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The Vettones were a pre-Roman people of Celtic tradition who inhabited much of the western Meseta during the Iron Age. They built fortified settlements in strategic locations, protected by walls and commanding wide views across the surrounding land. Their world is symbolised by the famous stone verracos—bulls, pigs, and wild boar—probably associated with livestock, grazing grounds, and the identity of their communities. On the southern slopes of Gredos, the hillfort of El Raso overlooked the Tiétar Valley and the routes leading towards the mountain pastures. It was occupied mainly between the late third and first centuries BC, eventually becoming a major settlement defended by a wall around two kilometres long, reinforced with towers, bastions, and a ditch. Walking through its ruins today, it is still possible to imagine its irregular streets, the houses clustered along the hillside, and the life of a community that looked out over the same horizon.
Vetton subsistence combined agriculture, the use of wild resources, and, above all, livestock farming. Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses provided food, hides, labour, and wealth. In a rugged landscape like El Raso, goats could make use of pastures, shrublands, and slopes inaccessible to other animals. Herding thus connected the settlement with the mountains. The animal remains studied at the site show a clear predominance of domestic species, especially goats. The hillfort was therefore not a fortress isolated from nature. Its inhabitants depended deeply on the mountain and, at the same time, transformed it through fire, cultivation, and the constant movement of their animals. This relationship between people, livestock, and landscape is one of the threads that Northgrippian Park invites us to follow into the present day.
Once you have finished visiting the Vetton hillfort, the route does not continue along the forest track used by vehicles. The path leading directly to the Shepherds' dwelling begins at the upper section of the wall, beside the defensive tower known as El Castillo.
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