Iberian Peninsula

Lore & Background

The Iberian Peninsula has always been associated with the River Ebro (Ibēros in ancient Greek and Ibērus or Hibērus in Latin). The word Iberia comes from the Latin word originating from the Ancient Greek word, used by Greek geographers under the rule of the Roman Empire to refer to what is known today in English as the Iberian Peninsula. At that time, the name did not describe a single geographical entity or a distinct population; the same name was used for the Kingdom of Iberia, natively known as Kartli in the Caucasus.

It was Strabo who first reported the delineation of Iberia from Gaul by the Pyrenees and included the entire land mass southwest from there. Hecataeus of Miletus was the first known to use the term Iberia. The modern phrase 'Iberian Peninsula' was coined by the French geographer Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent on his 1823 work 'Guide du Voyageur en Espagne'. Prior to that date, geographers had used the terms 'Spanish Peninsula' or 'Pyrenaean Peninsula'.

Reader's Guide

The Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited by members of the Homo genus for at least 1.2 million years as remains found in the sites in the Atapuerca Mountains demonstrate. Among these sites is the cave of Gran Dolina, where six hominin skeletons, dated between 780,000 and one million years ago, were found in 1994. Experts have debated whether these skeletons belong to the species Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, or a new species called Homo antecessor.

Around 200,000 BP, during the Lower Paleolithic period, Neanderthals first entered the Iberian Peninsula. Around 70,000 BP, during the Middle Paleolithic period, the last glacial event began and the Neanderthal Mousterian culture was established. Around 37,000 BP, during the Upper Paleolithic, the Neanderthal Châtelperronian cultural period began. About 40,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans entered the Iberian Peninsula from across the Pyrenees.

During the Neolithic expansion, various megalithic cultures developed. In the Chalcolithic (3000 BCE), a series of complex cultures developed that would give rise to the peninsula's first civilizations. The Bronze Age began on the Iberian Peninsula in 2100 cal. BC according to radiocarbon datings of several key sites.