Culture

La Espina del Gallego archaeological site

Along the peaks of the Sierra del Escudo mountain range, on the border between the Pas and Besaya valleys, there are several archaeological sites of great historical importance: La Espina del Gallego, Cildá, El Cantón and Campo de Las Cercas. These sites, located on a route that climbs from the summit of La Espina del Gallego to Mount Cildá, the highest peak in the municipality, preserve the remains of Cantabrian forts and Roman fortifications linked to the Cantabrian Wars, which took place between 29 -19 BC, a key chapter in the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

The pre-Roman fort or castro of La Espina del Gallego, with an irregular ground plan, stands out for its strategic location, from where it visually dominated at least nine castle enclosures in the Regio Cantabrorum. Surrounded by three defensive lines with ramparts, gates, ramps and a possible moat, it housed dwellings within. After being besieged and captured by the Romans, the castro was fortified with structures such as a 100-metre-long military barracks, evidence of its Roman occupation.

The Roman camp at Cildá is one of the largest and best preserved of its kind. It covers some 22 to 25 hectares and is perfectly adapted to the topography of the mountain. Its defences, consisting of earthen ramparts and ditches, protected a complex system of cobbled roads, such as the via praetoria and via principalis, as well as the barracks and other structures. This enclave reflects the magnitude of the Roman effort to subdue the Cantabrians.

El Cantón is another Roman camp of smaller size, approximately 1 ha, with a circular ground plan, a small moat and an earth and stone embankment, accessible through two elbow-shaped gates.

Finally, El Campo de Las Cercas is home to another important Roman camp, rectangular in shape, made up of two large adjoining enclosures, each of about 18 ha, protected by entrenchments and moats.

The sites have revealed a rich assemblage of artefacts, mainly of a military nature such as a legionary's pilum as well as catapults, glandes for slingshots, studs, rivets and regatons. Coins, cameos, various pieces of pottery and a unique Roman entalle, an engraved orange semi-precious stone, used as a seal on rings by persons of high rank, have also been found. These artefacts, witnesses to the daily life and warfare of the period, offer a window into the past of the Sierra del Escudo.