Prehistory
Vigo and its surroundings have been populated from ancient times, as is evidenced by the number of dolmens and passage graves found in the area.
No Palaeolithic findings have been located and the only findings that date from the Stone Age are about fifty tools carved in quartz and quartzite. These are on exhibition at Quiñones de León Museum.
Several hand axes from the Neolithic Period have been found, some of which are votive pieces. The most important finding from this period are burial mounds, which date from between 3000 and 1800 B.C. The most interesting sample is at A Casa dos Mouros on the way up to the park of A Madroa. Petroglyphs of interest can be seen at Fragoselo and Millaradas.
There are a large number of stone carvings with geometric designs and drawings of weapons and animals from the transition period between the third to the second millennia B. C.
Several findings of pottery, bronze weapons and more stone drawings are evidence of human presence and the existence of settlements in the Bronze Age, between 1900 and 800 B. C.
Settlements known as castros (Lat. castrum) are to be found throughout the Iron Age and developed in Galicia from the 8th century B. C. to the end of the first century A. D. In Vigo findings show the existence of 26 castro settlements. This suggests that at this time, the city had one of the highest population densities in Galicia. The largest of these settlements is located at the foot of the O Castro hill. The inhabitants lived from farming, as well as hunting and fishing and also used iron and stone.