Almizaraque necropolis
The necropolis of Almizaraque ( Spanish Tholos calcolítico de la Encantada de Almizaraque ) is located near Palomares , about 3.0 km from the Mediterranean coast, in the province of Almería in Spain . The necropolis was discovered by Luis Siret (1860-1934), who began in October 1906 together with Pedro Flores with the excavations of three passage graves ( Spanish Tumba de corredor ) on the hill La Encantada . The graves are referred to as the megalithic tombs of Almizaraque ( Spanish Tumbas megalíticas de Almizaraque ).
The graves
La Encantada I is located in the middle of the hill of the same name and about 300 m northeast of the prehistoric settlement Almizaraque . It is a passage grave with a round burial chamber, which was built in a false vault . Access was from the south. The 3.65 m long corridor was divided into three parts by slates with a round opening. The floor of the corridor and the chamber were paved with slate. The burial chamber had a diameter of about 3.55 m and is still 1.20 m high today. A burial mound with a diameter of 11.40 m was built over the grave and was formed by five concentric walls made of irregular stones. The gaps were filled with small stones and clay. In front of the entrance there was a trapezoidal forecourt, which was delimited by two sloping side walls. It was 8.60 m wide and narrowed to 4.60 m towards the entrance.
The bones of at least 50 individuals were found in the burial chamber. A radiocarbon analysis of the bones showed an age of 1208–831 BC. The earliest additions in the grave date from the beginning of the Copper Age . Based on these results, it is believed that this tomb was connected to the simultaneous settlement of Almizaraque and was in use from the beginning of the Copper Age to the end of the Bronze Age.
La Encantada II , which was 122 m south of La Encantada I , had an irregularly shaped chamber with an entrance from the west. In the middle of the chamber was a pit for a wooden pillar that supported a flat roof. Later, two small chambers were added at different times. One last change took place in Roman times. The grave has completely disappeared today.
About 100 m east of La Encantada II was La Encantada III within the Las Palas site . The tomb was used during the first three phases of Almizaraque. So it was at the end of the Neolithic around 2500 BC. And remained until around 2000 BC. In use. It had an oval burial chamber with a diameter between 2 m and 2.20 m and a short access corridor. The burial chamber was 0.58 m high and had two small niches.
Location Las Palas
The location of Las Palas was southeast of La Encantada and had an area of 936 m². In addition to the La Encantada III grave, a total of 29 pits were found here. In the northern pits they found mud bricks, some of which were charred, stones in the middle, millstones in the west, weaving weights in the south and the pits in the western center were empty. From this arrangement it was concluded that certain businesses were operating in certain areas. It is assumed that the pits with stone floors drained water better and were thus suitable for the storage of grain. In the west, grain was ground. The clay brick pits were believed to have been used to store liquids, and weaving took place in the south. The empty pits were probably also used to store water or something similar. The pits were either cylindrical and had an average size of about 0.5 m³ or a bulbous shape with a narrowed opening and a size of about 1 m³. These sizes roughly correspond to estimated household use. Presumably there were houses next to the pits, so that the pits were in the middle of the settlement and served as storage.
Pits in the east were later used to bury the dead. Pit 14 was found 1.90 m south of La Encantada III , which was later reused as grave 4. The oldest finds date to the beginning of the Neolithic (end of the 5th millennium BC) and the most recent to the end of the Neolithic (around 2500 BC).
Site of La Era
Location La Era connected directly to La Encantada and Las Palas in the south . Eight pits were discovered here, which were believed to have been used to store grain and water. A dolmen 1.66 m long, 2 m wide and 0.65 m high was also found here. In addition, two urns with lids containing burnt bones were discovered. The urns were buried close together so that it could not be determined whether they came from one grave or from two graves.
literature
- M. Carrilero Millán and A. Suárez Marques: El territorio almeriense en la prehistoria. Almería 1997, ISBN 84-8108-134-5
- Alberto J. Lorrio: Qurénima: el Bronce Final del sureste en la Península Ibérica , Madrid 2008, ISBN 978-84-96849-41-9 , pp. 77-87
- Paz Román Díaz, Ruth Maicas Ramos: “Campos de Hoyos” en la Desembocadura del Rio Almanzora (Almería): Las Palas y La Era in Complutum , Volume 13, 2002, pp. 51–76 ( online )
Individual evidence
- ↑ The use of a central pillar to support the chamber cover has been documented in false dome tombs: in wood in the tholos of Praia das Maçãs and in some facilities in Almizaraque (Viana et al., 1961, p. 10). Made of stone in the cantilever vault by A. dos Tassos, similar in Pedra Branca
Web links
Coordinates: 37 ° 16 ′ 6.3 " N , 1 ° 47 ′ 13.4" W.