Punta de Muros y su excepcionalidad en el contexto del Hierro I en el Noroeste peninsular.

Resumo

A great impact on Northwestern Iberian Archaeology was caused when, in 2005, Punta de Muros hillfort (also known as Castro do Cociñadoiro) was excavated. Meant not only for the circumstances of the intervention but also by the results offered. This settlement, located in the Atlantic Coast, shows up, apparently, unusual characteristics for a hillfort of the First Iron Age in the Nor-thwest, based, for example, on his metallurgic production or the size and characteristics of some structures. We should ask ourselves some questions, regarding a settlement apparently new in his context. Is Punta de Mu-ros an exceptional village and (if so) how far we can consider it exceptional? His particularities are just typological or decontextualized matters, or we can find another kind of social organization? How can we understand Punta de Muros in his context and into the historical process of the Northwest? This kind of questions are essential to appraise the exceptionality of this settlement within his historic and archaeological context.Up to this point, our intention is to compose an individualized analysis of the coastal hillfort of Punta de Muros, and to develop a comparative study of some characteristics (urban structuring, domestic architecture, procurement and processing of raw materials, among others) with other known settlements in the First Iron Age of the Northwestern Iberia. Our purpose will be to appraise the possible differences among all First Iron Age villages in order to evaluate the exceptionality of the Castro do Cociñadoiro, and consider if it has some tangible variances compared to the other contemporary communities. This could be a stepping stone for later studies which elucidate the social organization and the strategies of the prehisto-ric societies who inhabited Punta de Muros.