page_title: Vía de la Plata
section_title: Pre-Roman era
hierarchical_section_title: Vía de la Plata / Pre-Roman era
caption_attribution_description: Anverso del hito de granito conmemorativo Vía de la Plata en el Puerto de los Castaños. Cáceres.
context_page_description: The Vía de La Plata or Ruta de la Plata is an ancient commercial and pilgrimage path that crosses the west of Spain from north to south, connecting Mérida to Astorga. An extended form begins further south in Seville and reaches north to the Bay of Biscay at Gijón. The path is used by the modern A-66 and AP-66 freeways, as well as by the older N-630 national road.
context_section_description: The historical origin of this communication route is uncertain. During the protohistoric period, coinciding with the presence of the Tartessos culture in the south of the peninsula, there are reports of the existence of commercial contacts with the Hispanic west thanks to various archaeological discoveries, along a route known by some scholars as the "Via del Estaño", since it is assumed that a large part of this metal would circulate in the peninsula.
  In the following centuries it continued to be frequented, without its specific name being known, becoming, until the arrival of Rome, one of the main routes of communication of the Hispanic towns next to the so-called Via Heraclea, which ran through the whole of the Levant, from Cadiz to cross the Pyrenees.
caption: Vía de la Plata. ito nuevo en obra Puerto de los Castaños. Anverso
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