ULLASTRET

Archaeological excavations at Ullastret have revealed most of what we know about the ancient Iberian culture, which thrived here between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. It developed in the late Bronze Age as a result of contact between early Greek settlers and native populations, and is considered to be the first indigenous culture of modern Spain. The Iberians were the first Spanish people to develop a written language; they learnt pottery and metallurgy, and established towns and trading centres.

The Iberian settlement at Ullastret is the largest yet discovered in Catalonia. This fortified village was built on what was, at that time, an island on a marshy lake, but is now at the centre of a fertile plain of olive and almond groves. Parts of the walls and the defensive towers remain, together with public buildings including cisterns, grain stores and a pair of temples to an unknown god. Most of the remains date from around the 3rd century BC; they were probably built over the foundations of earlier houses. The village was abandoned in the 2nd century BC, following the Roman occupation of Empuries  and was deserted until excavations began in 1947.

A museum in the former chapel of Sant Andreu interprets the remains and contains finds from the excavations. There is a model of the site, and the displays describe the Iberian lifestyle (hunting, fishing, quarrying, metalwork), the development of money and of trading with the Greeks, the mysterious language which has still not been deciphered, and the rituals of cremation and child burial, which hint at the possibility of child sacrifice.