Pintia is the name of an ancient city of the
Vaccaei, situated in the area around
Padilla de Duero, in the modern
province of Valladolid, central
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
The Vaccaei or Vacceans were the first sedentary occupants of the valley between the
Duero and
Pisuerga 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 of ...
, and sections of the
Zamora,
Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...
, and
Ávila provinces.
The Vacceans were an early
Celtic society in northern
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
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 of ...
, 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 of
Numancia during the
Roman 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 (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...
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 they have found the
artisan
An artisan (from , ) 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, sculpture, clothing, food ite ...
district of Carralaceña, and since the
kilns 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 because of the lack of support given to the excavation projects. The
University of Valladolid 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