The ritual bath in Northwest Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Thermal baths in Cantabria region and Entre-Douro-e-Minho have been the object of academic investigations aiming at establishing the uses of these monumental constructions as well as the rituals linked to them. The stone constructions in Cantabria are probably earlier (IV-III B.C.) than those in Entre-Douro-e-Minho (I BC - I AD.) though there is still much controversy concerning that chronology. Further to this, the Cantabria thermal baths were situated beside the entrance to the castro whilst those of the Entre-Douro-e-Minho in the Northwest of Portugal were located far from the settlement dwellings. Regardless of these significant differences, the rituals that were performed were interconnected with the social role of warriors in Castrejo’s society in which heat, water, earth and air were elements actively present in the process of regeneration of combatants after battle or in the ceremonial initiation of warriors in the rites of war.