Аннотация:The author lances the hypothesis that the Iron Age castra in the Viseu area (northern part of central Portugal) were geographically grouped together.He further postulates that each group represents an ethnic entity whose name may be retrieved from Roman sources.Villages as such did not exist during the Roman period; the population being dispersed amongst hamlets and villae.It seems that villages only came into being in Medieval times.Those documented up to the twelfth century are shown on the maps presented, while the problem of their origin is raised.
