Pre-Roman Portugal

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Pre-Roman Portugal.

Iron Age

• 10th Century BC
  • First contacts between Phoenicians and Iberia (along the Mediterranean coast).
  • Development of Tartessos, the first Iberia State mentioned in writing sources. Tartessos was a centralized Monarchy brought about under Phoenician influence and maintained commercial relations with the area of modern Algarve, inhabited by the Cynetes or Cunetes, and Portuguese Estremadura.
  • Emergence of towns and cities in the southern littoral areas of western Iberia.
• 9th Century BC
  • Foundation of the Phoenician (from the city-state of Tyre (Lebanon)) colony of Carthage (in North Africa).
  • Foundation of the Phoenician colony of Gadir (modern Cádiz) near Tartessos. Contrary to myth, there is no record of Phoenician colonies west of the Strait of Gibraltar, even though there might have been some voyages of discovery. Phoenician influence in what is now Portuguese territory was through cultural and commercial exchange with Tartessos.
  • Phoenicians introduce in Iberia the use of Iron, of the Potter's wheel, the production of Olive oil and Wine. They were also responsible for the first forms of Iberian writing, had big religious influence and accelerated urban development.
  • There are organized settlements in Olissipona (modern Lisbon, in Portuguese Estremadura) with clear Mediterranean influences. The myth of a Phoenician foundation of the city as far back as 1300 BC, under the name Alis Ubbo ("Safe Harbour") is unreal
• 8th Century BC - Strong Phoenician influence in the city of Balsa (modern Tavira in the Algarve).
• 7th Century BC
  • Strong Tartessian influence in the area of modern Algarve.
  • Second wave of Indo-European (Celts of the Hallstatt culture?) migration into Portuguese territory.
• 6th Century BC
  • Decadence of Phoenician colonization of the Mediterranean coast of Iberia. Many of the colonies are deserted.
  • Fall of Tartessos.
  • Beginning of Greek settlement in the Iberian peninsula, namely in the eastern Mediterranean shore (modern Catalonia). There are no Greek colonies west of the Strait of Gibraltar, only voyages of discovery. The myth of an ancient Greek founding of Olissipo (modern Lisbon) by Ulysses is unreal.
  • Rise of the colonial might of Carthage, which slowly replaces the Phoenician in its former areas of dominion.
  • Phoenician influenced Tavira is destroyed by violence.
  • Cultural shift in southern Portuguese territory after the fall of Tartessos, with a strong Mediterranean character that prolonges and modifies Tartessian culture. This occurs mainly in Low Alentejo and the Algarve, but has littoral extensions up to the Tagus mouth (namely the important city of Bevipo, modern Alcácer do Sal).
  • First form of writing in western Iberia (south of Portugal), the Southwest script (still to be translated), denotes strong Tartessian influence in its use of a modified Phoenician alphabet. In this writings the word Conii (similar to Cunetes or Cynetes, the people of the Algarve) appears frequently.
  • The poem Ora Maritima, written by Avienus in the 4th century and based on the Massaliote Periplus of the 6th Century BC, states that all of western Iberia was once called for the name of its people, the Oestriminis, which were replaced by an invasion of the Saephe or Ophis (meaning Serpent). From then on western Iberia would have been know as Ophiussa (Land of the Serpents). The poem probably translates the impact of the Second wave of Indo-European migrations (Celtic) in the 7th Century BC. The poem also describes the various ethnic groups the present at that time:
    • The Saephe or Ophis, today seen as probably Hallstatt culture Celts, in all of western Iberia (modern Portugal) between the Douro and the Sado rivers.
    • The Cempsi, probably Hallstatt culture Celts, in the Tagus mouth and the south up to the Algarve.
    • The Cynetes or Cunetes in the extreme south and some cities along the Atlantic coast (such as Olissipo, modern Lisbon), probably not Indo-European, but autochthonous Iberian (even if strongly or totally celticized over the next centuries).
    • The Dragani, Celt or Proto-Celt of the first Indo-European wave, in the mountainous areas of Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Cantabria.
    • The Lusis, probably a first reference to the Lusitanians, similar to the Dragani (Celt or Proto-Celt of the first Indo-European wave).
• 5th Century BC
  • Further development of strong Central European (Celtic) influences and migrations in western Iberia north of the Tagus river.
  • Development of a 2nd Castro Village culture in Galicia and northern Portugal.
  • First mint of coins and use of money in the Iberian peninsula.
  • Discovery voyages to the Atlantic by the Carthaginians.
  • The Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus cites the word Iberia to designate what is now the Iberian peninsula, according to ancient Greek costume.
  • Urban bloom of Tartessian influenced Tavira.
• 4th Century BC
  • The Celtici, a new wave of Celtic migration (of the La Tène culture), enter deeply into Portuguese territory and settle in the Alentejo also penetrating in the Algarve.
  • The Turduli and Turdetani, probably descendants of the Tartessians, are established in the area of the Guadiana river, in the south of modern Portugal.
  • A series of cities in the Algarve, such as Balsa (Tavira), Baesuris (Castro Marim), Ossonoba(Faro) and Cilpes (Silves), are inhabited by the Cynetes or Cunetes progressively mingled with Celtic populations.
  • The Lusitanians (mosyt probably proto-Celt) inhabit the area between the Douro and the Tagus rivers (and progressively penetrate the High Alentejo). They are neighbored to the east by the Vettones (also probably proto-Celt).
  • The Celtic Calaicians or Gallaeci inhabit all the region above the Douro river (modern Galicia and northern Portugal).
  • Rome begins to rise as a Mediterranean power rival to Carthage.
• 3rd Century BC
  • The First Punic War (264 BC-241 BC) between Rome and Carthage. Roman victory.

See also

• Timeline of Portuguese history

External links

• Detailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)

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