Within Spanish historiography there is a permanent debate, which divides historians into two antagonistic groups. On the one hand, those who defend the supposed Hispanic reconquest on the Muslims and, on the other hand, those who support the thesis that there was no reconquest. For the latter, a Muslim conquest was followed by a conquest by the new Christian kingdoms in the north of the peninsula. If anyone is interested in my humble opinion on the subject, you can read it in this article:conquer-or-reconquer
The mysterious Don Pelayo
If there is a key character in this story, it is Don Pelayo , the hero who defended the mountains of Covadonga from the Muslims, hence the crux of the matter is the origin of the brave defender. Not because we are only interested in its origin, but because if we knew that origin, we would know if the Kingdom of Asturias is a continuation of the Visigothic Kingdom, or a political entity independent of it.
Statue of Don Pelayo in Gijón
Those who defend the first position, among them the historian Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz , are based on the chroniclers of the Asturian king Alfonso III (866-910). Said king, more than a century and a half after the events of Covadonga, seeks to legitimize the war against the Muslims by proclaiming that Don Pelayo was a Gothic count, who after the Guadalete disaster in 711 took refuge in Asturias to restore the Visigothic monarchy of Toledo.
At the other extreme we find the historians Abilio Barbero and Marcelo Vigil , which in the 60s of the 20th century brought to light a work that demolished the supposed "reconquest" that was taught in all schools in Spain. For them, the Asturian territories had been barely romanized and the Visigoth kingdom of Toledo never managed to integrate them into its political structure. The conquest of the Arab territories was carried out by a new military force based on the "pre-feudal" current that ran through Europe, and that in the north of the peninsula emerged directly from the pre-Roman peoples.
Currently we are working mainly to unify both positions, understanding that in a middle ground we will find virtue. About Don Pelayo, note that his name was Roman, not German, and the Arabs themselves called him "Pelayo the Roman." That is to say that he most likely descended from some late Roman family. In short, all the archaeological finds in Asturias point to more than a notable romanization of the territory, calling into question the positions of the Barbero-Vigil tandem.
What is not so clear is that the territory where the Kingdom of Astur emerged was under the political umbrella of the Visigoth kingdom of Toledo, an issue that calls into question the Visigoth reconquest. After the fall of the imperial apparatus, the Astur-Roman lords took economic control of the territory in question. There are no sources that attest to the Visigothic presence in present-day Asturias, neither archaeological, nor records in the churches, nor Visigothic burials.
On the other hand, there were several Visigothic kings who carried out military campaigns against the peoples of the north, including the one that concerns us, the Roman Astur. The first of them, Leovigildo (568-586), who prior to the conquest of the Suebian Kingdom located in Gallaecia, he attacked and conquered Peña Amaya, a very important enclave in the south of the Cantabrian Mountains, which exercised military control of the Castilian plateau. He also fought in those territories Sisebuto (612-621), at least that is what it seems after the discovery of coins minted in a mint located in the current west of Asturias, and that must have served to finance the military enterprise. Lastly, Wamba (672-680), who entered Cantabria to eradicate the revolts of these towns located on the other side of the Cantabrian Mountains. That is to say, it seems difficult to think that the Visigothic Kingdom exercised a clear power beyond the mountains, where Christianity was protected in the Iberian Peninsula, after the arrival of the contingents that professed the Islamic faith.
Homon of Faro.
As my friend Lunar Angel says; "If stones could talk..." surely in this place they would tell us the best kept secret about the origin of the Kingdom of Asturias.
We moved to the interior of Asturias, specifically to a range of mountains located between the municipalities of Ujo and Aller. There, in the 19th century, the remains of three Roman camps were discovered, located at strategic points on the Carisa Roman road. The oldest of the three was baptized in the name of Roman camp of Mount Curriechos , had about 8 ha and could have served as a refuge for the Legio V Alaudae. What caught our attention the most was its altitude, 1727 m above sea level. n. m., undoubtedly one of the highest in Europe. Another aspect that attracted the interest of the archaeologists Tuñón and Quirós was a large ditch excavated near the camp that offered an external defensive system.
Snowfall covers the remains of the Carisa Roman Camp
Excavations in the area were not resumed until the beginning of the 21st century, by a team led by archaeologists Jorge Camino, Rogelio Estrada and Yolanda Viniegra.
The unique exterior defensive moat soon caught their attention, and they subsequently undertook a series of excavations to find answers to this construction. The surprises increased with them. The remains of a first wall about 4 m high were found, excavated directly on the stone, and on top of it, after a wide berm, a second wall 6.50 m wide was erected, made up of two masonry walls covered with mud. and filled with a large amount of rubble. The construction must have had great consistency due to the discovery of deep foundations.
On the other side of the Via Romana de la Carisa, in the area known as Busián, the archaeologists found another wall, which had major constructive differences with the first. It was raised on the mountain, in such a way that the remains of its collapse were scattered along its slope, the large number of these make us think that said wall could have been up to three stories high. Its thickness in the lower part is more than a meter, and it was made with rigging and mortar. At one of its ends, the remains of a quadrangular base of about 7 m on each side were found, which possibly joined both constructions in the lower area of the mountain. Therefore, it must have been a kind of defensive tower. For the rest, no material remains were found to help date the constructions, the most outstanding were more than a hundred rounded pebbles, which in all probability were used as projectiles.
Remains of the Busián tower, in the background the Homón de Faro ridge.
All the remains found led the archaeologists of Homón de Faro to recall a study carried out in 1949 by J. Uria Riu in the mountain range of La Mesa, located between the municipalities of Somiedo and Teverga, just 30 km to the west. In 2004, a few months after the aforementioned excavations, our protagonists moved to the Camino Real de la Mesa, which passes through another ancient Roman road. There they verified that the constructions studied by J. Uría Riu were very similar to those found in Homón de Faro.
Dating of Homón de Faro.
It was evident that all these constructions were not erected by the Romans, and all the data pointed, logically, to a powerful pre-Roman people of the Asturians, who sold their defeat before the hosts of Emperor Augustus. But the dating gave a new turn to the investigations.
Dating the archaeological remains of Homón de Faro was not easy, we have already commented that what archaeologists call a "director fossil" were not found, that is, material remains, for example, objects, which can be assigned to a specific period. The best solution was C14 dating. Although it was not without problems due to the minuscule organic particles obtained, the result was highly reliable.
The dating was as reliable as it was surprising, since it gave a range between the middle of the seventh century and the beginning of the eighth, both of our era. In other words, more than 700 years after the Romans conquered the north of the Peninsula, these stones became first-hand spectators of the birth of the Kingdom of Asturias.
Who built the walls of Homón de Faro?
This is the key question to obtain convincing data on the origin of the Kingdom of Asturias. The walls of Homón de Faro and its sisters in La Mesa were built by a political organization of a certain entity , is not understood in any other way, since the construction of these defensive systems was thanks to the mobilization of a large amount of resources, both personal and economic. If we take a look at the historical events of that period, we find that only two political entities were able to undertake these constructions. Either of the two options would shed a ray of light to the investigations on the origin of the Kingdom of Asturias, and therefore it would partially clarify the discussion among historians regarding the "Reconquest".
The truth is that the walls were built to defend the old Roman passes from the arrival of an army from the south, with the intention of penetrating into the heart of present-day Asturias.
If they were erected before the Muslim conquest of the Peninsula (711), the only option is that their builders were Roman Asturian landowners in order to defend themselves against the Visigothic Kingdom, in In this aspect we can remember the military campaigns of King Wamba between the years 672-680. If so, we would find a Kingdom of Asturias that would sink its roots beyond the year 711, the date on which its origin is revealed, therefore, the defense of the "Reconquest" would be seriously questioned.
The other option is that it was built after said year 711, after the arrival of the Visigoths fleeing the defeat of Guadalete. These would unite in some way with the Asturian Roman nobles of the area to face the common enemy that crossed the Iberian Peninsula, from North Africa. This fact would give greater credibility to those who support that the Kingdom of Asturias is of Visigothic origin and therefore the "Reconquest" would be more justified.
As a conclusion.
Once again we lovers of history collide with reality. Since the excavations at the beginning of the 21st century, no archaeological campaign has been carried out in Homón de Faro. Considering the importance that what happened during its construction has for our history, it is really incomprehensible that resources have not been allocated to undertake a thorough investigation of the place. Therefore, and as long as the stones do not speak, we will continue to wait for our authorities to decide to investigate our past, to better understand our present.
More info:
Ancient history of the Iberian Peninsula, late imperial and Visigoth times, J. J. Sayas Abengochea and Manuel Abad Valera, Ed. Uned 2013
About the linear Asturian fortifications of Homón de Faro (La Carisa) and El Muro (La Mesa), Jorge Camino, Rogelio Estrada, Yolanda Viniegra, Territory, Society and power , nº 2, 2007 pp 53-64.
The formation of the territory of Asturias in the period of the Asturian monarchy, José Avelino Gutiérrez González, 2007.