The combination of non-invasive research techniques, such as prospecting or remote sensing, and invasive ones, such as archaeological excavation, have allowed Galicia to expand knowledge about a “very unique” site, the Castro Valente fortified enclosure. Located between the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra, it is an early medieval castle that remains hidden under dense vegetation, and of which a group of archaeologists from the University of Santiago de Compostela have begun to discover the secrets.
At the moment, only the first steps have been taken and, however, those responsible for their study already consider that they are “stimulating enough” to promote subsequent interventions that expand the data collected “in this unique fortified enclosure”, considered one of the one of the largest walled enclosures in Galicia.
All the details they have managed to find out appear in the investigation ‘Looking for an early medieval castle among the vegetation. The case of Castro Valente (Padrón, Galicia)’, the work of Mario Fernández Pereiro and José Carlos Sánchez Pardo, from the research group on cultural forms ‘Sincrisis’ of the University of Santiago de Compostela.
The Castro Valente presents, as a fortified enclosure, some “unique and very interesting characteristics” to study the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the High Middle Ages. This chronological assignment is based on the scarce documented material culture and on the documentation of similar parallels throughout the northwest of the peninsula.
The experts point out “without fear of being wrong” that one of the most studied settlement models in the context of the northwest of the peninsula is the one used by the Galician world, the commonly called castros, which have the particularity of having a defensive system, normally stone , and whose decline began around the turn of the era, with the establishment of the Roman Empire in the northwest of the peninsula.
It is in this transition stage in which this study is located, in the fortified sites framed in this transition from the Roman state to the High Middle Ages, which “resembling hillforts, and, being called hillforts, are not really hillforts from the Age of Galician iron”. Among them, “large and monumental” enclosures stand out, such as Castro Valente, whose first written mentions appear to be from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the oldest being that of Manuel Murguía, husband of the key writer in literature. XIX century, Rosalía de Castro.
Experts warn that this fortified enclosure is threatened by different circumstances. The first, that the summit of Castro Valente was “artificialized” during the construction of the fortified enclosure, and in recent decades it has suffered several cycles of pine planting and the construction of various firebreaks that “alter and destroy” the archaeological site, in addition of the “serious threat” posed by acacia roots.
There are two other possible effects that “may alter the conservation” of the site. The placement of a wind farm with four wind turbines and a substation was recently requested, and the execution project for the Lousame-Tibo electric power transmission line is being processed, which provides for the placement of six towers on the slopes.
In addition, they warn that natural erosion, together with the historical reuse of construction materials and the current lack of intensive care by the administrations and the local community, “also seriously affect the conservation” of the site.
A LIDAR flight by drone of the entire extension of the enhanced site in 2021 has made it possible to “perfectly” appreciate the extension and layout of the wall. It is a “monumental wall line” with a perimeter of more than 1,200 meters that was, according to historical descriptions, crowned with up to 30 cubes or towers. The best-preserved area today is located on the northwest side, although “dense acacia vegetation covers the layout of the walled enclosure.” In other parts of the enclosure it is also possible to locate evidence of the layout, although its conservation is not comparable.
During the surface prospecting of the site, up to six well-preserved cubes were located in the northwest area of ??the wall, among the dense vegetation. In the eastern and northern sectors of the enclosure, several accumulations of stone construction material were recorded that could indicate the possibility of the existence of more cubes or towers in this area, but the destruction caused by the firebreak tracks meant that hardly a trace of them remains.
The state of conservation and the vegetation make it very difficult to identify elements such as “some doors” referred to by Murguía in his studies, and it is only possible to locate and document in situ what is considered the main access to the place. The other two accesses, of minor importance, are located in opposite places in the enclosure. One was identified thanks to aerial remote sensing and access is complicated by the dense vegetation in the surroundings. The other seems to be located in an area heavily affected by a fire road, and identifiable by the existence of a possible tower that would defend this access.
Due to the dense vegetation, the experts point out that it is “difficult to locate architectural evidence” inside the enclosure, although some elevations can be seen on the ground that may indicate wall structures, although an archaeological excavation is necessary to verify this hypothesis.
In December 2020, a brief archaeological-logical excavation campaign was carried out to assess the potential of the Castro Valente fortified enclosure. Three valuation surveys were carried out in the northwest area of ??the fortified enclosure, two along the wall line and one towards the interior of the enclosure. In one of them, the very conservation of the faces of the wall, together with the continuous infiltration of water through the profiles of the survey, “raised fears for the physical integrity of both the excavation team and the wall itself.” Therefore, it was not possible to conclude it.
The archaeological dig, though brief, provided “much interesting data.” It has made it possible to carry out a partial documentation of the typology and construction technique of the defensive system of the walled enclosure, which is preserved in very good condition in the northwest area of ??the site, in the environment where the archaeological intervention was carried out. This technique focuses on the use of granite masonry, combining different sizes, arranged in regular courses.
The partial excavation of one of the towers attached to the wall seems to these specialists “a novelty in itself”, since it allowed documenting one of the 30 cubes mentioned through historical sources. This type of structure attached to the wall “is a rare sight in the fortifications of the peninsular northwest”, with the exception of some such as those documented in Castro Ventosa or the walls of Lugo, Braga or Astorga.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
