Celtiberia histórica | Living Show | Alto Chacón (Teruel)

How do you get to Alto Chacon?

From Teruel, you have to go toward West, crossing the Puente Nuevo on the Guadalaviar River turn in right angle, cross the Barrio de Jorgito and continue along the road for about 200km, in the end you have to take the road on the right and arrive at the site (it is signposted).

General characteristics

It has a plan of triangular tendency of about 110x25m that represents a surface of 9,600m. It has good natural defences in its Northern and Western sides and a powerful artificial wall city in its Southern side that is the more accessible..

The wall city

The wall city that protects the Southern side is constituted by ashlars of big dimensions alternating with mortars of lower size.

The moat

The wall city has in front to reinforce its defence a big moat with a width of 25m. Moreover its quarry excavation was useful for the building of the defensive city wall.

The inner space

The surface excavated up to now is approximately the eighth part of the village.

It can be seen a town planning of narrow paving streets and housings of rectangular plan leant one against other and disposed with order on the sides of the streets. One of these houses has an oven of iron smelting and it stands out also the building of monumental character existing with the entry.

Chronology

This Celtiberian village with its wall city and moat dated from 3rd and 1st century BC., but the found archaeological ruins show a wide chronology from the 4th century BC., with the extension of occupation out of the city walls.

Limit between Celtiberians and Iberians

This site with the Sanctuary of Peñalba de Villastar located to about 8km of distance toward the South pose the difficulty to establish limits between Celtiberians and Iberians, since in the High Chacon the three found documents with inscription are written in Iberian whereas in the stack of the Sanctuary of Peñalba there are Celtiberian, Latin and Iberian texts. All that would be a proof of its situation in border zone where the contacts and relationships thin the linguistic specificity.