Coll del moro (Gandesa, tarragona) and its territorial context: Formation and development of a protohistoric urban settlement

Abstract

Research carried out between 2014 and 2019 on this im-portant site, strategically located between the basins of the Ebro and Matarraña rivers, combined extensive excavation, intensive survey of the settlement and its immediate surroundings, inter- disciplinary analysis, and a review of previous works. The results throw new light on the evolution of the settlement between the Early Iron Age and the Early Empire. Its initial extension must have been reduced, and aimed to control the territory from a large tower, while in the 3rd century BC the settlement reached its maximum surface (3 ha) and a large aristocratic mansion was erected. This evolution reflects the stratification and urban-isation processes of the Iberian society in the area, which would be truncated by the Roman conquest. In the Roman Republican era, a fortified building was built that recovered the site’s func-tion as a control point; this would be sporadically occupied during the early Roman Empire.