Abstract:

The available archaeological documentation on the lower reaches of the Ebro indicates that the Iberian population between the 5th and the 3rd centuries BC was distributed homogenously in small fortified habitats that were all similar in terms of size, location, urban planning and defensive systems. These features were different to those that characterised the contemporary settlement patterns of the bordering areas, suggesting that it was a territory with a certain sociopolitical significance, the Ilercavonia of the Ebro. This type of habitat is beginning to become relatively well known thanks to the work currently being undertaken at various archaeological sites. On the other hand, we do not know if there were other types of occupation, especially on the alluvial plain, particularly all those archaeological sites related to specific productive functions: farming, stockbreeding, potteries, etc. Neither do we know how this population structure came about, as in the archaeological documentation there is normally a certain discontinuity between the Early and Middle Iberian periods. The new discoveries from the 6th century BC at the archaeological sites of L’Assut (Tivenys) and Sebes (Flix) significantly increase the available information and open the way to new hypotheses.