Los Hitos (Arisgotas, Toledo). New data for the interpretation of a prestigious rural settlement of the Visigothic period in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

This paper focuses on the results obtained from fieldwork and excavations carried out at the archaeological site of Los Hitos (Arisgotas, Toledo) from 2014 up to 2020. This work has developed as part of a wider project of multidisciplinary research on the territory of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, which also includes other significant Late Antique places of power within the Iberian Peninsula. The aim is to present the on-going research into this important rural complex that was connected with the Visigothic elites of Toledo, especially the architectural and spatial study of its most representative funerary, ecclesiastical and residential buildings. The multi-disciplinary methodological approach is based on the combination of remote sensing, photogrammetry, the optical macroscopy of mortars, pollen, polarity, hydrology, and archaeomagnetic dating. All these scientific disciplines allow us to reconstruct the natural and cultural landscape of this settlement, and put forward new proposals on the connectivity, organisation, prestigious architecture and functionality of this unique Late Antique architectural complex in the western Mediterranean.