Un singular ambiente domestico del Hierro I en el interior de la peninsula iberica: la casa 1 del Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca, Espana)

The excavations undertaken at the Early Iron Age vil-lage of Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca) revealed an infor-mal aggregate of dwellings and ancillary buildings of adobe which matches the cross-cultural spatial pattern for patrilo-cal practices. The paper focuses on house 1 and its adjoin-ing middens. This dwelling was exceptional due to its long and stable biography, its clay furniture -with two benches for 20 people and a hearth in the shape of an oxhide- and ritualized abandonment using an intense conflagration dated to 650-575 BC and its filling with adobes. The excavations revealed an unusual concentration of querns and fine local hand-made pottery. The excavations recovered implements used for specialized and high-quality crafts, such as pottery-making and weaving, as well as a set of finds unprecedented in the interior of Iberia stands out: exotic faience beads and tableware from the eastern Mediterranean, Phoenician red slip ceramics, and liturgical terracotta items with Tartes-sian and Mediterranean parallels. All these findings suggest that house 1 was the gathering hall of an extended corporate group where intense social activities -hosting banquets and transactions with guests- took place and where such star-tling artefacts ended up.

Automated summary

The excavations at the Early Iron Age village of Cerro de San Vicente in Salamanca revealed a cluster of adobe dwellings and ancillary buildings, with a focus on house 1. This exceptional dwelling had a long and stable history, with unique clay furniture and ritualized abandonment. Excavations also uncovered a concentration of querns, fine pottery, and artifacts from the eastern Mediterranean, suggesting that house 1 was a gathering hall for social activities and the exchange of goods.