logob


The economy of the Gallaeci


The main economic base for the inhabitants of Castro de Troña was the exploitation of the natural resources that they had at their disposal. The choice of a hill, with great visual dominion over the environment, complied with a defensive and strategic need: to monitor the nearby settlements and the transit of goods and people through the valley, but also to control from a dominant position all of the surrounding territory that contributes to the community and the key resources for their subsistence: land, fishing and livestock.
The importance of agriculture in this fortified village is also evident due to the appearance of sharpening stones, designed to sharpen the metallic tools of the Gallaeci, basically that of common agricultural use (knives, spearheads, sickles) but also for military use (arrowheads, swords, daggers), restricted to social elites.



Quern stones

The appearance of stone mortars, especially of a large number of circular quern stones inside the huts of Troña, show that the milling of acorns and cereals (wheat, barley and small corn) was the main source of food for these men and women.

Ballast weights


At the coastal forts, but also in those located in the interior of the river valleys, material evidence of the practice of fishing by the Gallaeci was documented. Remains of fish bones, metallic hooks and ballast weights show that fishing was part of the habitual diet of its inhabitants.

In Troña a good number of cut weights were found, which were probably used as ballast weights or hooks for fishing in the Tea River. They could also be used as loom weights in the context of making domestic handicrafts, although the appearance of ceramic loom weights would make this interpretation less plausible. It was small granite or quartzite of elongated shape (between 6 and 8 cm) that was manually bent at medium height, mainly on the smaller sides, in order to favour the tying of ropes made from plants such as hemp or the esparto straw.