The Southeastern Mines of the Iberian Peninsula and Sierra Morena in the Change of Era

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of mining in two of the most important mining areas of the south of the Iberian Peninsula during the reign of Augustus. This study includes an integrated approach to the archaeology, epigraphy and literary sources, keeping in mind the Roman organizational framework. Archaeological and epigraphic evidence suggests that these areas, far from being abandoned, were still exploited during this time, though with less intensity and under very different control structures. Without a doubt, the Augustan reforms affected mining activity in the Iberian south for a century by establishing the foundations of the administrative structures that the Flavians would impose.