two points. The first basically expands the work done last yearwhen archaeologists identified a series of walls and what looked like part of a floor. The second survey was carried out in an area where the researchers noticed a change in elevation in the terrain, which led them to think that a wall could be hidden beneath the ground.

The experts were not blindsided. The campaign focused on what is known as Hortas fortcataloged from the 90s and which stands out as one of the most emblematic Iron Age sites in Galicia. Unlike others castro settlements spread throughout the community, it is located at the southern end of the island of O Faro, a steep area that its inhabitants perhaps chose because of the control it offered them over the maritime routes.

What did they discover? They have basically expanded what we know about the history of the archipelago. After clearing the area, at the first point the researchers discovered new structures and identified “two levels of occupancy” well differentiated. One dates from the late ancient period, between the 5th and 6th centuries AD). The other corresponds to the end of the Early Middle Ages, more specifically between the 9th and 10th centuries. This wide range reveals that the area probably had a more or less stable human presence for centuries.

“This campaign allows us to affirm that the hillside of the fort was occupied from the fortress period until the Middle Ages, as well as its potential as a heritage element to deepen the knowledge of the ways of life on the islands during antiquity and up to the present day,” the researchers highlight. a statement from the University of Vigo.

Did you find out anything else? Yes. The above is what they discovered in their first survey. The second, focused on the area in which they noticed a change in the terrain, revealed another piece of information just as curious: under the earth it was hidden a “cuncheiro“an area where the ancient inhabitants of the island accumulated the waste from their banquets. “From the beginning it was clear that it was an area for emptying food remains of the castro inhabitants of the area of ​​the island, with the appearance of a cuncheiro that almost reached three meters deep,” they explain.

There is another important fact. These remains appeared outside a “great house” from the Castro era, the first of its kind identified in all of the Cíes Islands. It may seem like an anecdote or a minor detail, but for Galician archaeologists it is key information. “It is sure proof of the presence of an important human settlement prior to the arrival of the Romans,” clarify from the university, which remembers that the surveys are part of a larger initiative, Sentinel Projectwhich will continue until July.

And now what? The information collected during the two surveys could still tell us more things about the ancient inhabitants of the islands. The reason? Archaeologists have not limited themselves to identifying the deposit of food remains. They have also recovered “several fauna samples” that now They will be in charge of analyzing specialists from the University of León in search of a key piece of information: what eating patterns the inhabitants of the Hortas fort followed in the Iron Age. The campaign also revealed a considerable amount of ceramics that will be studied in Ourense.

Images | University of Vigo and Xunta de Galicia

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