The Ebro lands, from Prehistory to Middle Age

Major changes of climatic, environment and, also, anthropic nature, took place during this long period. Domestication procedures were introduced, with the population growing specific crops and breeding specific animals. The new economic structure favored a sedentary lifestyle among peoples and the development of funerary practices. As a result, the manufacture of tools was diversified and new industries as pottery were created.

This period saw the widespread introduction of fortified settlements on hills, the urbanization of the habitat, the advent of the lathe, the use of metal and the emergence of the alphabet and writing. Commercial exchanges in the Mediterranean triggered economic distinctions between individuals and groups. Society was complex and tribal, with an extremely hierarchical organization, which lived on until the Roman conquest.

Throughout Antiquity, river Ebro was the backbone of all communications and structured the whole of the territory. It was also the main thoroughfare for trade communications. The valley was populated by a dense network of disperse rural settlements, which was organized from the city of Dertosa. Roman villas had a double function, residence of the owner's family and headquarters of the estate. The villas produced surplus which was subsequently traded and, also, performed supplementary craft activities, such as metal forging or the manufacture of transport amphorae.

The area of the river Ebro and its tributaries became a border between the Islamic regions and the Christian territories, and was also noted for its intense agricultural activity. The small communities were disseminated over the territory, existing in a clan structure and based mainly on agriculture. They depended on an administrative centre that, in the case of the Ebro lands, was located in the city of Turtūša, and was equipped with several watch points, such as the fortresses in Ulldecona, Miravet and Amposta.

The feudal model was implemented in these lands. The territorial division favoured the survival of the autochthonous population, from then on subjugated by nobility, the Church and the military orders of the Temple and the Hospital. Noble income was based on the surplus of specific crops (cereal, olive and vine) and on the monopoly held over transformation processes (mills, furnaces, oil mills...). The fabric of the settlement, based on a concentrated rural habitat that operated under the authority of the city, fuelled a thriving bourgeoisie which held all municipal power.