Spring Equinox 2012

Castro Landin

We took a drive out into the Galician countryside on an unseasonably hot and sunny day, the Spanish wing of our ever expanding team now with another new member: Loreto's Mum. I don't think she knew that this day-trip was part of our Soltice-Equinox expeditions, because we'd invited her along for a picnic. She waited with Malusa under the shade of some enormous pine trees while Loreto and I looked around, then later, she went with Loreto while I took a siesta with Malusa.

It occured to me that many of these places, be they monoliths, dolmens, or Celtic villages, are usually quite close to pine trees. As we sat under the trees, I realised that people had been sitting under trees on this spot for literally thousands of years.

The castro itself is particularly unusual. While the circular stone houses cluster together in places in the typical honey-comb effect, some are further spread apart, and one is square (see picture)! It must have stuck out like a sore thumb (or a square peg in a round hole!), and the write-up explained that it must have been inspired by Roman building techniques - archeological evidence showing that it had been built after the Romans had settled in the area.

I think that archeologists have quite a blood-thirsty view of history, and it occured to me that these hill-top living, pine-tree shaded peoples may have been more assimilated than overthrown. There is never any evidence at these castros that suggests an invasion, and as the square castro suggests, maybe they traded with the new settlers, influencing each other until the two were close enough to merge into one - the Galician that we know today.

Vic