Presentation of the results of the research on a Lower Magdalenian burial site, which reveals data on the diet, mobility, lifestyles and genetic origin of a woman who was the object of a complex funerary ritual at this site.
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Between the 5th and 3rd millennium BC, Western Europe was the scene of a strong production and circulation of objects (necklace beads, bracelets, axes…) made of stones of an intense green colour, such as variscite or jadeite. From their sources of origin – located in different parts of the Iberian Peninsula (Barcelona, Huelva, Zamora…) and Europe (Italian Alps) – these objects travelled by land and sea over hundreds or even thousands of kilometres. In this conference, we will explore the manufacturing contexts of these pieces and how they spread to reach human groups in different parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. We will also discuss the possible reasons why these greenstone objects were so appreciated by the Neolithic communities of our continent.
Since the end of the 19th century, a hundred and a half warrior stelae have been discovered and numerous studies have been published on them. But there are still many unknowns to be solved. This conference presents the results of recent research, carried out in collaboration with various teams, in which new approaches and cutting-edge technologies have been applied to the study of warrior stelae, and their finding sites, from different areas of the western Iberian Peninsula. The new data contribute to clarify some questions about the meaning and functionality of the stelae, while revealing interesting aspects of their biographies.
The circulation of copper in the western Mediterranean between 1500 and 500 BC reflects a great complexity due to the different interactions that take place in this period in an area that acts as a point of contact between the Atlantic world and the eastern Mediterranean. The local populations of Sardinia and the Iberian Peninsula are influenced by the commercial interests of Phoenician colonial expansion, of which metal is a fundamental part. However, these local commercial interests have more of a social than an economic dimension, which explains why products such as copper, which they themselves produce, form part of the exchange. The presence in Sardinia of other types of metal that are neither local nor Cypriot, and whose origin must be sought in other areas, connects with the debate on the relations between Sardinia and the Iberian Peninsula.
The southeast of the Iberian Peninsula is the region of reference in Western Europe for the first peasant societies that began to use metal. This international visibility of the southeast is due to the intense archaeological activity of the Siret brothers at the end of the 19th century, who managed to incorporate their results into the Prehistory that was being constructed at that time. The spectacular nature and novelty of findings, such as that of Los Millares, have since then been a permanent focus of attention for all those interested in our past.
The Siret collection, deposited in the National Archaeological Museum, continues to be a constant “magnet” of attraction for prehistorians despite the passing of the years, as it allows for cutting-edge research with new perspectives, such as those presented at this conference. Different aspects of Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies will be dealt with, such as their agricultural and livestock farming practices, the sedentarisation and storage that defines the new settlements, their crafts: pottery, metal… All these aspects are imbued with symbolism, but their clearest manifestation is found in the so-called idols and in the funerary world.
In recent prehistoric societies, not all members of the community had the right to a permanent burial. Around 4000 years ago, funerary rites began to change, collective burials gave way to personalised tombs, some of which were for children. In some cases, as in the Cerro de La Encantada (Granátula de Calatrava, Ciudad Real) over 400 years a small number of children received special treatment. This round table will present a group of funerary structures from the Bronze Age of La Mancha and will address the problems posed by the study of prehistoric child tombs.
The research addresses the analysis of the local responses of Cantabrian hunter-gatherer societies to the environmental transformations of various orders that characterised the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods.
These transformations ranged from the continuous rise in sea levels and the parallel reduction of habitable territory to the drastic modification of the vegetation cover, as well as changes in the terrestrial and marine faunas. Alongside this, the migratory movements of other human groups affected by these changes are also shown to be a source of novelty in these social responses that we see at the local scale.
During the Aurignacian and Gravetian, the morphology of hunting lithic points is conditioned by the use of abrupt retouch. However, in the Solutrian, the hunting tools change radically and for about 5,000 years the systematic use of flat, invasive and bifacial retouch will characterise the different projectile points.
The appearance of flat retouched points in the Lower and Middle Solutrian could be explained by the generalised use of the propellant. The appearance of points with different modifications to facilitate their insertion in the Upper Solutrian would be related to the appearance of the bow as a new propulsion system for these projectiles.
Goldsmithing during the Iron Age is one of the most characteristic manifestations of the pre-Roman peoples who inhabited the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. however, its study and dating have been hampered by the lack of archaeological contexts.
Recent discoveries of several craftsmen’s workshops in the context of fortified settlements and the identification of gold mines exploited prior to the Roman conquest, not only by panning, as was assumed, but by complex gallery mining, have greatly modified our knowledge of precious metal mining and metallurgy during the Iron Age. The conference aims to report on the fortified settlements that have provided data on the manipulation and transformation of these metals, as well as the archaeological records that support their synchrony with the mining operations. These are expressive testimonies of metallurgical activity in a territory with abundant and rich metal deposits and a mining tradition dating back to the Chalcolithic period. Their study opens up new perspectives for research into the provenance of the raw materials used (including their isotopic characterisation), the dating of castreño goldsmiths’ work and the role played in the establishment of large-scale gold mining after the Roman conquest.
With an extension of more than 20 ha, the large moat enclosure of Camino de las Yeseras is a strategic and long-occupied site located in the centre of the peninsula. Thanks to the close collaboration between management archaeology and the Camino de las Yeseras research team of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, it has been possible to undertake interdisciplinary studies of pits, huts and funerary spaces.
Some 10,000 structures documented over almost two thousand years of prehistoric occupation make up a complex landscape of the past. The treatment of ancestors and the management of the domestic and wild animal world stand out, forming a sophisticated system of beliefs of societies in which their rituals in time and space form surprising records.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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