Monumental ditched enclosures in southern Iberia (fourth–third millennia BC)

Abstract

Large curvilinear enclosures are now established as a principal instrument of human activity in Central Europe from the Neolithic into the Bronze Age(Antiquity, passim). Here the authors introduce us to examples from southern Iberia and make the case that they should be regarded as part of the same continent-wide phenomenon.

Mid-late Holocene climate, demography, and cultural dynamics in Iberia: A multi-proxy approach

“…Díaz-del-Río, 2004, 2011; Bartelheim, 2012;Cruz Berrocal et al, 2013;Gilman, 2013). Ongoing debate also exists on the nature (whether full-or part-time) of craft specialization (copper-based metallurgy, ceramics, flaked and groundstone lithics), the social and symbolic role of long-distance exchange (in copper, slate, variscite, amphibolite, North African ostrich eggshell and ivory), and the functions, temporality of occupation (seasonal or permanent), and relationships between traditional site types (numerous lowland pit sites) and newly discovered ones (some minority stone-walled locations such as Los Millares or Zambujal and frequent large ditched enclosures such as Perdigões or Valencia de la Concepción) (Gamito, 2003;Jorge, 2003;Chapman, 2008;Nocete et al, 2008;Díaz-del-Río, 2011;García Sanjuán et al, 2013;Márquez-Romero and Jiménez-Jáimez, 2013).…”

Another brick in the wall: fifth millennium BC earthen-walled architecture on the Channel shores

“…2011) and Northern Europe (Müller 2010), and southwards, particularly to Western Central France with the Matignons group. Interpretation of the role of the layout of these banks and ditches, and of the spaces that they enclosed, has been the subject of numerous discussions in Western Europe (Andersen 1997; Jeunesse 2010; Márquez-Romero & Jiménez-Jáimez 2013).…”

The Deposition of Human Remains Inside Chalcolithic Ditched Enclosures: Ditch 5 at Marroquíes (Jaén, Spain)

“…The diversity of social practices involving the manipulation and deposition of human remains is one of the main features of the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies of southern Iberia. Alongside traditional burials in megalithic tombs and hypogea, in the last few decades archaeologists have begun to describe the frequent appearance of human bones in features such as pits and ditches, a novel form of mortuary treatment that reveals a previously underappreciated ritual complexity (Zafra de la Torre et al, 2003, 2010; Blasco et al, 2011; Márquez-Romero & Jiménez-Jáimez, 2013; García Sanjuán et al, 2013, 2018; Valera et al, 2014; Valera, 2019). One of the most remarkable patterns identified has been the discovery of human remains that do not fit the ‘traditional’ funerary practices for the period, which consist of the primary burial of individuals, usually accompanied by grave goods, in structures specially built for mortuary purposes.…”