La_Hoya,_Alava
La Hoya, Álava
Archaeological site in the Basque Country, Spain
La Hoya is an important archaeological site of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Laguardia, Álava, Basque Country, Spain.[3] The fortified town was inhabited between the 12th and 3rd centuries BCE. It has three levels:[4]
- Middle-Late Bronze Age: in this early period, the fortifications, as well the houses, were all made of wood.
- Early-Middle Iron Age: construction became more complex using mixed formulas with stone, wood and adobe. Most houses were near the wall in this period.
- The Late Iron Age, with a cultural context that some classify as Celtiberian, shows important changes in urbanization: with paved streets and plazas that form a reticular structure. The wall is also rebuilt on stone. This final period also shows great advancement in the technologies: potter's wheel, elaborated blacksmithing, etc.
The successive layers of rubble, that served as cementations for further edification, make up a small tell 3 meters high.[citation needed]
The town was destroyed violently between 350 and 200 BCE, leaving the remains of the people and their everyday items in the streets.[5]