ABSTRACT
The attack on Monte Bernorio, located just a few kilometres north, must have taken place simultaneously or slightly after the one on Monte Cildá. Monte Bernorio is one of the largest fortified settlements from the First Millennium BC in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. During the Iron Age, Monte Bernorio was one of the main centres of the Cantabri until its conquest by the Roman army of Emperor Augustus during the Cantabrian Wars. A large number of finds have been documented from the interior of the oppidum of Monte Bernorio, which indicates an intense occupation of the settlement. The evidence uncovered until now clearly suggests that the fall of the oppidum took place after a battle on the southern side of Monte Bernorio. The Cantabrian Wars constituted extremely violent campaigns, similarly to the Caesarian conquest of northern Gaul. For a long time, the Cantabrian Wars were nearly unknown from an archaeological point of view.
