Cova de l'Or

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Vase of the Impresso culture from the cave

The Cova de l'Or cave is located on the southern slope of the Serra de Benicadell in the province of Alicante in Spain . It is a cave that a group of Neolithic men of the cardial or imprint culture , which had spread in the western Mediterranean, had lived since the middle of the 6th millennium BC. BC (5600 BC) used. The first archaeological reports on the cave come from R. Pardo in 1933. The Museu d'Alcoy began excavations in 1955. The importance of the place lies primarily in its flat-bottomed and pointed-bottom ceramics decorated with cockle shells , to which double-mouthed and handle vessels belong.

Roasted cereal grains were made using the 14 C method on 5550 BC. Dated. The result is one of the early dates of the agricultural and livestock horizon in the Iberian Peninsula . When the Neolithic groups reached the valley, the peak of the Atlantic had just been reached. Their activities reduced the forest. There is evidence of growing wheat , barley and legumes (beans, peas and lentils). With regard to domestic animals, the prevalence of sheep and / or goats is striking. The pig is well represented, cattle and dogs are featured. New interdisciplinary excavations under the direction of V. Pascual and B. Marti took place between 1975 and 1985.

The stock-keeping and sedentarism of the farmers required ceramic vessels for storing supplies and water. Recent research in the Cova de l'Or has found that the ceramic decoration exhibits a range of anthropomorphic images. This confirms that the early Neolithic communities were the originators of the images under the abrises and in caves ( Cova Fosca ). The central theme is the adorant , the human figure with arms raised. Pictures and painted vessels thus have a religious purpose.

The cave was not only visited in the Paleolithic. Like the Cova Fosca and the caves of the Barranco de los Grajos, it was used during the Neolithic and used as a burial cave during the Copper Age .

literature

  • S. Pardo Gordó: Las cerámicas de la cova de l'Or (Beniarrés, Alacant). Tipology y decoración de las colecciones del Museu d'Alcoi .
  • Jose Aparicio Perez: La Cova Fosca: (Ares del Maestre-Castellon) y el neolitico Valenciano (Arqueologica series) .

Web links

Coordinates: 38 ° 50 ′ 40.7 "  N , 0 ° 21 ′ 50.3"  W.