The
Iron Age Site of Plaza de Moros
Archaeologists discovered the site of Plaza de Moros in 1994, and excavation started in 1998. Plaza de Moros is located three miles from the town of Villatobas (population 3,000), about 60 miles south of Madrid. An Iberian settlement from the Second Iron Age (4th to 2nd centuries B.C.), its research assists scholars to uncover information about the little-known Iron Age Carpetanian culture.
Plaza de Moros is a small village located atop a hill surrounded by defensive walls, dominating the confluence of two small valleys. The inhabitants of this village abandoned it in the 2nd Century B.C. after a fire. So far, the field school has excavated the exterior moat that protected the entrance, the main wall, part of the side wall, and two areas of living quarters. Several rooms built with adobes have been found in excellent condition – the fire that ravaged the town has helped investigators document the Iron Age strata because of pockets of artifacts that have been conserved in situ and sealed underground following the town’s abandonment.
Research
at Plaza de Moros answers important questions about the lifestyle of Iron
Age tribes in the region. We are now understanding the real reasons behind
their choice of location to build their towns and we are able to study their
building techniques very closely. The fire actually proved beneficially
to archaeologists, because the heat acted as a conservant for many of the
building materials. For instance, because the flames cooked the perishable
adobes into bricks, the buildings are easier to excavate.
Participants will work alongside students from several Spanish universities. The maximum number of participants at the site is 20 per session.