Iberian and Roman settlement in Eastern Sierra Morena: Burgalimar castle (Baños de la Encina, Jaén)

The main objective of this paper is to present a first analysis of the archaeological remains of the Iberian –Middle and Late Iberian– and Roman –High imperial period– phases documented during the archaeological excavation that took place between 2007 and 2008 in the medieval castle of Burgalimar (Baños de la Encina, Jaén). These are the only remains documented within the mining area of the Rumblar –Eastern Sierra Morena– that belong to the Pre-roman period, where, on the other hand, a strong occupancy has been documented earlier, during the Bronze Age, and later, during the Roman period. Therefore, this study is important for proposing the first hypothesis about the function and type of this settlement, as well as for understanding, from a diachronic point of view, the urban development of this region, which is linked to the largest oppida in the Upper Guadalquivir Valley –Castulo, Isturgi or Cantigi–.