In 1868, a hunter discovered one of the best surviving examples of pre historic Iberian life in the cave walls of Altamira near Santander. Bison, wild boar, horses and anthropomorphic figures were painted on the walls, dating to the Magdelanian period, around 15,000-9,000 BC. Other proof of a Paleolithic hunting culture can be seen in Cuevas de Nerja (Andalucia). By 6,000 BC the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula were farming and practicing animal husbandry. The first megalithic stone monuments were made around 3,500 BC. The best example of this sort of monument can be found at Antequera. By the end of the Bronze Age, excavated tombs indicate that there were periodic invasions with a new breed of settlers.
Inhabitants
Many peoples have inhabited the Iberian Peninsula before the Romans. Celts and Iberians inhabited the inner sides of the peninsula, while Greeks and Phoenicians inhabited the Mediterranean coast. Excavations confirm that the Phoenicians settled in southern Spain after 800 BC. They were excavating the mineral wealth, mainly silver and gold, from Río Tinto. Salted fish, dyes, and textiles were also produced. Phoenician settlements are known from Morro de Mezquitilla, Toscanos, and Guadalhorce, and shrines from Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar and the Temple of Melqart on the island of Sancti Petri near Cádiz. In the 4th century BC, the colonies of Abdera (Adra), Baria (Villaricos), Carmona (Carmo), Gadir (Cádiz), Malaca (Málaga), and Sexi (Almuñécar) thrived under the trading system established by Carthage for the central and western Mediterranean. Eivissa (Ibiza) became a major Carthaginian colony, and the island produced dye, salt, fish sauce, and wool. In 237 BC, shortly after its’ defeat in the First Punic War, Carthage launched its conquest of southern Spain under Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal’s father, and founded a new capital at Cartago Nova in 228 BC.
According to Herodotus, the first Greeks on the Iberian Peninsula were colonists from Phocea that arrived at the city of Tartessus. They formed a friendship with King Arganthonius, who invited them to settle in his kingdom. This is the beginning of the Greek settlement in Iberia. The first Greek artifacts discovered in the Iberian Peninsula were found in the Huelva area. Pottery collections dating from the 8th century BC were uncovered there. The first Greek colony in the peninsula is Rhodas. The settlers probably originated from the isle of Rhodes, but some think they came from the Greek colony of Massilia. South of Rhodas was the colony of Emporion (todays Emporia), and Strabo mentions two more colonies south from Emporion, Alonis and Akra Leuke, which the Romans called Lucentum (Alicante).
The Iberians exact origin and language is unknown. Archeological excavations and pottery discovered, show a great influence by the Greeks and the Phoenicians. The power was in the hands of the kings and local nobility that merged into the Phoenician and Carthaginian nobility, through arranged marriages.
The western and northern parts of the peninsula were inhabited by Celts. People here lived in small villages or in fortified compounds called castros. This people spoke Indo-European languages (Celtic); but were divided culturally and politically into dozens of independent tribes. Celts who lived in the central highlands and who were in direct contact with the Iberians, adopted many Iberian cultural fashions, like wheel-made pottery and rough stone sculptures of pigs and bulls.
Roman conquest
The Roman victory over the Carthaginians at Ilipa in 206 BC, and Zama in 202 BC, effectively marked the beginning of Roman Hispania (Latin name for the Iberian Peninsula).They are the first to unite the peninsula, which they governed as three territories: Baetica-modern day Andalucia, Lusitania- modern day Galicia and Portugal, and Tarraconensis- the remaining land to the east. In the next 600 years, the Romans would transform the land of the Iberian Peninsula into a flourishing civilization. Roads, aqueducts, theatres, circuses and temples were built. The aqueduct in Segovia still stands today. In the late Roman era, the Iberian Peninsula has been Christianized. Later, the Romans were overrun by the Visigoths, ending Roman rule over the Iberian Peninsula.
