Castro de El Castillejo (Anquela del Pedregal): two enclosures upon a hill

A hill with two defensive lines

In the municipality of Anquela del Pedregal, within the historic Sexma del Pedregal, a flat-topped hill at around 1,400 metres altitude hosts the hillfort of El Castillejo, which some archaeological inventories also refer to as castro de San Antón. Two distinct enclosures can be identified:

• to the west, an enclosure sealing off a rocky spur with a drystone ashlar wall (sillarejo a hueso), constructed with worked stone laid without mortar;
• to the east, another defensive enclosure protecting a small plateau, where an outer ditch is also evident.

Surviving remains include wall sections and tower bases, and ceramic materials have been documented on the site.

Two chronological phases

The site witnessed two occupation phases: an initial one during the Late Bronze Age, belonging to the Riosalido cultural horizon, and a subsequent one during the Celtiberian era in the Second Iron Age; some inventories date this phase to around the 4th century BC. Many small hillforts dotted the same district, such as La Coronilla in Chera. Read more in the Celtiberians of the Alto Tajo.

Location

On the map, the coordinate marker identifies the village centre, not the exact hilltop.

Visiting

A clear distinction must be made: among all the Celtiberian hillforts in the Señorío, only two are genuinely prepared for visitors, El Ceremeño in Herrería and Peña Moñuz in Olmeda de Cobeta. El Castillejo has received little conditioning for the public: it is unadapted, virtually unsignposted, and what remains visible on the surface is very difficult to interpret without specialist guidance. If you visit, stay on the paths, do not climb on the walls, and do not remove anything from the ground.