How Deep in Time and Far in Space: Multiproxy Geophysical, Coring and Geochemical Prospection of an (Not Only) Iron Age Village (Ebro Valley, Navarre)

Abstract

The archaeological research carried out at Irulegi, a hilltop site on the namesake mountain (Aranguren Valley, Navarre, Spain), has revealed one of the most important examples of fortified protohistoric settlements in the western Pyrenees, characterized by its long evolution and the exceptional preservation of its remains. This site has been systematically explored using a range of methods, both geophysical and direct, including GPR, ERT and magnetic prospection, geoarchaeological coring, chemostratigraphic analysis and verification test pits, which have finally indicated the most suitable areas for excavations. The surveys carried out suggest that the settlement was initially established for defensive purposes and to exert control over the surrounding territory during the Middle to Late Bronze Age, approximately between the 15th and 11th centuries bc. The site remained occupied throughout the Iron Age until the first third of the 1st century bc, when it was abandoned following an assault by Roman forces in the context of the Sertorian Wars. The continuity of the archaeological record observed in the direct prospection, coupled with the remarkable quality and preservation of the architectural and archaeological evidence observed in the geophysical survey, outlines Irulegi as a key site for understanding the socioeconomic development of protohistoric populations in this region and could also offer insights applicable to other fortified Iron Age settlements in this or other regions of southwestern Europe.