Castillo de Viguera Ceramics (5th-8th Century)

• The study examines ceramics from the Castillo de Viguera, dated between the 5th and early 8th centuries
• It suggests the ceramics are of high production quality with diverse origins like the Najerilla valley (TSHT), the Meseta, and southern Gaul (TSGT-DSP)
• The study reflects on the absence of certain ceramic forms and types

Ceramic Wear and Soil Acidity

• Notes intense wear on recovered pieces, not due to low soil acidity
• The wear suggests an imbalance between the chronology of use and the production of TST ceramics post-Roman industrial ceramic production collapse
• Interpretive keys for these materials are conservation-repair, extreme use, and reuse

Key Words

• Terra Sigillata Tardía
• Visigothic period pots
• Production chronology
• Use chronology
• Archaeological contextualization.

Site Context

• Castillo de Viguera is in Viguera, La Rioja
• The site is a rocky hill with 18 hectares, reaching 1,089 meters in altitude, with steep slopes between 100 and 130 meters
• A southeast access point exists 60 to 70 meters high

Rock Carving and Defenses

• Notable rock carving is present at the entrance
• The rock was cut to access the hill's summit, reinforcing defenses
• The rock was worked to create a higher platform for entrance control, and a moat utilized a natural runoff zone
• A 3x3 meter quadrangular tower was for defense and monitoring access

Water Storage

• Two rock-cut cisterns collected and stored rainwater
• The upper cistern held 35,000 liters for human consumption, due to lime layers on its walls
• A smaller lower cistern may have served livestock: goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs
• It served as a strategic reserve during sieges

Archaeological Campaigns and Findings

• Four archaeological campaigns between 2017 and 2022
• Over 30 radiocarbon datings and abundant numismatic contexts exist
• Numismatic finds totaled over 100
• These campaigns approximate the occupation phases with potential for refinement

Historical Sources

• Written sources in Arabic, Latin, and Romance mention the site and its inhabitants from the 8th century onward
• Radiocarbon data synchronizes with periods in these sources through the late 11th to early 12th centuries

Occupation Phases

• Prehistoric: Bronze Age, 1700 a.e.c
• Roman: Founded early 5th century, inhabited through the 6th century
• Hispanovisigothic: Mid-7th to early 8th centuries
• Islamic (Banu Qasi): 714 to 923
• Local power phase ("Kingdom of Viguera"): Late 10th to early 11th centuries
• Kingdom of Pamplona-Nájera: Until the late 11th century
• Kingdom of Castile: Mid-to-late 14th century
• Modern Age: From mid-17th century, uncertain
• Pine planting: 1961
• Pastoral activities: From at least the 19th century

Significant Buildings

• Located on the upper part of the hill
• Includes a 19th-century shepherd's hut over a 7th-century Visigothic church
• A substantial 5th-century Roman building interpreted as a possible principia

Roman Construction Details

• Solid construction with opus signinum, marble paving, and polychrome mosaics
• Mosaics featured blue and green glass tesserae, gray ceramics, limestone, and sigillata
• Nearly 2,000 tesserae recovered in spolia contexts used as Visigothic infill
• The building had in antis columns with sandstone drums of approximately 80 cm diameter

Column Features

• Columns were fluted with semicircular edges
• Each drum weighed hundreds of kilos
• Columns sourced ~8 km away, lifted using pulley systems
• Corinthian columns estimated to be over 6.5 meters tall

Roman-Era Finds

• Fine glass
• Numerous coins
• Medical instruments
• A bistoury blade and bronze probe

Roman Ceramics

• Varied Terra Sigillata Tardía in gray and orange
• A notable new type of oil lamp
• Brass buckets/situlae
• A cast iron hook with adjustable height adjustment
• Limited common Roman ceramics, located just 25 kilometers from the valley of Najerilla in Tricio and surrounding areas

Chronological Context

• The cultural material in this location aligns with the Bajoimperial period at the start of the 5th century
• Radiocarbon dating supports this timeframe

Hypotheses

• Specialized weapons and numerous perimortem burials suggest a military building from the early 5th century
• The structure likely served the Roman military

Iglesia Hispanovisigoda

• Built at the end of the 7th century
• Utilized spolia that had been acquired for use throughout the ages

Necropolis Usage

• Used from the 5th/6th to the 11th/12th centuries
• Approximately 60 individuals (18 radiocarbon dated) found
• Three dated to the initial 5th/6th century phase
• Around 20 individuals from an ossuary, also from this period, a mid-7th century action

Site Function

• Linked to military control: Political and socioeconomic management of communication routes
• Controlled territories and their connections
• Iregua route connected the Ebro Valley to the Northern Meseta
• Route linked Viguera to Nájera and the Ebro Valley's northern zone

Communication

• Viguera connected to other sites visually (night lights, daytime smoke) and audibly (horns, ceramic trumpets)
• This network facilitated communication back through the late Ancient and early Medieval periods

Military Artifacts

• Projectiles for slings
• Potential plumbatae
• Other tormentaria weaponry
• Bronze labarum or multiple hobnails from Roman caligae

Later Period Finds

• Scramasax
• Bitronconical crossbow arrowheads

Osteoarchaeological Evidence

• Confirms the military function of the necropolis
• A perimortem cut on a left humerus and bone crushing by a blunt force were found on a 9th/10th-century individual
• Bone fracture rates were high
• Four circular intracranial trepanations were recorded

Burial Context

• One grave featured a Roman coin near the right hand and seven TSHT shards near the left elbow
• Five shards from a Hisp. 37t bowl inside that grave
• The small, lathe-turned bowl was without decoration
• Both exterior and interior varnish lost
• This bowl was protected from friction by interior lines

Sealed Archaeological Context

• The bowl serves as the only fully intact piece and is recorded in a chronology date of the 8th century, or 7th century at the earliest.

TSHT Ceramics

• Formal traits of that bowl are shared with TSHT ceramics found onsite thus indicating any special circumstances behind its significance

Military Roman Camps and the Bajoimperial Period

• Material evidence found is important for archaeologists
• It displays camp evidence related to Bajoimperial Roman military
• Military organization was reorganized from the beginning of the 5th century
• The battle of Adrianópolis in 378 was reorganized
• There was a long tradition of internal power struggles
• Increasing power in leadership by aristocracies for personal gain or by religious movements

Shortage of Professional Soldiers and Reduced Payment

• Internal strife caused shortages of professional soldiers and adequate coinage

Desertion

• Some troops left their posts unpaid

Military Defeats

• Were more related to internal conflicts of the empire rather than the barbarian invasions

Internal Depletion

• The Empire exhausted itself which resulted in becoming something new and transformed.

Army Transformation

• There was a transformation of the Roman Empire, especially in the Tarraconense Province during the 5th century
• The problems were in the East which resulted into armies relocating and demobilizing troops.

Smaller Units

• The Romans began using smaller units in campaigns.

Communication

• Those forces made use of their communication with distant outposts.

The Villa Romana in Tarragona

• Transferred to comes hispaniarum Asterio de Tarraco in the 5th century

Late Roman Ceramics

• Archaeologically within Bajoimpacto sites in Iberian Pena
• Several sites with a Roman presence would benefit from closer study
• The uniqueness of the site may have influenced the sorts of materials used and how well the artifact could be found

Late Roman pottery types

• Were found during the four archeological campaigns. With these artifacts, there are common ceramic findings that differ in volume
• Care must be taken statistically when it comes to drawing too many assumptions at this early point

Grey Ceramics

• This part includes the familiar with the Paléochrétiennes and gálica tardía DSP-TSGTg
• As well as late hispanic sigillata TSHTg and its scarce number compared with similar discoveries

The DSP-TSGTg Ceramic

• Correspond to four plate parts comprising of a small portion or 4.48 percent of the fine ceramics

The Different Kinds of Ceramics

• A plate segment lacking luster. It had a thin, stiff and pure gray-colored base

Second Plate Type

• Two plate edges had 32 cm length
• It retained components of the translucent, light gray glaze plus had similar gray colored foundation

Plate Decorations

• Rosacea stamps made of four leaves containing minor circles around the leaves which had designs

Uncommon Punch

• Parallels were located within Gaul

Other Finds

• In Calahorra, other finds had been found

Timeline for Small Assemblies

• Late 4th Century to the 1st third period in the 5th century when it had started productions

TSPH

• The scarce presence comprises 7.81 percentage of total choice ceramics exceeding volume

Decoration of Palmetes

• In astorga there was recurrences sizes

Grey Sigillata Ware

• Good for connecting to work of mesetary territory

Different Fragments Found

• Lacking barniz. Had a gray skin, spongy
• The piece had light clay that was nicely purified

One Final Ceramic

• Gray and white pigment. Thin clay and dark shellac

Production Origins

• The samples discovered for the ceramic may be traced to the La terrain

Orange Sigillata Ware

• Found to be the most frequent materials in most of the late Hispanic settlements- including the Castle of Viguera, the same pattern is here

Limited Artifacts at the Castle

• They were all well demonstrated- a line is drawn in its size as per other locations: with this in similar, finest has an abundance but its number here isnt all that large

Amount Discovered

• 64 fragments reviewed- the grey assortment is 95.52 per cent along the variety

Ceramic Type

• Common- and it would present a surprise for a change.

Traditional Division

• For the manufacture between shaped and decorations

The Attention that’s Drawn

• Inside the amount is a good diverse formal which has lids, plates, cups, lights, as well as cooking jars

The Plain Forms Listed

• It’s frequently noticed- there are parts where it is not clear when it’s been well put together so as to allow the bottoms are at lower capacity

Hisp Ceramics

• Seem little, but it comes out a lot of cooking of the excellent clay quality. Can see in the villa of Rome that the material is close to the ones on Cuba's streets

Palol Form Found

• Fine clay, good quality; plate has a tiny diameter

Types of Hispanic Ceramic

• Seem less useful here

The Limited Quantity of Roman Ware

• Indicates high reuse

Hispanic-Visigothic Ware

• There is cooking pots and the material is used in a variety

The Difference Found

• Between a cooking pot and a vase is to do whether it’s heated with flames and whether something else is included in it

Characteristics

• Most cooking ware are fine and narrow necks. A style is not clear until the study

In summary

• Has high levels of weathering

The 51 ceramic in the region

• Show clay and is attributed

Motifs are from African Ware and Display

• Lucerna is small, shows style with that motif is

High Rate is Difficult

The Majority of Table

• The design is on the surface of the ceramics and has a better quality than the rest of the surface

In Short

• Confirm the local ware in Valencia had an original style
• It’s difficult to see from the ware the amount is high

Shapes are from Viguera