Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain) Research Papers (original) (raw)

This paper presents the results obtained from a review of the archaeological record available for the prehistoric site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain), one of the most important settlements of SW Iberia in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Two main variables, namely demography and metallurgical production, are examined in the light of both conventional and spatial statistical methods (with particular emphasis on significance testing) with the aim of assessing the wider issue of social complexity. Among the various conclusions emerging from this empirical study, two stand out. Firstly, neither the correlation between the total extension of the settlement and the complexity of its internal organisation, nor the spatial delimitation
between domestic/productive and funerary practices is as straightforward as previously claimed. Secondly, no simple, clear-cut statistical patterns are found in the spatial distribution of human remains or metal objects. These conclusions
provide the basis for a critique of currently held interpretations of Valencina de la Concepción as the political centre of an early state extending across the lower Guadalquivir valley.

Resumen: El presente trabajo ofrece una breve síntesis de las actuaciones arqueológicas que se han desarrollado en el tholos de Montelirio, ubicado en Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla), desde su descubrimiento en 1998 hasta la última actividad desarrollada en el año 2010. Se exponen las circunstancias y los motivos que han dado lugar al estudio de este gran monumento megalítico, incluyendo su excavación completa y el estudio científico de los datos obtenidos, a la vez que se vinculan los resultados de las distintas actuaciones arqueológicas con la evolución de las figuras de protección de carácter patrimonial que se han dado al monumento y a la Zona Arqueológica de Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán, de la que es parte. Abstract: This paper offers a short synthesis of the archaeological work carried out at the Montelirio tholos, located in Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla), since its discovery in 1998 until the last excavation season, which took place in 2010. The circumstances and motives that have led to the study of this great megalithic monument, including its full excavation and the scientific analysis of the evidence retrieved, are discussed. At the same time, the results of the various archaeological interventions are connected with the evolution of the legal measures adopted to protect the monument and the Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán Archaeological Zone it is part of.

Abstract: This chapter (written in Spanish) provides a general characterization of the garments with beads documented in the Montelirio tholos, including considerations of their manufacture and use in mortuary practices. Firstly, the contexts in which the beads were found, the position and distribution of the latter, also in association with specific individuals, are described with attention to the post-depositional processes that affected the formation of the archaeological deposits. Secondly, the techniques of bead manufacture and assemblage deployed to create elaborate garments, as well as the characteristics of the latter, are examined in light of the evidence provided by the beads, their location, and distribution. The chapter concludes with some preliminary thoughts on the social dimension of the manufacture of such elaborate garments with beads, which most probably required organized craftsmanship, and their use in the mortuary practices developed in the Montelirio tholos.

- by Marta Diaz-Guardamino and +2
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- History of Dress, Funerary Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology

The archaeological data is showing the relatively common use of red pigments in Prehistory in southern Iberian Peninsula. The application of archaeometric techniques (XRF) has allowed the identification of cinnabar (HgS) in Chalcolithic period funerary contexts. In order to establish the provenance of this mercury ore, cinnabar pigments obtained from these Chalcolithic contexts have been analyzed by Lead Isotopes, as well as samples from cinnabar mineralizations located in Southern Iberian Peninsula.

En 1998 se descubrió el “dolmen de Montelirio”, sepulcro ubicado en el área de necrópolis del yacimiento calcolítico de Valencina-Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla). La excavación acometida en el monumento funerario ha permitido afrontar con una metodología actualizada, en contraste con otros monumentos del mismo conjunto, la investigación de un monumental sepulcro bajo túmulo de doble cámara y corredor. Los resultados obtenidos permiten establecer nuevas interpretaciones sobre parte del registro material heredado de las sociedades humanas del III milenio en el suroeste andaluz y reforzar un cambio de paradigma respecto a las estrategias de adaptación de aquellas sociedades.

"The megalithic tomb at Montelirio is off the scale in more ways than one. As well as being the largest example of its type known in Spain, the burial goods secreted in its subterranean chambers are unsurpassed in both quantity and... more

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán
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- Religion, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Art History

Because of its great potential to provide data on contacts and overseas trade, ivory has aroused a great deal of interest since the very start of research into Iberian late prehistory. Research recently undertaken by the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid in collaboration with a number of other institutions has provided valuable contributions to the study of ivory in the Iberian Copper Age and Early Bronze Age. One of the archaeological sites that is contributing the most data for analysing ivory from the Copper Age in southern Iberia is Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville), which is currently the focus of several debates on the development of social complexity. This article contributes to this line of research by providing new, unpublished evidence and by examining the significance of ivory craftsmanship in commercial, social and ideological terms. It also assesses in greater detail the prominent part played by luxury ivory items as an expression of social status and power."

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +1
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Bone and Antler, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology

The megalithic phenomenon is one of the most exciting subjects of study in prehistory. The practice of monumentalising places of special significance by erecting large stones started during the Neolithic period, approximately 10.000 years ago. On time, it acquired such a social and ideological depth that it became one of the most geographically and temporally widespread cultural phenomena ever known in Europe. In Andalusia, megalithic sites and landscapes express themselves with great richness and diversity, representing an exceptional source of scientific information for our understanding of our forebears’ ways of life, as well as a unique and beautiful historical legacy. This book combines the contributions of various university professors, who bring us up to date with their research, with excellent photographic illustrations and, for the first time, reflects the spread of this cultural phenomenon throughout Andalusia. It is suitable for both those who wish to deepen their knowledge of this professional specialisation and those who seek the pleasure of a satisfied interest.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán
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- Religion, Comparative Religion, History, Ancient History

In this chapter the main results of the scientific study presented in this volumen are discussed. The conclusiones are articulated around a wide series of themes, including: (i) temporality, diachrony and tempo, (ii) architecture and monumentality; (iii) demography; (iv) subsistence economy, (v) scales of production, technology and exchange; (vi) symbolism; and (vii) social complexity. In this wider context, Montelirio is connected with current debates around the Valencina de la Concepción Copper Age settlement and the lifeways of southern Iberian Copper Age societies.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Bioarchaeology

Rock crystal appears relatively frequently in Late Prehistoric Iberian sites, especially in the form of micro-blades and knapping debris. With some exceptions, however, these finds have seldom been looked into in any detail, and therefore little is known about the technology involved in the use of this material, its social and economic relevance or its symbolic significance. In this paper we examine a collection of rock crystal artefacts recently found at Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain), one of the largest 3rd millennium BC sites in Western Europe. Among the objects included in this study are a long dagger blade, twenty-five arrowheads and a core, all of which form the most technically sophisticated and esthetically impressive collection of rock crystal material culture ever found in Prehistoric Iberia. Through the analysis of the procedures and techniques applied in the production of these objects , the chemical characterisation of the raw materials through Raman spectroscopy and RTI image processing and the careful assessment of the archaeological contexts in which they were found, this paper makes a robust contribution towards the study of the role of rock crystal in Copper Age technology and society. Recent research suggest that Valencina was a major node in the circulation of exotic materials such as ivory, amber, cinnabar or flint in Copper Age Iberia, which provides a very good background to assess the relevance of rock crystal as a traded commodity. In addition we discuss the role of rock crystal as a marker of status in large megalithic monuments, as well as its possible symbolic connotations.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +3
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- Physical Geography, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Geology

This paper presents a general overview of the current state of the art of archaeological research at the Valencina de la Concepción Copper Age site. The main aim is to put the contributions presented in this volume within a general perspective, with special reference to ongoing debates and promising avenues of research. First, a review is made of the research history of this site, assessing the general conditions of the currently available empirical evidence. Second, a series of topics are discussed, including the spatial organisation of the settlement, its chronology, subsistence economy, metallurgy, exchange and social complexity.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán
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- Demography, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Bioarchaeology

En este capítulo se presenta un estudio completo de la industria lítica tallada encontrada en el tholos de Montelirio. Primero se realiza una caracterización tecnomorfológica del conjunto, valorando su distribución en los principales espacios del monumento, y destacando las piezas más singulares (puntas de flecha, hoja de puñal y grandes láminas). A continuación se hace una caracterización litológica de las materias primas a partir de un examen macroscópico y mediante petrología de lámina delgada, determinándose la presencia
de sílex de varias procedencias (formaciones Malaver, Turón y Milanos), de milonitas y de riolitas, usadas en cada caso para manufacturar unos objetos específicos. Capítulo aparte se dedica a las piezas de cristal de
roca, estudiadas mediante Espectroscopía Raman Confocal. Finalmente se describen los resultados de un estudio de huellas de uso que demuestra que, excepto una lámina que presenta lustre de cereal, ninguna pieza lítica tallada del tholos fue usada antes de depositarse en la tumba. En conjunto, este estudio aporta gran cantidad de datos novedosos respecto a la industria lítica, uno de los temas peor conocidos del asentamiento de la Edad del Cobre de Valencina de la Concepción.

- by Juan Francisco Gibaja and +1
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- Use Wear Analysis, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Lithic Technology, Burial Practices (Archaeology)

The use of red pigments linked to burial practices is widely documented in the Iberian prehistoric record and very often it has been traditionally interpreted as a ritual practice entailing the utilisation of local raw materials (iron oxides). Some research works, nevertheless, have also detected the use of red pigments which can only be interpreted as allochthonous. The red pigments spread over a single inhumation in a monumental Megalithic tomb surrounding Valencina de la Concepción Copper Age settlement was studied by means of X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray microfluorescence, micro-Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. This approach allowed characterising the red pigments as cinnabar, mixed with tiny amounts of iron oxides. The presence of cinnabar, a product that was necessarily imported, in a context of an exceptional set of grave goods, suggests that the use of cinnabar was linked not only to ritual but also to practices related to the display of social status.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +2
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- Religion, Prehistoric Archaeology, Geology, Art History

This chapter provides a description of the main features on the Montelirio tholos, including its architecture, stratigraphy and deposits (both human remains and artefacts). First, a description is made of the elements, techniques and construction materials identified in each of the main spaces of this monument (atrium, corridor, large chamber, small chamber and mound), suggesting a functional as well as symbolic interpretation for them. Secondly, a general description of the human deposits and the grave goods found within all the various spaces of the monument is made, discussing their spatial distribution, associations and excavation process. Thirdly, a description is provided of the re-uses Montelirio undertook in the Iron Age and Antiquity, discussing their potential nature. The last section of this chapter undertakes a comparative assessment of Montelirio within the context of the tholos-type monuments known in Southwest Spain.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Architecture

As an indicator of long distance contact and social complexity, ivory has revealed itself as an important raw material for Iberian prehistoric research . However, the scientific potential of prehistoric ivory objects is often hampered by preservation issues. This article presents the preservation-restoration project of four exceptional Copper Age ivory objects found at Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain), a major site for the study of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC in Iberia. The criteria and methods used throughout this project are described, suggesting the paramount importance of conservation and restauration measures in the study of prehistoric ivory. This project led us to the discovery that one of the objects involved is the handle of a dagger also comprising a rock crystal blade, while another large ivory object is suspected to be the scabbard of the dagger. Altogether, this multi-part ivory artefact turns out to be unparalleled in Iberian or Western European Late Prehistory.

- by Miriam Luciañez-Triviño and +1
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- Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, Chalcolithic Archaeology

This chapter presents a comprehensive study of the knapped lithic industry found in the Montelirio tholos. First, a techno-morphological characterisation of the assemblage is made, looking at the distribution of the items in all three main spaces inside the monument. Next, a lithological characterisation is made by means of a macroscopic examination and thin slide petrology, which determines the presence of flint from various provenances (Malaver, Turón and Milanos formations), as well as milonites and riolitas, each of them used to manufacture specific objects. A separate section is devoted to the set of rock crystal items, which is studied through Raman Confocal espectrometry. Finally, the result of the use-wear analysis are presented, proving that, with the exception of a blade showing cereal lustre, no knapped lithic object was used before being deposited in the tomb. Altogether, this study contributes a great deal of new data regarding the lithic industry, one the most poorly known aspects of the Valencina de la Concepción Copper Age settlement.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Neolithic Archaeology

Collective burials are one of the most common funerary practices during Late Prehistory and show a diversity of structural solutions. Nearly all contemporaneous morphological types are known to exist at the 3rd Millennium BC archaeological site Valencina de la Concepción (Seville). In typological terms, these structures discussed here fit well into the types known as ‘artificial caves’. From a morphological point of view, there is significant variability concerning not only architectural aspects but grave goods and anthropological elements as well.
Concerning the treatment of the bodies, the most widespread ritual is the hyperflexion of both lower and upper limbs, probably indicating the use of shrouds or bandages. Some individuals seem to share morphological features that might link them to certain family groups; DNA studies were carried out to test this observation. This type of funerary structure is definitely a novelty in the Copper Age site Valencina de la Concepción.

As a raw material, ivory has been used to manufacture a wide range of objects, normally associated with sumptuous material culture. In this article we explore the role played by ivory and ivory artefacts among early complex societies, and particularly its importance in the definition of identities among emergent elites. To this end, we make a thorough examination of the evidence from Copper Age Iberia, focusing on the mega-site of Valencina, in southern Spain. This site has provided what to date is the largest assemblage of prehistoric ivory in western Europe, with an estimated total of 8.8 kg, including finely crafted artefacts of unrivalled beauty and sophistication. Our study looks carefully at the technological, morphological and contextual dimensions of Copper Age ivory. As a result, we contend that the broad morphological variability together with the technological uniformity of this assemblage suggest that, while belonging to a common technological tradition, objects were deliberately crafted as unique and unrepeatable so that they could be used to create and maintain socio-cultural idiosyncrasies and ideological legitimation.

- by Miriam Luciañez-Triviño and +2
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- Sociology, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology

In this paper, we explore the heuristic potential of a set of ideas about the structural and functional complexity of systems, proposed in the 1990s by theoretical biologist Daniel McShea. In particular, we focus on the structural aspects of the complexity exhibited by social systems organized into low-and intermediate-level functional units (i.e., groups and teams). To address this subject, we describe a methodology suited for measuring the complexity in the organization of work in such systems, which is primarily based on hierarchical task analysis. With this methodology, we approach a concrete case study: the construction of megalithic monuments in late prehistoric Iberia (ca. 3800-1800 BC). On the basis of the analysis of the three best documented, most structurally, and functionally complex monuments built within each of the three periods under study (Late Neolithic, Copper Age, and Early Bronze Age), we found that there was a trend towards less complexity in work organization related to monument building from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. We discuss the importance of these results in light of the existing models of social complexity in European Later Prehistory, concluding that a more balanced view of social processes would be obtained if we look at complexity as a property of every different social system integrated into the whole society, and not as an exclusive property of the latter.

- by Gustavo Barrientos and +1
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Funerary Archaeology

A la hora de plantear cualquier estrategia de intervención sobre bienes patrimoniales localizados en el área metropolitana de Sevilla, mucho más amplia por otra parte que el ámbito que tratamos, es necesario considerar la situación de partida de la comarca de El Aljarafe. Este espacio, que ha sufrido importantes transformaciones geográficas desde al menos el V milenio ANE, se vio sometido en los últimos veinticinco años a tales modificaciones territoriales debidas a la presión y especulación urbanística que lo que debería haber sido un proceso de crecimiento natural llegó a convertirse en puro desarrollismo económico sustentado en una dinámica urbanística voraz que no sólo enriquecía a promotores, constructores e inversores privados sino que, a través de cuantiosas licencias municipales, financiaba en buena medida a los propios municipios. Esta coyuntura no ha sido precisamente favorable al desarrollo de actuaciones específicas sobre los bienes del patrimonio cultural en general, y mucho menos sobre los arqueológicos, que durante esos años, y en concreto en los municipios tratados, se han limitado a excavaciones arqueológicas –antes urgentes, ahora preventivas, en términos de lenguaje administrativo– motivadas por la ejecución de proyectos de edificación.

- by Isabel Santana Falcón
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- Arqueología, Patrimonio Cultural, Gestión Cultural, Conservación

La presente intervención ha permitido detectar el que posiblemente sea el contexto habitacional prehistórico más completo dentro del BIC de Valencina de la Concepción, en el cual podemos reconocer la edilicia y sistema constructivo de una cabaña de tipo circular, y sus
contextos asociados.
This archaeological work has allowed us to detect what it ́s possibly the most complete housing
prehistorical context inside the BIC of Valencia de la Concepción, in what we can recognize the
building method and the system of a round type hut, an their associated contexts.

Social complexity, social inequality and social hierarchisation are among the most frequently discussed topics in the study of the Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200 – 2200 cal BCE). Since the impact of processual archaeology on Iberian Late Prehistory during the early 1980s, a large number of studies have been dedicated to these issues. Establishing a single theory (or a unanimously accepted one) of Chalcolithic social complexity is especially difficult due to the geographical and ecological diversity of Iberia, with the subsequent variability of social and cultural responses, as well as due to the limitations of the available empirical record. This paper aims to contribute to the debate concerning the nature of social inequality and hierarchisation in Copper Age Iberia by presenting and discussing new data obtained at the site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain). Valencina – located in the lower Guadalquivir River valley – is perhaps the largest Iberian settlement from the 3rd millennium cal BCE and it certainly has great potential to help advance the debate on the evolution of social complexity during the Iberian Copper Age (García Sanjuán et al. 2017). Recent contributions to the ample literature on this site have made it possible to move forward in the systematisation of the available empirical evidence (García Sanjuán et al. 2013 a), especially in terms of chronology (García Sanjuán et al. 2018), demography (Díaz-Zorita Bonilla 2017) and resources (García Sanjuán 2017). Specifically, we will proceed by presenting the existing data on grave 10.042 – 10.049, which is located in the PP4-Montelirio sector of Valencina. We will subsequently continue by evaluating this grave within the context of the social organisation of the communities that occupied and/ or frequented this Chalcolithic settlement.

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +3
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Neolithic Archaeology

A polished axe donated to the Valencina de la Concepción Museum (Seville, Spain) in November 2010, and that had belonged to Francisco María Tubino y Oliva’s (1833-1888) personal collection, is studied. Although the exact provenance of this object is unknown, there are reasons to think that it might have been found on some archaeological site of the Seville province. Through the application of two different analytical techniques (XRD, DCμRS), this axe is identified as a jade-jadeite of purity above 95 ml%, which necessarily implies it came from the Alps. In the conclusions a discussion of this artifact is made in terms of long distance contact in Iberian Late Prehistory.

The supervised zone is hypothetically situaded in the limit betwen the intermediate and village areas. The excavation provided an housine structure with several occupationals moments extended from the Plenun Calcolitic, original construction moment of the structure, to the Initial Bronze, contributing in this way to the
chronocultural definition of the prehistoric area of Valencina-
Castilleja and the survey of the tripartite functional space: villageintermediate area-necropolis.

"The great site of Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán, near Seville in the lower Guadalquivir valley of southwest Spain, is presented in the context of debate about the nature of Copper Age society in southern Iberia as a whole. Many aspects of the layout, use, character and development of Valencina remain unclear, just as there are major unresolved questions about the kind of society represented there and in southern Iberia, from the late fourth to the late third millennium cal BC. This paper discusses 178 radiocarbon dates, from 17 excavated sectors within the c. 450 ha site, making it the best dated in later Iberian prehistory as a whole. Dates are modelled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The resulting formal date estimates provide the basis for both a new epistemological approach to the site and a much more detailed narrative of its development than previously available. Beginning in the 32nd century cal BC, a long-lasting tradition of simple, mainly collective and often successive burial was established at the site. Mud-vaulted tholoi appear to belong to the 29th or 28th centuries cal BC; large stone-vaulted tholoi such as La Pastora appear to date later in the sequence. There is plenty of evidence for a wide range of other activity, but no clear sign of permanent, large-scale residence or public buildings or spaces. Results in general support a model of increasingly competitive but ultimately unstable social relations, through various phases of emergence, social competition, display and hierarchisation, and eventual decline, over a period of c. 900 years."

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +11
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- Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Archaeological Science, Archaeological Method & Theory
- by Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla and +1
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- Bioarchaeology, Osteology, Osteology (Anthropology), Human Osteology

The rescue excavation carried out between 2007 and 2008 at the PP4-Montelirio sector of the Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán settlement encompassed an extension of 18,878 m² and led to the discovery of around 200 prehistoric and Roman features. Out of 134 excavated Copper Age features,
61 have been classified as funerary, for they contain human remains, while the remaining 73 have been classified as no-funerary (no human remains were found). As a result of the classification and inventorying work carried out since January 2011 at the Seville Archaeology Museum by the Research Group Atlas (HUM-694) of the University of Seville, in this paper we present a synthesis of the main formal characteristics of those features, as well as an assessment of their significance for the understanding of 3rd millennium BC Valencina de la Concepción.

This palaeodietary study presents carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from human and faunal skeletal
remains from the Copper Age settlement of Valencina de la Concepción–Castilleja de Guzmán, located in
Seville, Spain. Montelirio, the only Valencina–Castilleja human group from which we have obtained reliable
palaeodietary results, had a diet based on C3 terrestrial resources, including both plants and animals. The
protein component of the diet consisted mainly of meat, milk and dairy products from livestock as well as
C3 plant protein from cereals and pulses. This study compares data from Montelirio, the Copper Age group
from Valencina–Castilleja, with the published data from other Iberian Late Neolithic–Copper Age (LN-CA) societies.
This comparison reveals a homogeneous diet with some exceptions. Overall, the LN-CA diet in the
Iberian Peninsula consisted mainly of animal proteins from meat, milk and dairy products from livestock as
well as C3 plant sources from the characteristic agriculture of the societies of these periods. This study also
demonstrates the minor use of aquatic resources from the Neolithic to the Copper Age period in the Iberian
Peninsula.

- by Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla and +1
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- Paleoanthropology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Bioarchaeology, Paleodiet

"The mega-site of Valencina is currently a major focus of interest for the study of Copper Age Iberia. Remarkable megalithic monuments such as La Pastora, Montelirio or Structure 10.042-10.049 at PP4-Montelirio are found alongside hundreds of other features, including pits and large-sized ditches, some of which have yielded evidence of exotic material craftsmanship without parallels in Iberian Late Prehistory which also suggests long-distance contacts. Part of the flourishing experienced by Valencina in the 3rd millennium BC can be explained by its specific geographic location at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river, facing a marine gulf surrounded by lands of high agricultural potential. Other reasons, however, must have accounted for Valencina's growth as a mega-site, including particularly demographic and economic ones. In order to better understand the demographic and subsistence patterns of the communities that lived and/or frequented Valencina, we analysed 29 human and 7 faunal samples for δ 18 O and δ 13 C isotope analyses. The sampling strategy followed is based on a combination of bone and dental tissues. In addition an intra-tooth study was also carried out to observe intra-individual seasonal changes. Overall, this evidence contributes to the study of diet and mobility patterns, which can in turn provide insights of the demography and economy of the communities that used this mega-site. "

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +1
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- History, Cultural History, Economic History, Biochemistry

Resumen: Presentamos una síntesis del conjunto cerámico hallado en el tholos de Montelirio (Castilleja de Guzmán, Sevilla). Los materiales documentados corresponden a niveles previos, coetáneos y posteriores al uso de la estructura funeraria calcolítica, aunque la mayor parte del material puede ser considerado coetáneo al uso funerario del monumento en la Edad del Cobre. La actividad constatada en el monumento en la Anti-güedad ha provocado que una parte de los materiales calcolíticos se encuentren muy fragmentados y fuera de su contexto original de deposición. En todo caso, la cerámica funeraria calcolítica aporta una cantidad importante de información. La mayor parte de este material corresponde a platos, cuencos, formas globu-lares y recipientes de almacenamiento de gran tamaño, casi siempre sin decoración, aunque se documenta decoración de líneas y retículas sobre algunos fondos de plato. A este respecto, aunque muy puntual, es significativa la presencia de un fragmento de cerámica Campaniforme. Abstract: We present an overview of the ceramic assemblage found in the Montelirio tholos (Castilleja de Guzmán, Seville, Spain). The items recorded correspond to levels prior, synchronous and later than the use of the Chalcolithic tomb, although most of the material is associated with the Copper Age burials. Activity in Ancient times caused breakage and displacement of part of the chalcolithic materials away from their original places of deposition. Despite this problem, the Chalcolithic burial pottery does, however, provide a good deal of information. Most of these items correspond to plates, bowls, globular forms and large-size storage jars mostly without decoration, although linear and reticulate motifs are observed on some of the plates. In addition, it is of interest the isolated but significant presence of a Bell-Beaker fragment.

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

"Todo en Montelirio es singular. Los artefactos descubiertos, la construcción en sí misma, o las personas inhumadas en él, todo apunta a que este enterramiento no es como los demás. El conjunto hallado parece fruto de una coreografía orquestada hace casi 5000 años: objetos de colores, mujeres vestidas con trajes de cuentas blancas, cuerpos y paredes pintadas de brillante rojo, objetos elaborados en marfil, restos de la combustión de hierbas aromáticas que un día debieron perfumar el ambiente. Todo cuidadosamente ordenado alrededor de una estela que, situada en el centro de la cámara principal, observa la escena a través de sus ojos soles, en silencio."

- by Leonardo García Sanjuán and +2
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Mediterranean prehistory, Neolithic Archaeology