Castro de Mohías

However, its excavation did not begin until 1968 when Jesús Martínez Fernandez, initially in collaboration with Juan Manuel Junceda Avello, then alone, carried out several archaeological campaigns which produced, among other data, the first carbon-14 dating of an Asturian hillfort, the results of which were published in successive articles and books.

From 1971 onwards, the researchers Emilio Olávarri, Francisco Jordá with Javier González-Tablas and Elías Carrocera took over in occasional works without continuity. No excavation work has been carried out since 1989.

The settlement extends over a wide plateau cut out to the north and west by the Jarrio stream. To the south, its most vulnerable flank, the settlement was protected by several lines of ditches, deep trenches carved into the rock, the original dimensions of which can be seen in one of them, and which are easily distinguished by the visitor on the route leading to the inner enclosure. A perimeter wall completed the fortification of the castro.

The excavations have uncovered some 20 constructions within the fortified enclosure, among which we can distinguish buildings of local tradition, characteristic of the Iron Age (curvilinear layout) together with others adapted to construction patterns typical of the Roman period (huts with straight walls and several rooms separated by interior partitions). As a whole, the buildings are arranged in a layout adapted to the defensive belt.

Inside, hearths, mortars made on granite blocks similar to those known in Coaña and abundant ceramic material were discovered, proving the occupation of the settlement during the centuries immediately before and after the change of era. The indigenous pottery from Jesús Martínez's excavations seems to indicate this.

Its occupation lasted from the 1st to the 2nd centuries A.D. and there is no solid evidence of its occupation in early medieval times.