The History of Asturias includes everything from when the Paleolithic tribes settled in the Cantabrian Coast to the modern post-industrial society of today. On the etymology of the term "Asturias", some think that its origin can be traced back to the name of the Astura river (today the Esla river), whose inhabitants were called "astures" by the Roman authors.
Prehistory
Paleolithic
Asturias was inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic (100,000 years ago), from the Acheulean to the Mousterian. There are rock paintings that date back 30,000 years and correspond to the Solutrean, Magdalenian, and Aurignacian cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and typical of both the peoples of the Cantabrian Mountains and Southern France.
From the sites known to date, it is believed that the first settlers of Asturias inhabited the Cantabrian coast and the river valleys: the Pindal caves (Ribadedeva), Posada, Tito Bustillo (Ribadesella), Buxu (Cangas de Onís), Peña de Candamo (Candamo), and Covaciella (Cabrales).
Mesolithic: Asturian culture
An original culture emerged during the Mesolithic, the Asturian, typical of eastern Asturias and western Cantabria.. These settlements could be found in the entrance of caves close to the sea or under shelters, generally near the coast, although they were also found in inland Cantabrian mountains.
Neolithic
Evidence of the Asturian Neolithic includes the thirty dolmens of the prehistoric necropolis of Mount Areo, between Carreño and Gijón, 5,000 years old, as well as burial mounds and the Idol of Peña Tú (Llanes). At some point the earlier cultures abandoned the caves and mastered agriculture and animal husbandry.
According to Avienius in his description of the coasts of western Europe, the people who originally inhabited the north of the peninsula and the Atlantic coast as far as Brittany were the Oestrimnios. They were descendants of the first inhabitants who were pre-Indo-European and non-Celtic Indo-European. These groups were later displaced by others that formed the Ofiusa (name given to the entire north of the peninsula): Cempsos, Sejes, Ligus, and Draganos. The Draganos, of Celtic origin, occupied present-day Asturias.
Ancient history
Castro culture
The period from the abandonment of the caves until almost the Romanization is quite unknown. Greek or Latin authors speak of barbaric and battle-hardened tribes that lived in the jungles and mountains. Roman writers such as Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela, and Greek writers like Strabo, mention two main astures tribes separated by the Cantabrian Mountains: the Augustanos (with their capital in Asturica, present-day Astorga, whose domains reached the Duero river) and the Transmontanos (that spread between the Sella river and the Navia river). However, these divisions are now understood to be the product of Roman practicality in establishing administrative and police systems, and not as a reflection of accurate indigenous identities.
There is also written proof of the hard fights between Astures and Cantabri along the Sella riverbed. They illustrate the roughness and bravery of both peoples and their resistance to Roman domination.
Evidence of human presence in Asturias during this period includes the castros. Among them, the Castro of Coaña is an Asturian settlement built at the beginning of our era near the capital of the Coaña council. It lost importance from the 3rd century onwards and has been related with gold mining in the Navia river. Other notable castros include Pendía (Boal), Chao Samartín (Grandas de Salime), San Chuis (Allande), Os Castros (Taramundi), Cabo Blanco (El Franco), La Sobia, and La Cogollina (Teverga), Campa Torres (Gijón), Caravia, and about 300 others.
Romanization
By the end of the 1st century BC, the Romans wanted to complete the conquest of the entire Iberian Peninsula. Only the northern peoples, Astures and Cantabri, weren't under Roman control at the time. The main imperial interest in this region was the underground gold of the northwestern peninsular area, The main imperial interest in this region was the underground gold of the northwestern peninsular area, known to the Romans from the expedition against Gallaecia by Brutus. Additionally, the young Emperor Augustus needed a victory to glorify his position. In 29 BC, the Vaccei, Astures, and Cantabri got together in their fight against the Romans, who concentrated all their military power in the north of the peninsula. Caesar Augustus had to personally lead his troops.