Recent Archaeological Work in Roman Iberia (1990–2002)

Abstract

The Iberian peninsula is a key region that has the potential to transform fundamentally our understanding of the Roman Empire. The longevity of the Roman presence in Iberia, the huge geographical variety of its regions, and the cultural differences between its peoples make it ideal for understanding the genesis, development, and disintegration of the Roman Empire as a whole. The transformation of regional infrastructure in Spain and Portugal during the 1980s and 1990s has generated much new archaeological information. This is particularly true of the major cities, where intensive urban development has greatly enhanced our understanding of their layout and development during the historic periods. In the countryside too, the expansion of the road networks, EU-inspired changes in crop quotas, and the intensification of mechanized farming have all had a major impact and substantially increased the number of known villas and rural settlements.