Pintia

Pintia is the name of an ancient city of the

Vaccaei The Vaccaei or Vaccei were a pre-Roman Celtic people of Spain, who inhabited the sedimentary plains of the central Duero valley, in the Meseta Central of northern Hispania (specifically in Castile and León). Their capital was ''Intercatia'' in Pa ...

, situated in the area around

Padilla de Duero Padilla may refer to: Places * Padilla Municipality, Tamaulipas, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas * Padilla, Cauca, in Colombia * Padilla, Bolivia * Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines * Padilla Bay, in the U.S. state of Washi ...

, in the modern

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a Provinces of Spain, province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 munici ...

, central

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The Vaccaei or Vacceans were the first sedentary occupants of the valley between the

Duero The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

and

Pisuerga The Pisuerga is a river in northern Spain, the Duero's second largest tributary. It rises in the Cantabrian Mountains in the province of Palencia, autonomous region of Castile and León. Its traditional source is called Fuente Cobre, but it has ...

rivers, in an area that would include the modern province of Valladolid, a good part of the province of the

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

, and sections of the Zamora,

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

, and

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...

provinces. The Vacceans were an early

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

society in northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

that arrived in this area during a period of growth. They founded various cities (

Pallantia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half ...

, Pintia) that had almost independent governments as city-states but maintained relations with their sister sisters in the surrounding area. Such was the sisterhood of these cities that the Vacceans helped the

Arevaci The Arevaci or Aravaci (''Arevakos'', ''Arvatkos'' or ''Areukas'' in the Greek sourcesPtolemy, ''Geographia'', II, 6, 55.), were a CelticCremin, ''The Celts in Europe'' (1992), p. 57. people who settled in the central Meseta of northern Hispania a ...

of Numancia during the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

siege. Because of their assistance to the Arevaci, the Roman invaders conquered the Vaccean cities after they had been victorious at Numancia. Pintia was besieged and destroyed by the Romans, which also buried forever the Vaccean culture, religion, and language. Years ago, it was believed that Valladolid was the ancient Pintia, but neither the location nor the archaeology supported this belief. The archaeological excavations conducted in Padilla de Duero uncovered an important settlement that has been interpreted as its possible location. The Archaeological Zone consists of three different parts: the city of Las Quintanas, the necropolis of Las Ruedas, and the potter's district of Carralaceña. In the city of Las Quintanas they have discovered that the city was destroyed by a fire, after which the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

of the area placed their necropolis near the ancient Vacceo-Roman city. In the necropolis of Las Ruedas they have encountered rich burials of elderly soldiers. In the nearby town of

Pesquera de Duero Pesquera is a town in the Ribera del Duero region that is noted for its red wine, balanced and fruity. It had a population of 562 at the 2001 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating informatio ...

they have found the

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

district of Carralaceña, and since the

kilns A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay in ...

had such a large output, there could have been fires in the city during the period the kilns were used, so they constructed the kilns on the other side of the river and therefore established a contiguous district with the cemetery on that side of the river Duero. The kilns found here are unique in Europe, but they cannot be visited because the Executive of Castile and León do not think it would be profitable to set up the site for tourism. The town was partially destroyed by the planting of

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

because of the lack of support given to the excavation projects. The

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The un ...

is currently in charge of the recovery and study of the town. The necropolis at Pintia is currently being excavated by international field school students every summer under the supervision of the University of Valladolid and the Federico Wattenberg Center of Vaccean Studies, facilitated by ArchaeoSpain. {{coord, 41.6178, N, 4.1700, W, source:wikidata, display=title Buildings and structures in the Province of Valladolid Archaeological sites in Castile and León