Victor Jimenez-Jaimez | Universidad de Málaga (original) (raw)

Books by Victor Jimenez-Jaimez

In this work we highlight the existence of a long lasting tradition of ditched enclosures in Sout... more In this work we highlight the existence of a long lasting tradition of ditched enclosures in Southwestern Iberia during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. Actually, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, countless ditched enclosures (recintos de fosos) were built.

Despite their abundance and the huge size of some of them -over 100 ha in certain cases-, references to Iberian recintos de fosos have been scarce, partial or inaccurate in international meetings and collective works on the matter. This state of affairs can be explained in part by the traditional tendency of both Portuguese and Spanish archaeologists to isolate themselves from the surrounding European academia. Methods and techniques that had been proved to be successful in other parts of Europe were not applied until recently; e.g. aerial photographs, geophysical surveys, extensive excavations, etc.

One of the ideas we defend is that Iberian recintos de fosos must be understood in an European context, especially Neolithic causewayed enclosures. It all contrasts with traditional approaches to the problem in Iberian Archaeology, but we think is very state-of-the-art when considered in a broader academic environment. We also found that formation processes of the archaeological record were a crucial aspect of the problem which had gone partly unnoticed.

The results of our research have been very fruitful, getting a lot of attention in Portuguese and Spanish academic circles lately.

Papers by Victor Jimenez-Jaimez

Spal 33.1, 33-63, 2024

A menudo, los llamados recintos de fosos neolíticos y calcolíticos de la península ibérica (IV-II... more A menudo, los llamados recintos de fosos neolíticos y calcolíticos de la península ibérica (IV-III milenios a. C.) han sido interpretados como fortificaciones. Sin embargo, escasean los estudios específicos sobre el particular. En este trabajo, se intenta contribuir al debate a través de analogías con fortificaciones históricas y prehistóricas bien conocidas. Se efectúa el análisis detallado, desde una perspectiva poliorcética, de dos recintos fosados calcolíticos: Xancra (Cuba, Beja, Portugal) y El Casetón de la Era (Villalba de los Alcores, Valladolid, España). Los resultados del estudio sugieren que las líneas concéntricas de fosos que conforman dichos sitios muestran ciertas optimizaciones orientadas a la defensa. No obstante, al mismo tiempo, como fortificaciones ambos exhiben numerosas características no canónicas. En la discusión se plantean dos posibles explicaciones. Según la primera, la ineficiencia de su diseño se debe a la ignorancia por parte de sus constructores de algunos de los principios más elementales de la poliorcética. Según la segunda, la elección de su lugar de emplazamiento, así como su diseño arquitectónico, se llevaron a cabo con otros propósitos además del puramente militar, o por encima de este. Palabras clave Arqueología, Prehistoria, poliorcética, fortificación, recintos de fosos.

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2024

Archaeological sites characterized by significant concentrations of pits (‘pit sites’) were wides... more Archaeological sites characterized by significant concentrations of pits (‘pit sites’) were widespread in prehistoric Europe. In southern Iberia, many pit sites date back to the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods (fourth-third millennia BCE), and often display massive numbers of pits. Deciphering the social, economic, and symbolic significance of such sites, composed of hundreds or even thousands of pits, holds deep historical implications. What do these pits mean, and how were they used? If they functioned as grain storage pits, as many believe, did they represent a substantial economic surplus? Unfortunately, many of these sites have been inadequately published and remain poorly known north of the Pyrenees. This paper aims to contribute to the broader understanding of prehistoric pit sites in Europe by providing an overview of southern Iberian pit sites, and of the debates that have developed around their interpretation.

Antiquity, 2021

Important discoveries over the past 15 years in the coastal area between Huelva and Málaga in Spa... more Important discoveries over the past 15 years in the coastal area between Huelva and Málaga in Spain have illuminated the beginnings of the eighthcentury BC Phoenician diaspora into the Western Mediterranean. Here, the authors combine Bayesian modelling of recently published radiocarbon dates with the latest archaeological data to investigate the Phoenician presence in southern Iberia. Their assessment of its significance for the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the Western Mediterranean contributes not only to understanding the integration of the Phoenicians into local communities, but also to apprehending the mechanisms of colonisation and pre-colonial situations elsewhere in protohistoric Europe and other world contexts.

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2019

Pre-print version available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10630/18673 Final, peer-reviewed version ... more Pre-print version available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10630/18673
Final, peer-reviewed version available online at: https://rdcu.be/b8WU3

Pits are virtually omnipresent in the archaeological record. In Prehistoric Europe, pits occasionally form large concentrations known as ‘pit sites’, where they are the most visible, sometimes the sole, remnants of past human activity. How can we interpret the social roles played by places comprising hundreds or even thousands of pits? A critical point of contention in these debates is how certain we are that all or most pits on a site indeed acted as grain storage pits for most of their use-lives. However, it is not easy to distinguish between pits used for storage and pits destined for other purposes. This paper represents an attempt to circumvent, to an extent, this problem. We will do so by turning our attention away from the problem of accuracy and by focusing on external consistency instead. We gather up-to-date experimental, ethnographic and historical data about the challenges that the storage of grain poses and how pits can help people to overcome them. Then, we discuss their advantages and disadvantages relative to other methods: why would anybody use airtight pits instead of, for instance, weather-proofed raised granaries? Next, we examine the social and economic contexts in which storage pits are an effective solution as opposed to those in which their performance is suboptimal. The conclusions drawn serve as a background against which to evaluate the external consistency of current interpretations concerning three selected case studies in Prehistoric Western Europe.

In Müller, J., Hinz, M. & Wunderlich, M. (eds.) (2019): Megaliths – societies – landscapes. Early monumentality and social differentiation in Neolithic Europe. Proceedings of the international conference. pp. 193-204., 2019

Ditched enclosures have been found in many Europe-an regions during the Neolithic and Copper Age.... more Ditched enclosures have been found in many Europe-an regions during the Neolithic and Copper Age. This widespread , almost pan-European monumental tradition has also been documented in the Iberian peninsula in the last 25 years, although the impact of their discovery in the continental debates has mostly been rather small. In these enclosed sites, ditches delimit spaces by establishing an inside and an outside. However, crucially in most enclosures known in sufficient detail to date, ditches show one or more interruptions interpreted as entrances or points of access that connect the outside with the inside. These entrances appear to be architectural elements that hold strong importance and possibly special significance. During the Neolithic, entrances to European ditched enclosures showed great formal variability, from the simplest (a gap or discontinuity in the course of the ditch) to more complex forms such as the pince de crabe (crab's claw). Many of them show astrological awareness and/ or orientation towards certain prominent features of the surrounding landscape. Changes in form and transformations through time-concerning both the entrance itself and the nearby elements-are also very common. Overall, they are an important component of almost every ditched enclosure and often some of the most visibly monumentalised areas of these sites.

Neolithic ditched enclosures appear to be widely distributed across parts of Eastern, Central and... more Neolithic ditched enclosures appear to be widely distributed across parts of Eastern, Central and Western Europe, as well as from the Mediterranean area to Scandinavia. They have been known in areas of Europe for a long time, but particularly in the last 25 years studies on them have flourished. In southern Iberia, ditched enclosures-which were built for a long period between the 4 th and 3 rd millennium cal BCE (Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic)-began to be known in the 1970s. Traditional models have viewed Prehistoric Iberian ditched enclosures as ›fortified settlements‹: permanently inhabited centres with robust defensive systems composed of ditches. Because some of them are of exceptional size, a number of studies have argued that the southern Iberian Chalcolithic (roughly the 3 rd millennia BCE) saw the emergence of unprecedented levels of social inequality and the decline of kinship as the basis for most human social relationships. If true, this represents the development of some of the earliest › complex communities ‹ in Western European Prehistory. Nonetheless, in Britain, Neolithic enclosure sites are often interpreted very differently, as seasonal gathering places for the agglomeration of smaller scale , more mobile communities that remain based largely on principles of kinship-causewayed enclosures-or as ceremonial centres-namely henges. In this paper, I will explore the causes of this contradiction between the Iberian and wider European models by comparing the history of interpretation in Iberia with that in Britain.

Zephyrus 81: pp. 31-45, 2018

Traditional approaches to the Late Prehistory in the middle Guadiana basin (southwestern Iberia),... more Traditional approaches to the Late Prehistory in the middle Guadiana basin (southwestern Iberia), have subsumed a variety of site types under a unifying category labelled 'settlement site'. That included 'walled enclosures', 'ditched enclosures' and 'pit sites'. However, they are very different in their form and features, the formation of archaeological deposits and their chronology. This suggests that more fine-tuned analyses, in which the emergence and evolution of every type of site is studied on its own, could be fruitful. In the present paper, ditch 1 from Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) will be put in the wider context of the process of monumentalisation of the middle Guadiana landscapes in the 4 th and 3 rd millennia cal bc. From the perspective outlined above, we shall make a first attempt to set forth the genealogy of walled enclosures , pit sites and ditched enclosures in the region.
Resumen: Las lecturas históricas tradicionales sobre la Prehistoria Reciente realizadas en la cuenca media del Guadiana (so de Iberia) han unificado bajo un mismo concepto de 'poblado' o 'asentamiento' yacimien-tos muy distintos en su morfología, en la formación del registro arqueológico o en su cronología. Bajo ese etiquetado se han incluido tanto los yacimientos de hoyos como los recintos de fosos y/o los recintos murados/ fortificados. Sin embargo, todos ellos son muy diferentes en su forma y características, la formación de depósitos arqueológicos y su cronología. Esto sugiere que un análisis más preciso, en el que la aparición y la evolución de cada tipo de sitio se estudie por sí solo, podría ser fructífero. En el presente artículo se sitúa el Foso 1 de Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) en el contexto más amplio del proceso de monumentalización de los paisajes del Medio Guadiana durante el iv y el iii milenio cal ac. Desde la perspectiva anteriormente descrita, haremos un primer intento de exponer la genealogía de los recintos amurallados, los sitios de fosos y los recintos abandonados en esta región.

RUIZ, B. (ed.) (2018): Plan Director del Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera 2018/2025. Junta de Andalucía, 2018

El Programa de Investigación contemplará las líneas de investigación y conocimiento establecidas,... more El Programa de Investigación contemplará las líneas de investigación y conocimiento establecidas, tanto a iniciativa propia como en colaboración con otras instituciones, que tengan por objeto la profundización en el conocimiento de los bienes que custodia, la historia y sentido de la institución, la documentación que conserva, la sede, el público y todos aquellos aspectos museológicos y museográficos que le puedan concernir.

RUIZ, B. (ed.) (2018): Plan Director del Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera 2018/2025. Junta de Andalucía, 2018

Vincent Ard & Lucille Pillot (eds) (2016): Giants in the Landscape: Monumentality and Territories in the European Neolithic. Proceedings of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September, Burgos, Spain) Volume 3 / Session A25d, pp. 57-68., 2016

In this paper, we shall briefly describe the main features of Southern Iberian Final Neolithic an... more In this paper, we shall briefly describe the main features of Southern Iberian Final Neolithic and Copper Age enclosures, and will examine how they relate in space and time to Prehistoric funerary contexts. We will attempt to show how this relationship changed through time. In the 4th millennium BC, during the Final Neolithic, both megalithic tombs and ditched enclosures were built. However, very rarely they are close in space. In the 3rd millennium BC, coinciding with the Chalcolithic, necropolises of tombs (tholoi and hypogea) began to form around ditched enclosures of the period. However, this process only occurred at a few sites – the ‘mega-sites’.

Hans Kamermans; Wieke de Neef, Chiara Piccoli, Axel G. Poluschny & Roberto Scopinho (eds) (2016): The three dimensions of Archaeology. Proceedings of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September, Burgos, Spain) Volume 7 / Session A4b and A12, pp. 61-72., 2016

The Perdigões archaeological complex (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) is a prehistoric site near... more The Perdigões archaeological complex (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) is a prehistoric site near the Guadiana River, comprising at least 12 ditched enclosures, several hundred pits, an area with megalithic tombs and a set of standing stones (cromeleque). It is located in one of the richest archaeological landscapes of Iberia, with notable examples of Prehistoric monumental architecture such as menhirs and portal tombs (antas). A team from the University of Málaga (Spain) has been carrying out fieldwork in collaboration with the Portuguese entity ERA Arqueologia at the site since 2008. This includes geophysical (2008-2009) and micro-topographical (2011) surveys of the whole site, as well as both open-area excavations (2012-2013) and trenches (2009-2010, 2013) in the area surrounding Entrance 1.
Digital photogrammetry is an inexpensive computerised method that enables the creation of three-dimensional models from photographs using image pattern recognition. The technique can be employed during the process of excavation to better record the archaeological evidence, to generate 3D models of the stratigraphical units and to digitalise singular findings. It is also useful for activities aiming to spread knowledge and awareness about the site. In this paper we will describe the basics of the method and its workflows, and three specific applications at Perdigões. Later, we will briefly compare digital photogrammetry with alternative solutions for the digitalisation of cultural heritage, such as LIDAR and total station scanners with LASER.

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2015

Neolithic ditched enclosures appear to be widely distributed across Central and Western Europe, a... more Neolithic ditched enclosures appear to be widely distributed across Central and Western Europe, and from the Mediterranean area to Scandinavia. They have been known in areas of Europe for a long time, but particularly in the last 25 years studies on British, French, Central European, and Scandinavian ditched enclosures have flourished. In line with this, a number of international meetings occurred in the last three decades. In southern Iberia, by contrast, ditched enclosures only began to be known in the 1970s, and even then methodological deficiencies and lack of funding hampered their characterisation. As a consequence of this, Iberian Neolithic and Copper Age ditched enclosures were largely unknown outside Portugal and Spain. They were not represented in any of the international meetings above, nor included in any of the syntheses made about the topic. Not only that, for decades, Spanish and Portuguese archaeologists were not aware of the potential analogies themselves, and the research that was being carried out elsewhere in Europe had almost no influence on the way ditched enclosures were surveyed, excavated, and interpreted in the peninsula. The main objective of this article is to advance the recognition of the southern Iberian evidence by other European researchers and the integration of the Iberian conversation into the general discussion. The focus will be on how these sites have been studied by several generations of Iberian archaeologists, in an attempt to explain why it has taken Portuguese and Spanish archaeologists so long to realise that Iberian enclosures should not be understood in isolation.

In García Alfonso, E. (ed.): Movilidad, contacto y cambio. II Congreso de Prehistoria de Andalucía, Antequera: Junta de Andalucía, pp. 343-349., 2014

In the last three years (2009-2011), the University of Malaga has undertaken several archaeologic... more In the last three years (2009-2011), the University of Malaga has undertaken several archaeological activi-
ties at the highly important Prehistoric site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal), where a number of
ditched enclosures have been found. In this paper we will review the works carried out, particularly magnetometric
surveys and excavations, both extensive and within the so-called Ditch 1. We will subsequently present new data
about the layout of Gate 1 and the dynamics of ditch filling at Ditch 1.

Valera, A. (2014): Recent Prehistoric Enclosures and Funerary Practices in Europe. Proceedings of the International Meeting held at the Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal, November 2012), pp. 149-154, 2014

Published in: Souvatzi, S. & Hadji, A. (2014): Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory. Routledge: London., 2014

A Prehistoric enclosure (whether it be a henge, a ditched, a walled or a palisade enclosure) is t... more A Prehistoric enclosure (whether it be a henge, a ditched, a walled or a palisade enclosure) is the monumentalization of an open space. Starting with the question of a design or plan in enclosure building, we shall review construction techniques, internal spatial organization, landscape integration and chronology of several generations of Neolithic and Copper age Iberian enclosures. We will also discuss temporality and how it relates to variability in European enclosures layout and depositional practices, making use of analytical categories first introduced by F. Braudel and P. Bourdieu, and concluding that design decisions existed but they were not the sole result of individual or collective agency.

Menga 5: 12-97, 2014

El objetivo de este dossier es ofrecer una visión innovadora y actualizada de las relaciones entr... more El objetivo de este dossier es ofrecer una visión innovadora y actualizada de las relaciones entre los animales y los grupos humanos del Sur de la Península Ibérica durante el Calcolítico. Para ello se reunirán una serie de trabajos de carácter interdisciplinar conectados a través del hilo conductor de este dossier: los animales. Estos trabajos se centrarán en diferentes líneas de evidencia que nos informan sobre aspectos distintos, aunque complementarios y en ocasiones conectados, de las relaciones entre animales y humanos de este período en el Sur peninsular. El ámbito de la materialidad, esto es, el de las prácticas sociales que de facto materializaron las relaciones entre humanos y animales en la vida social del Calcolítico en el Sur peninsular, se rastreará a través del análisis de los restos de animales (p.e. huesos, conchas) y de sus contextos de aparición. Éstos nos ofrecerán datos sobre los usos, ritos y costumbres en los que tanto los animales en vida como sus restos mortales estuvieron involucrados. Esta información será complementada, a modo de contraste, con la ofrecida por el ámbito de la representación en dos tipos de expresiones plásticas: el arte mueble y el arte rupestre. Desde un punto de vista formal y contextual, es decir, arqueológico, tanto los paneles de arte rupestre como las pequeñas figuritas de animales nos informan de manera explícita sobre las diferentes formas en las que los animales fueron conceptualizados y categorizados, en sí mismos y en su relación con los seres humanos.

Antiquity, volume 87, no. 336, pp. 447-460., Jun 2013

In this paper we argue that, although Iberian ditched enclosures possess certain regional peculia... more In this paper we argue that, although Iberian ditched enclosures possess certain regional peculiarities, they do not differ much from what is documented in the rest of Western Europe, in terms of position in the landscape, site layout, depositional practices and chronology. Radiocarbon dates, however, invite us to think that, while European ditched enclosures seem to have been replaced by other types of monuments (henges, palisade enclosures...) before or during the transition from the fourth to the third millennia BC, building activity did not cease at southern Iberian ditched enclosures until the last centuries of the third millennium, with impressively large sites and underground features.

La Universidad de Málaga (UMA) lleva investigando desde el año 2008 en el yacimiento de recintos ... more La Universidad de Málaga (UMA) lleva investigando desde el año 2008 en el yacimiento de recintos de fosos de Perdigões en el marco de un Programa Global de Investigación responsabilidad del Núcleo de Investigação Arqueológica (NIA) de ERA Arqueologia S.A. Los trabajos desarrollados entre los años 2011 y 2012 se han centrado en la excavación en extensión de un área ubicada en el entorno de la puerta NE del Foso 1, fechado en momentos del tercer cuarto del III milenio. Los primeros resultados obtenidos permiten aproximarnos inicialmente a su compleja fisonomía.

The results of our research have been very fruitful, getting a lot of attention in Portuguese and Spanish academic circles lately.

Spal 33.1, 33-63, 2024

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2024

Antiquity, 2021

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2019

Zephyrus 81: pp. 31-45, 2018

RUIZ, B. (ed.) (2018): Plan Director del Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera 2018/2025. Junta de Andalucía, 2018

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2015

In García Alfonso, E. (ed.): Movilidad, contacto y cambio. II Congreso de Prehistoria de Andalucía, Antequera: Junta de Andalucía, pp. 343-349., 2014

Published in: Souvatzi, S. & Hadji, A. (2014): Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory. Routledge: London., 2014

Menga 5: 12-97, 2014

Antiquity, volume 87, no. 336, pp. 447-460., Jun 2013

Apontamentos de Arqueologia e Património 9: 61-72, 2013

The University of Málaga (UMA) has been undertaking fieldwork at the Portuguese site of Perdigões... more The University of Málaga (UMA) has been undertaking fieldwork at the Portuguese site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz) for the last six years. In the present article we shall describe, in a preliminary way, the results obtained after the last three years of work, that is, from 2011 to 2013. In this three year period, we have carried out the same number of fieldwork seasons: two open area excavations and one campaign focused on the excavation of the fillings of certain outstanding features. The outputs of this period will be assessed with respect to the general research project introduced in a past issue of this journal (Márquez et al. 2008) and the results of the first three years of research from 2008 to 2010 (Márquez et al. 2011a).

Conference Megalith Societies Landscapes. Early Monumentality and Social Differentiation in Neolithic Europe., 2015

Neolithic and Copper Age earthwork monuments somewhat similar to those known as causewayed enclos... more Neolithic and Copper Age earthwork monuments somewhat similar to those known as causewayed enclosures in Britain and enceintes à fossés in France have been recently recognised in Portugal and Spain. Their likely role in wider archaeological issues such as monumentality
and social diferentiation in Prehistoric Europe, a central focus of this conference, prompts us to discuss the evolution of their study and interpretation, with particular attention to Southern Iberia.
In this paper we will describe the history of research of southwest Iberian ditched enclosures, noting a clear break occurred in the last few years of the 20th century, when an empirical and theoretical revolution took place, bringing about profound changes in methodology and interpretation of said places. The new approaches not only have transformed the way Iberian Neolithic and Chalcolithic ditched enclosures are studied and conceptualised, but also have fostered their integration in the more general European debates about aspects
such as their temporality, formation and social meaning, including ethnoarchaeological studies that attempt to understand monumentalised meeting places in context.

Poster presented at the "I Congreso de Prehistoria de Andalucía (Memorial Luis Siret)", held in Antequera (Málaga, Spain), in september 2010., 2010

Due to their intriguing features and monumental character, Neolithic ditched enclosures are gener... more Due to their intriguing features and monumental character, Neolithic ditched enclosures are generally considered key to understanding the processes of social change in Europe from the first farming communities of the Neolithic to the societies of the Bronze and Iron Age. The issue goes well beyond the boundaries of the traditional archaeological regions of Europe. They appear to be widely distributed, in diverse forms, across Central and Western Europe, and from the Mediterranean area to Scandinavia. As early as 1930, Cecil Curwen compared British causewayed enclosures with similar sites in France and Germany. By doing so, he was assuming that Neolithic archaeologists in different countries were facing analogous challenges, and was paving the way for future exchange of ideas and methods between British and other European researchers. Later, from the 1980s to the 2000s, a number of international meetings occurred, with contributions from researchers studying sites in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, France, Germany and Italy (eg Burgess et al. 1988; Darvill & Thomas 2001a; Varndell & Topping 2002). In such conferences, discussions highlighted both the diversity and the strong links between these regions during the Neolithic (Darvill & Thomas 2001, 1). Even though it was acknowledged that every site is unique and every region followed its own historical pathway, enough similarities were recognised to accept as natural the sharing of information, the exchange of ideas and the joint conception and spread of methodological and interpretative innovations.

In an attempt to keep the spirit of these meetings alive, this workshop will gather researchers from different countries and institutions and allow them to debate old and new approaches, on the basis of comparison between the different European regions. It is important to note that comparison does not necessarily lead to analogy; paying attention to dissimilarities and attempting to find out why they exist can be as fruitful as finding regularities, or more. Importantly, almost for the first time, Iberia will be part of the wider European discussion, after the striking discoveries being made in the last 25 years in that area.

The desired outcome of the meeting would be the creation of a network of researchers focused on these archaeological problems all around Europe, that could eventually result in joint projects, collaborations or further initiatives.

Descubierto en 1997, el yacimiento de fosos neolítico-calcolítico de Perdigões (Reguengos de Mons... more Descubierto en 1997, el yacimiento de fosos neolítico-calcolítico de Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Évora, Portugal) se localiza en una región famosa por la proliferación de monumentos megalíticos. En el seno de un proyecto global de investigación coordinado por Era-Arqueologia, Perdigões ha sido objeto de actuaciones recientes por parte de la Universidad de Málaga (UMA). Primero, prospecciones geofísicas generales, que han revelado la existencia de hasta 11 recintos de fosos. Segundo, dos campañas de excavación en un punto del denominado Foso 1 del sitio, el más externo, en las cercanías de una discontinuidad conocida como Puerta 1. El objetivo de las mismas se centraba en evaluar algunas de las hipótesis que componen el modelo interpretativo que sobre los recintos de fosos del suroeste peninsular venimos defendiendo en los últimos años. En el presente artículo damos a conocer nuestra lectura sobre la secuencia estratigráfica del Foso 1, según los nuevos datos, y comparamos los resultados obtenidos con las expectativas teóricas previas a los trabajos de campo.

Palabras clave: Neolítico, Calcolítico, recintos de fosos, megalitismo, Península Ibérica, Alentejo, Perdigões, prospección geofísica.

Discovered in 1997, the Neolithic-Chalcolithic ditched site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Évora, Portugal) is located in an area widely known for the profusion of megalithic monuments. Within a global research project co-ordinated by Era-Arqueologia, recent fieldworks have been carried out by a team from the University of Málaga (UMA). Firstly, extensive geophysical surveys, which revealed the existence of up to 11 ditched enclosures. Secondly, two excavation campaigns at a point in the feature named Ditch 1, the most external, in close proximity to the causeway known as Gate 1. The works focused on testing some of the hypotheses which constitute the interpretative model for Southwestern Iberian ditched enclosures that we have been defending in the last few years. In the current paper we present our reading of the stratigraphic sequence of Ditch 1, according to the new data, and compare the results obtained with our own previous theoretical expectations.

Keywords: Neolithic, Calcolithic; Ditched Enclosures, Megalithism, Iberian Peninsula, Alentejo, Perdigões, Geophysical Survey.

Como disciplina académica, la Arqueología tiene una larga trayectoria que se remonta a finales de... more Como disciplina académica, la Arqueología tiene una larga trayectoria que se remonta a finales del siglo XIX en las más importantes universidades europeas y estadounidenses. En España, la primera cátedra de Arqueología y Prehistoria (denominada entonces de ‘Historia Primitiva del Hombre’) se creó en 1922 en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, siendo ocupada por Hugo Obermaier. En Andalucía, la primera cátedra análoga, creada en 1927 en la Universidad de Sevilla bajo la denominación de “Prehistoria, Historia Antigua e Historia medieval” y con el profesor Juan de Mata Carriazo y Arroquia como titular, sería el germen del actual Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología de esta universidad. Desde 1965 se estableció en Granada la primera Cátedra de Prehistoria y Arqueología, ocupada inicialmente por el profesor Antonio Arribas Palau. En las restantes siete universidades andaluzas las áreas de conocimiento Prehistoria y Arqueología se crearían a lo largo de las décadas de 1980 y 1990, quedando reunidas en departamentos que agrupan normalmente profesorado de múltiples áreas de conocimiento de Historia, Geografía y Humanidades. La universidad Pablo de Olavide tiene área de Arqueología, pero no de Prehistoria, lo cual constituye una extraña anomalía en el panorama de las universidades españolas.

Recensión / Review: García Sanjuán, Leonardo, Vargas Jiménez, Juan Manuel, Hurtado Pérez, Víctor,... more Recensión / Review: García Sanjuán, Leonardo, Vargas Jiménez, Juan Manuel, Hurtado Pérez, Víctor, Ruiz Moreno, Teresa y Cruz-Auñón Briones, Rosario (eds.): El asentamiento prehistórico de Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla): investigación y tutela en el 150 aniversario del descubrimiento de La Pastora. Secretariado de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, 2013, 575 páginas, ISBN: 978-84-472-1465-5

European Journal of Archaeology, 2020

Book review