Agropastoral strategies in the Early Iron Age (7th-6th c. BCE) in NE Iberia: Zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical insights from La Timba de Santa Bàrbara (Barcelona, Spain)

• This is a key site for investigating NE Iberian socio-economic dynamics in the Iron Age. • Interdisciplinary analysis reveals new insights into agropastoral strategies. • Intensive cereal agriculture and minor cultivation of legumes. • Grape seed may indicate early introduction of wine in NE Iberia. • Cattle dominated herds, used for traction, meat and milk. This work presents the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical analysis of the Early Iron Age site (7th-6th centuries BCE) of La Timba de Santa Bàrbara, a fortified settlement that appears to have been inhabited by an emerging aristocratic elite. This is a key site with a significant number of imported Phoenician amphorae, reflecting trade and cultural contacts with Mediterranean societies. The main objective here is to provide new insights into agropastoral and food consumption strategies during a key period of early social, economic and political transformation in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. The results reveal an intensive agricultural system primarily focused on cereal production, prioritising optimal productivity. Legumes and grapes were also identified, possibly related to the early introduction of wine in north-eastern Iberia. Livestock management was closely linked to agriculture, with cattle playing a predominant role. This interdisciplinary approach sheds new light on the interplay between agriculture, food consumption, and socio-economic and political transformations during the Early Iron Age in this region.