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The results of this study allow for a review of the iconography in Pala de Cabras rock-shelter (Ourense). This site, with 15 art panels, is one of the most complex sites with Iberian Schematic Art in the Northwestern part of Iberia.Within this ensemble, three representations of the so-called eyed-idols, soliform, ramiform and zig-zag stand out. The identification of new figures implied the revision of the chronological frame of this rock art site and, therefore, implies a new analisys on its cultural context into the Iberian rock art regions. The presence of this rock-shelter in the eastern Galician mountain range is helping to define the encounter zone of two different rock art traditions: the Schematic art and the Atlantic art. Los resultados del presente estudio han permitido redefinir la iconografía del abrigo de Pala de Cabras (Ourense). Este yacimiento, con 15 paneles, constituye uno de los conjuntos con Arte Esquemático más complejos del noroeste de la Península Ibérica. Entre las figuras pintadas destacan 3 representaciones de las llamadas figuras oculadas, soliformes, ramiformes y zig-zag. La identificación de nuevas figuras obliga a una revisión del marco cronológico del yacimiento y, por lo tanto, a un nuevo análisis de su contexto cultural dentro de las regiones rupestres de la Península Ibérica. La presencia de este abrigo en las sierras orientales gallegas, está ayudando a definir la zona de encuentro entre dos tradiciones rupestres: la Esquemática y la Atlántica.

The Coval Simó shelter provides some of the oldest evidence for settlement on the island of Mallorca and the Balearic archipelago. It also has the peculiarity of being a habitat in a mountain area, so that the human groups that settled there had to adapt their agricultural and farming sys­tem to this environment. The plant remains (wood charcoal and seeds) recovered in the occupation levels allow us to address these issues, since they are the result of the different activities developed in this cavity: fuel for domestic activities, food for livestock, etc. The results of this study show that between the III and II millennium cal BC, an agricultural system based on livestock and cereal farming was implement­ed, which exploited local forest formations to obtain resources, among them, firewood. The plants that were exploit­ed show the existence of juniper forests, with the presence of maples and legumes, among other shrubs and bushes., El Coval Simó constituye una de las evidencias más antiguas de poblamiento en la isla de Mallorca y en el ar­chipiélago balear. Tiene, además, la particularidad de ser un hábitat en zona de montaña, de modo que los grupos huma­nos que se asentaron allí debieron de adaptar su sistema agropecuario y de explotación del entorno a este medio. Los restos vegetales (carbones y semillas) recuperados en los niveles de ocupación del yacimiento permiten aproximarse a estas cuestiones, ya que son resultado de las distintas ac­tividades desarrolladas en esta cavidad: combustible para las actividades domésticas, alimento para el ganado, etc. Los resultados de este estudio muestran que entre el III y II milenio cal BC se implantó un sistema agropecuario basado en la ganadería y en el cultivo de cereales, que realizaba una explotación de las formaciones forestales locales para la ob­tención de recursos, entre ellos, el combustible leñoso. Las formaciones vegetales explotadas remiten a la existencia de bosques de enebros o sabinas, con presencia de arces y ma­torrales de leguminosas, entre otros arbustos y matas.

In this study, total mercury (THg) was analyzed in archaeological human bone from 23 sites dating to between the Middle Neolithic and the Antiquity. A total of 370 individuals from individual or collective burials was sampled, mostly using cortical bone from the humerus. These individuals were recovered from over 50 different funerary structures ranging from tholoi, pits, caves, and hypogea. Although cinnabar (HgS) is a likely cause of mercury poisoning and toxicity for people exposed to this mineral from mining or use as a paint or pigment, not all sites investigated here had cinnabar associated with the burials or other excavated areas. We found unusual levels of THg in many of the sampled individuals that we assume were caused by exposure to cinnabar in life, and not by diagenetic processes or other exposures to mercury such as through diet, which would only cause negligible accumulation of THg in bone. Our data, based on the largest sampling ever undertaken on contamination of human bone through archaeological evidence, provide a baseline for additional research on cinnabar and its use in Prehistory. Moderate to high levels of THg in human bone are mainly associated with societies dating from the second half of the 4th to late 3rd millennia B.C. (Late Neolithic to Middle Chalcolithic) in southern Iberia. By the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, the use of cinnabar decreased significantly and became minimal or absent. The use and abuse of cinnabar appears to have been pervasive throughout the above-mentioned period and particularly between c. 2900-2300 B.C. This occurred in connection with the high symbolic and probably sacred value of the substance, which was sought after, traded, and extensively used in a variety of rituals and social practices. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

International audience; This paper aims to bring new insights about weighing practices and instruments during Late Bronze Age in Western Europe. Northern France and Southern England share the particularity of providing tiny balance beams and weights dedicated to weigh small quantities. It is traditionally accepted that most of the Bronze Age weights found in Western Europe correspond roughly to a same practice built around one metrological system. Nevertheless, the deviations observed between several weights which should correspond to the same values in the metrological system raise questions about the accuracy of the Bronze Age balances.This paper synthetizes the general categories of weights and beams used during the Bronze Age in Northern France and Southern England and their main characteristics. Using new mathematical and digital protocols – sensitivity analysis, 3D modelling and simulation, and finite element analysis – we highlight the main mechanical features of the Bronze Age balances, the accuracy that should be expected with them and their resistance to use.Our results show than ancient balances were way more accurate that what is generally estimated. They show that most of them should probably allow to see differences between the loading of the two pans less than 0.5 g in most of cases. These results also raise new interpretations about the use of metrological systems during the Bronze Age considering that certain weights, generally interpreted as the same value, would appear as completely different if they were put on each pan of such a balance. The resistance simulations also show that the bone beams were very robust and could support loading much heavier than the weights identified for the same period.

Translucent minerals were valued in prehistoric societies for their rarity and socially used as highly symbolic elements. This work addresses the use and nature of Iberian translucent beads. We present the results of chemical (Raman spectroscopy, portable X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and visible (Vis)/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy) and contextual analyses and provide a review of the archaeological literature on the manufacture and use of translucent items during Iberian Late Prehistory. A total of 54 translucent beads from 47 sites, primarily burials, were analyzed; 33 were made from fluorite, while the remaining 21 were made of diverse translucent minerals (calcite, quartz and different silicates). The scarcity of translucent items in the archaeological record, the regional and supraregional scale of its exchange, and its recursive association to other valuables in singular contexts reinforces the idea that their owners/wearers enjoyed a high status., Los minerales translúcidos fueron apreciados por las sociedades prehistóricas por su rareza, y fueron utilizados como elementos altamente simbólicos. Este trabajo aborda el uso y la caracterización de las cuentas translúcidas de la península ibérica, mediante análisis químico (espectroscopía Raman, espectrómetro de fluorescencia de rayos X portátil, difracción de rayos X y espectroscopia en región visible y en infrarrojo cercano) y contextual, junto a una revisión de la bibliografía arqueológica sobre la producción y uso de adornos y elementos translúcidos durante la Prehistoria Reciente ibérica. Un total de 54 cuentas de 47 yacimientos, mayoritariamente funerarios, han sido analizadas; 33 fueron trabajadas en fluorita, mientras que las restantes 21 fueron realizadas en distintos minerales translúcidos (calcita, cuarzo y varios silicatos). La escasez de adornos translúcidos en el registro arqueológico, su escala regional y suprarregional de intercambio, y su asociación recurrente a otros elementos de prestigio en contextos singulares refuerzan la hipótesis del alto estatus de sus poseedores/portadores.

El yacimiento de la cueva de Abittaga, excavado por J.M. Barandiarán entre 1964 y 1965, contiene una secuencia arqueológica con ocupaciones del Magdaleniense Superior y de la Prehistoria Reciente. Este yacimiento apenas ha participado en los debates de la prehistoria vasca de los últimos 40 años, fundamentalmente porque el yacimiento había sido estudiado de manera parcial y porque la información estratigráfica resultaba confusa. En este trabajo presentamos la revisión la colección arqueológica de Abittaga (industria lítica, ósea, cerámica, macrofauna y restos humanos). Se presentan además nuevas dataciones para las ocupaciones magdalenienses (nivel VII), y las de la Prehistoria Reciente (niveles I-III), y los resultados de la intervención arqueológica realizada en 2016. Estos resultados proporcionan una visión actualizada de un yacimiento usado con fines sepulcrales en la Edad del Bronce y como campamento ocasional, dentro de una amplia red de emplazamientos en la cuenca del Lea, durante el Magdaleniense Superior., J.M. Barandiaranek, 1964 eta 1965 artean, Goi Madeleine aldiko eta Historiarre Hurbileko okupazioak dituen Abittaga kobazuloko aztarnategiaren segida arkeologikoa induskatu zuen. Aztarnategi horrek oso parte-hartze txikia izan du euskal historiaurrearen inguruan azken 40 urteotan egin izan diren eztabaidetan; horretarako arrazoiak bi dira batez ere: aztarnategia modu partzialean aztertu zutelako eta informazio estratigrafikoa nahasia zelako. Lan honetan, Abittagako bilduma arkeologikoaren (industria litikoa, hezurrak, zeramikoa, makrofauna eta giza aztarnak) berrikusketa aurkezten dugu. Gainera, Madeleine aldiko okupazioetarako datazio berriak (VII. maila) eta Historiaurre Hurbilekoak (I-III mailak), eta 2016an egindako lan arkeologikoko emaitzak aurkezten dira. Emaitza hauek aztarnatergiaren ikuspegi eguneratua eskaintzen dute. Brontze Aroan kobazuloa hilobi gisa erabilia izan zen. Bestalde, Goi Madeleine aldian Lea ibaiaren arroan garai horrentan zegoen kokaleku sareko aldizkako kanpamentua bezala erabilia izan zen., The archaeological site of Abittaga cave, excavated by J.M. Barandiarán between 1964 and 1965, has yielded a stratigraphic sequence with Late Magdalenian and Recent Prehistory occupations. For several reasons, this site has barely contributed to the debates about the Basque Prehistory during the last 40 years, debates such as the subsistence strategies and cultural transformations of the last hunter gatherers in the region, or the use of caves by the first farmer communities. This can probably be explained not only by the absence of a complete comprehensive analysis of the site and the archaeological materials, but also because some of the information provided by J.M. Barandiarán about the site, specially about its stratigraphy, was rather confusing. In this work we present the systematic revision of the archaeo-palaeontological collection, and we offer new data about the lithic tools, bone industry, pottery, and faunal and human remains. The analysis of the documentation of the site recorded by J.M. Barandiarán and J.M. Apellániz complemented with the results of the excavation made in 2016 at the site, suggest that the archaeological deposits excavated by J.M. Barandiarán probably correspond with deposits in primary position preserved only by the right wall of the entrance hall of the cave. The analysis of the pottery assemblage suggests different uses of the cave between the III and the I millennium cal BC. The presence of a single human individual buried in levels I-III, directly dated between 1895-1689 cal BC, indicates a funerary use of the cave during the Bronze Age. Levels IV-VI are really poor in archaeological materials and thus very difficult to interpret. Level VII presents the bulk of the archaeological material and it has been dated between 14321-14051 cal BP. In this level, the lithic assemblage is well preserved, with different refitting series. Almost all the lithic artifacts have been knapped using Flysch flint, but there are examples of flint varieties coming from more than 50 km of distance. We have recognized an in situ bladelet production obtained from carinated burins and small blocks, and the production of larger blades outside the cave, that were subsequently carried to Abittaga. The retouched toolkit is composed basically by burins, partially retouched blades and backed bladelets, with a remarkable absence of endscrapers. On the other hand, the bone industry is rich and varied, with bone points, single-row barbed harpoons, and rods. This lithic and bone industry is similar to other coeval sites in the same region such as Santa Catalina or Atxurra. The Late Magdalenian occupation of Abittaga cave is interpreted as a short-term occupation which was part of a wider settlement network that existed at that time in the Lea basin.

Les recherches archéologiques conduites au Soudan suggèrent que les communautés de la préhistoire récente se sont développées au travers de transitions majeures et d’une diversité régionale notable. Dans les régions centrale et septentrionale, un nombre important de sites d’habitat des périodes mésolithique et néolithique ont été identifiés. Les données inédites émergeant de projets en cours comme le Sabaloka Dam archaeological project (SDASP) and the El Salha project complètent progressivement la carte archéologique complexe du Soudan pour les périodes de la préhistoire récente apportant de nouvelles informations sur les modalités des transitions et l’emplacement des sites. De nombreux sujets ont déjà été explorés mais certaines problématiques restent vierges et de vastes régions encore inexplorées. Cet article rend compte des récents travaux de prospection et fouille menés dans la région de Sabaloka, au nord de Khartoum, depuis 2013-2015. Il est également l’occasion de proposer une discussion autour des particularismes régionaux dans la préhistoire récente du Soudan central, à partir d’études comparatives de mobilier. Evidence from several sites suggests that the late prehistoric communities in Sudan developed over transitional times and regional diversities. Central and Northern Sudan have yielded an important record of late prehistoric settlements with several Mesolithic and Neolithic sites. New data from current projects such as the Sabaloka Dam Archaeological Project (SDASP, El Salha project) are progressively updating the archaeological map of Sudan and bringing fresh information about the complex transitions having occurred during the late prehistoric periods. Although many topics have been discussed, some issues remain untouched and geographical gaps are still uninvestigated. This paper reports about the survey and excavation conducted in the Sabaloka area, North of Khartoum, since 2013-2015. It is also a first attempt to discuss the importance of the area in the field of Sudanese prehistory and to explore the range of regional diversities through comparative studies.

Research on Iberian Prehistoric ditched enclosures has seen a significant progress in the last two decades. One of the best-known sites of Southern Iberia is Perdigões (Portugal).We present the study of the so-called Ditch 2, describing in detail its morphology, the stratigraphic sequence of its filling and its chronology, on the basis of 12 unpublished radiocarbon dates.Results confirm that this feature, together with Ditch 1, represents the last monumental phase of the site, dated in the third quarter of the 3rd millennium. They also confirm the importance that a group of pre-existing tombs had in the layout of the ditches, La investigación de los recintos de fosos de la Prehistoria de la península ibérica ha vivido un gran avance en las últimas dos décadas. Uno de los casos más importantes del sur peninsular es el conocido yacimiento arqueológico de Perdigões (Portugal). Presentamos aquí el estudio del denominado Foso 2, dando a conocer su morfología, la dinámica estratigráfica de su relleno y su cronología, para la que se cuenta con 12 dataciones radiocarbónicas inéditas. Los resultados de estas últimas han puesto de manifiesto que, junto al Foso 1, estos dos grandes recintos configuran una fase monumental tardía del yacimiento, acontecida entre el 2500 - 2250 cal AC. Por último, el estudio cronológico confirma la importancia que tuvo la presencia de un grupo de sepulcros tipo tholos más antiguos para el trazado de dichos fosos.

With the aim of offering a first approach to issues of such importance as the number of sites that make up the Galician rock art, their iconographic variability or geographical distribution, we have analysed the official archaeological inventory of the Galician autonomous government (Servizo de Arqueoloxía da la Dirección Xeral do Patrimonio Cultural de la Xunta de Galicia). The database obtained was subsequently analyzed by using Geographic Information System and statistical software. The results show how, nowadays, there is a total of 3,374 known petroglyphs unevenly distributed across the Galician territory. Our analysis shows an absolute predominance of geometric motifs over the naturalists, but it also hints at the existence of a remarkable heterogeneity, which becomes patent not only in the density of petroglyphs, but also in the relative frequency of motifs and their tendency to appear or not together on the same panels or with respect to the location of rock art sites on the landscape., Con el objetivo de ofrecer una primera aproximación a cuestiones tan fundamentales como el número de estaciones que conforman el fenómeno rupestre gallego, su composición temática o su distribución geográfica, hemos llevado a cabo un vaciado del Preinventario del Servizo de Arqueoloxía de la Dirección Xeral do Patrimonio Cultural de la Xunta de Galicia. La base de datos obtenida ha sido analizada posteriormente por medio de sistemas de información geográfica y software estadístico. En la actualidad, se conocen un total de 3.374 estaciones rupestres distribuidas de modo desigual a lo largo del territorio gallego. Su análisis evidencia el dominio absoluto de las figuras geométricas frente a las naturalistas, pero también la existencia de una considerable heterogeneidad que se manifiesta no sólo en la densidad de petroglifos, sino también en la frecuencia relativa de motivos, en su tendencia a comparecer o no de modo conjunto en los mismos paneles o en la propia implantación de las rocas grabadas en el paisaje.

We present the first summed calibrated date probability distributions for the later prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula. The SCDPD is based on 4402 determination between 8000 and 3000 BP, a time range beginning in the regional late Mesolithic and running through the Bronze Age. This period is known to see the first introduction of farming at the beginning of the Neolithic, the development of the first large population aggregations during the Copper Age and the subsequent abrupt transition to the substantially diverse Iberian Bronze Age ‘cultures’. The results conform to an exponential model for demographic growth, with a slight “boom and bust” episode between 5300 and 5150 cal BC, some 300 years after the first dated evidence for agriculture in Iberia. The evidence suggest that if migrants from outside Iberia were involved in the introduction of domesticates, this must have happened at a small scale, one not observable through SCDPD. The dating of the observed population “boom” coincides with the decline in frequency of the cardial-impressed and the wide spread of “epicardial” wares throughout the Peninsula. It thus seems reasonable to suppose that these patterns indicate a moderate increase in fertility rates of early farming groups. The SCDPD analysis also suggests that explanatory models for the rise of Copper Age ‘complexity’ or the transition to the Bronze Age should not rely on substantial changes in overall Iberian population densities.

The HLC (Heritage-Landscape-Community) archaeological metaproject, carried out since 2016 by the Jagiellonian University in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, targets the archaeological heritage of southern Jordan (Tafila region), focusing currently on remains of the Early Bronze Age and earlier cultures that were found in the region. The project has already identified and verified several previously undocumented or poorly documented sites. Its main objective is to establish chronological phasing of human activity in this microregion, particularly during the Early Bronze Age and to assess the scale and nature of human presence in that period. Two sites, Faysaliyya and Munqata’a, were excavated within the frame of the project. The article presents the preliminary results of this work. An important side issue is the protection of Jordanian heritage in the Tafila region through the identification of natural and human agents that may damage or destroy it. The HLC (Heritage-Landscape-Community) archaeological metaproject, carried out since 2016 by the Jagiellonian University in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Antiquities and Tourism, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, targets the archaeological heritage of southern Jordan (Tafila region), focusing currently on remains of the Early Bronze Age and earlier cultures that were found in the region. The project has already identified and verified several previously undocumented or poorly documented sites. Its main objective is to establish chronological phasing of human activity in this microregion, particularly during the Early Bronze Age, and to assess the scale and nature of human presence in that period. Two sites, Faysaliyya and Munqata’a, were excavated within the frame of the project. The article presents the preliminary results of this work. An important side issue is the protection of Jordanian heritage in the Tafila region through the identification of natural and human agents that may damage or destroy it.

On the northern fringes of Serra do Extremo, overlooking the valley of the river Minho, the hills of Monte Faro and Monte dos Fortes revealed an exceptional collection of prehistoric rock carvings belonging to the Iberian Atlantic Art tradition. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, A. Leite da Cunha e E. J. Silva studied here the well-known sites of Monte da Laje, Tapada do Ozão e Monte dos Fortes. Between 2013 and 2015, a new research project amplified the numbers to over one hundred carved rocks, amongst which 91 are dated to Late Prehistory. This allows us to acknowledge that this is the largest assemblage of Atlantic Art identified, so far, in Portugal. This paper, which inaugurates the dissemination of the research outcomes, reveals how the project was structured, the methodology adopted and offers a preliminary description of the archaeological sites.

This paper shows the prehistoric mining tools recovered during the archaeological field-walking surveys and excavations of the variscite mines’ of Palazuelo de las Cuevas (Aliste disctrict, Zamora) and Pico Centeno (Encinasola, Huelva). Knapped stone mining tools are not absent of the Iberian prehistoric mines, but they appear in low frequency and, probably for that reason, had not attracted scholars’ attention. A way to inquire on the morphological characteristics and technological qualities of these objects is through the so called analysis of techno-functional units. Technique, shape, function, and use-wear distributions are identified along the artefact’s techno-functional units in order to propose how these tools were used. This approach shows, among other aspects, how ancient miners designed and used multifunctional tools. Regarding the comparison of the ensembles from these two mining districts there are enough differences as for considering them as two independent technological traditions. It is argued that these differences are most probably related to the different scale of production calculated between Palazuelo de las Cuevas and Pico Centeno., Se presentan las herramientas prehistóricas de minería recuperadas en prospecciones y excavaciones de las minas de variscita de Palazuelo de las Cuevas (Aliste, Zamora) y Pico Centeno (Encinasola, Huelva). Los útiles de piedra tallada no son raros en los contextos mineros prehistóricos peninsulares aunque, probablemente debido a que aparecen con poca frecuencia, no han despertado gran interés. Aquí planteamos una aproximación a las características morfológicas y capacidades tecnológicas de estos artefactos mediante el análisis de las unidades tecnofuncionales. A través de la identificación de características como la técnica de obtención, la forma y la funcionalidad de las distintas zonas de un útil, junto con la valoración de su distribución a lo largo de la pieza y la constatación de la presencia o ausencia de huellas de uso, creemos posible averiguar el modo de utilización de estos objetos. Así, hemos identificado que los mineros prehistóricos diseñaron y emplearon herramientas compuestas o multifuncionales. Al comparar el utillaje de ambos distritos mineros creemos haber encontrado suficientes diferencias como para hablar de dos tradiciones tecnológicas independientes que, según se argumenta, creemos que son debidas a que las minas zamoranas fueron explotadas a una escala mayor.

Les récentes recherches menées dans la plaine côtière de la Tihâma ont apporté un éclairage nouveau sur la culture mégalithique de la fin de la Préhistoire qui se développe le long de la côte yéménite de la mer Rouge. À ce jour, sept sites comportant des structures mégalithiques y ont été recensés. Ces monuments imposants, datés de la fin du iiie – début du iie millénaire av. J.‑C., semblent consciemment implantés en des points précis le long des principaux wâdî. Étant donné l’absence de pierre dans la région, ces grands monuments en pierre ont dû être transportés sur de longues distances, impliquant probablement un rôle significatif joué tant par le monument que par son matériau. Ces stigmates culturels dans le paysage ne sont pas sans rappeler le marquage de territoires ou d’espaces sacralisés qui s’observent durant les périodes précédant l’avènement des royaumes sudarabiques. À la fin du iie et au début du ier millénaire av. J.‑C., ces mêmes mégalithes furent remployés dans les fondations de structures monumentales ou comme pierres tombales. Actuellement, ces mêmes pierres peuvent être aperçues marquant la sépulture de âwlîya musulmans ou saints, ou intégrées dans l’architecture des mosquées des environs. Le remploi de ces pierres dans des espaces sacralisés, tels que des mosquées et tombes de walî, laisse penser que ces mégalithes et l’espace qu’ils définissaient ont non seulement été porteur de sens par le passé mais aussi qu’ils continuent à l’être actuellement. En analysant la manière avec laquelle ces complexes mégalithiques servirent à marquer l’espace et le territoire durant la Préhistoire récente, ainsi que la pérennité de leur utilisation dans les espaces sacralisés islamiques, cet article aborde ainsi tout un pan de l’identité régionale de la Tihâma. Recent fieldwork conducted along the Tihâma coastal plain has illuminated a late prehistoric megalithic culture that extends the length of the Red Sea coast of Yemen. To date, seven sites comprising megalithic elements have been documented in the region. These imposing monuments dated from the late third to the early second millennium BC appear to be strategically located at precise points along major wâdî systems. Given the absence of stone in the area, these large stone monuments would have been carried over long distances, making it highly probable that both the stone and monuments were meaningful. This culturally charged landscape evokes the marking of territorial or sacred space in the periods preceding the rise of the South Arabian kingdoms. In the late second and early first millennium BC, the same megaliths were re-used in the foundations of monumental structures and as grave markers. Currently the same stones can be seen marking the graves and tombs of Muslim âwlîya or saints and incorporated into the architecture of mosques in the surrounding areas. The re-use of these stones in sacred places such as mosques and âwlîya tombs suggest that not only were these stones and the spaces created around them significant in the past but that they continue to be. This paper discusses the way these megalithic complexes were used as a way of marking and identifying with territory and space in the late prehistoric period and the way that they continue to be a part of Islamic sacred space and of a wider regional Tihâman identity today.

Estudios recientes indican que las motillas, asentamientos de la Edad del Bronce de La Mancha, pudieron ser las más antiguas captaciones de agua subterránea en la Península Ibérica. Pero ¿por qué no existen motillas en el Campo de Montiel, territorio ubicado tradicionalmente en esta área cultural? En Castillejo del Bonete, sitio arqueológico situado en esa comarca, existe una cueva que fue utilizada y sellada durante la Prehistoria Reciente. Se presenta ahora la primera investigación paleohidrogeológica interdisciplinar en La Mancha, que ha analizado manantiales y niveles de agua subterránea del acuífero de Campo de Montiel, así como el interior de la sima de Castillejo del Bonete. Las conclusiones avanzan una relación entre el sustrato hidrogeomorfológico y la distribución espacial de las motillas. Además permiten descartar que la sima de Castillejo del Bonete fuera utilizada como mina o como acceso al acuífero, dos de las hipótesis de trabajo planteadas. De ese modo cobra fuerza que Castillejo del Bonete fuera un excepcional monumento funerario y simbólico durante el Calcolítico y la Edad del Bronce, perteneciente a una nueva clase de asentamientos desconocidos hasta ahora en el grupo cultural de la Edad del Bronce de La Mancha., Esta publicación ha sido autorizada por la Dirección General de Cultura de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (Exp. Cult. 12- 1478)

The Bronze Age settlement of Camp Cinzano (Vilafranca del Penedès, Alt Penedès, Barcelona province) yielded a riveted dagger stone mould in a funerary context C14 dated to c. 1850 cal BC. We examine the characteristics of the mould (typology and raw material) and the metal artifact found at the site and relate them to the metallurgy of the 2nd Millennium BC in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. We present the few comparable dagger moulds existing in the Iberian Peninsula and the Western Mediterranean and discuss the possible reasons for their rarity in the archaeological record. The data indicate two possible places of origin for the mould studied: the East coast of the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Italy (the Polada group). The latter is an area which exhibits greater interaction and relationships with the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula in the metallurgic sphere.Un molde lítico para puñales fue localizado en un contexto funerario fechado mediante C14 en c. 1850 cal ANE en el asentamiento de la Edad del Bronce de Camp Cinzano (Vilafranca del Penedès, Alt Penedès, Barcelona). Se estudian la tipología y materia prima del molde y las características del artefacto metálico moldeado en el, relacionándolas con la metalurgia del II milenio del nordeste de la Península Ibérica. Se exponen los escasos paralelos de moldes para puñales existentes en la Península Ibérica y en el Mediterráneo Occidental, así como las posibles razones de su ausencia en el registro arqueológico. Los datos sugieren dos lugares de origen para el molde estudiado, el Levante ibérico y el norte de Italia (grupos de Polada). Esta última zona mantiene mayores relaciones e interacciones en el ámbito metalúrgico con el nordeste de la Península Ibérica.

[EN] Large bifacial fl int tools are frequently found in Copper Age sites from Iberian Península. They usually show a visible gloss on their denticulated working edges, possibly related to cereal cutting. As a result, these tools have been interpreted as sickle blades. This paper partially contradicts this hypothesis, since most of the pieces recovered at the site of El Casetón de la Era (Villalba de los Alcores, Valladolid) were not used as sickles, but rather they could have been fl akes in threshing-boards. Therefore, this is the earliest evidence of the use of threshingboards in Iberia. This type of tool is in some way similar to those found in the Near East during the Bronze Age., [ES] La presencia de grandes piezas líticas talladas bifacialmente es una constante en los contextos de la Edad del Cobre en el interior de la Península Ibérica. El brillo apreciable a simple vista en su fi lo denticulado ha sido atribuido a su uso como hoz. El estudio que ahora presentamos contradice parcialmente esta propuesta, ya que la mayor parte de las piezas halladas en el yacimiento de El Casetón de la Era (Villalba de los Alcores, Valladolid) no eran hoces sino elementos de trillo. Estamos ante las evidencias más antiguas de su uso en la Península Ibérica. Este tipo de piezas tienen cierta semejanza con las encontradas en el Próximo Oriente durante la Edad del Bronce.

The find of a gold biconvex bead from Tossal Gros burial cave (Torroella de Montgrí, Girona) represents the first example of this type known in the Iberian Peninsula. These beads are common in the south of France and are dated to the Late Neolithic. With the aim of establishing their production process, we applied SEM-EDS, radiology and use-wear analysis. The results show the high technological complexity of the bead, which is unparalleled in prehistoric Iberia. The radiocarbon dating of the site by three AMS dates and associated materials confirm a date to the end of 4th - beginning of 3rd millennia cal BC. Comparisons with the available data concerning the earliest Northeast Iberian metallurgy allows an assessment of the possible origin, use and social value of this particular golden bead., La cuenta bitroncocónica de oro localizada en la cueva sepulcral de Cau del Tossal Gros (Torroella de Montgrí, Baix Empordà, Girona) constituye la primera de este tipo conocida en la Península Ibérica. Estas cuentas son comunes en yacimientos del sur de Francia y se fechan de forma relativa en el Neolítico Final. Con el objetivo de establecer su proceso de producción se han realizado análisis de composición, radiológicos y traceológicos. Los resultados muestran la gran complejidad tecnológica de la pieza, sin paralelos conocidos en la Prehistoria peninsular. La datación radiocarbónica del yacimiento mediante tres fechas AMS y los materiales recuperados confirman una cronología de finales del IV-inicios del III milenio cal ANE. Finalmente, la comparación con los datos disponibles sobre la primera metalurgia del nordeste de la Península Ibérica permite proponer el posible origen, uso y valor social de esta peculiar cuenta áurea.

Kargaly (Orenburg, Russia) is a copper-producing region in which two main phases of mining activity have taken place: the 4th-2nd millennia BC and the 18th-20th centuries AD. This article is a comparative study on the impact of those mining episodes in the distribution of the forest resources in the region, aimed to estimate the scale of prehistoric mining and metallurgical works. For that purpose two paleopalinological sequences obtained from natural deposits located in Kargaly are analysed by inferential Statistics and Multivariate Methods. The results are compared both with a regional sampling of recent pollen rain supported by an analytical model of the present day landscape, and with the anthracological data coming from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Gorny 1. Analysis confirm the large scale of the prehistoric mining impact on the forest cover from the beginnings, as well as the strong effect of husbandry once mining works ended. These results allow us to dismiss a climatic change as main explanation for the detected diachronic variability in the palinological record. They also prove the viability of the proposed approach as a means of integrating the paleoenvironmental disciplines in Landscape Archaeology., Kargaly (región de Orenburgo, Rusia) es una región cuprífera explotada entre los milenios IV y II cal BC y los siglos XVIII y XX d.C. El objetivo del artículo es estudiar comparativamente el impacto de estos episodios mineros en la distribución de los recursos forestales de la región, para aproximar la escala de las operaciones minero-metalúrgicas prehistóricas. Para ello se analizan con métodos estadísticos inferenciales y multivariantes dos secuencias paleopalinológicas procedentes de depósitos naturales de la región y se comparan con un muestreo regional de la lluvia polínica reciente apoyado por un modelo analítico del paisaje actual y con los datos antracológicos procedentes del asentamiento del Bronce Final Gorny 1. Los análisis confirman la gran escala del impacto de la minería prehistórica en la cubierta forestal desde sus inicios, pero también los efectos de las prácticas pastoriles en las fases posteriores al final de la misma. Estos resultados permiten descartar el cambio climático como principal explicación de la variabilidad diacrónica en el registro palinológico, y confirman la viabilidad del enfoque propuesto como medio de integrar las disciplinas paleoambientales en la Arqueología del Paisaje.

We publish a new pedestal-base crucible from the Early Bronze Age settlement of Can Mur (Valldoreix, Barcelona province). Its typological characteristics are described and the chemical composition (pXRF) data of the copper residues are provided. Contemporaneous crucibles with hafting system from the Iberian Peninsula are discussed. The parallels existing in the Middle East and Europe suggest that they arrived in the Western Mediterranean linked to other metallurgical innovations. Lastly the main features of the metallurgy of the Bronze Age in North-Eastern Iberian Peninsula are set forth. Special emphasis is placed on technological innovation, the organization of production and the circulation of materials between different regions.., Este artículo da a conocer un crisol con pie macizo inédito procedente del asentamiento de la Edad del Bronce de Can Mur (Valldoreix, Barcelona). Se describen sus características tipológicas y se aportan datos composicionales de las adherencias de base cobre (FRXp). Se exponen los crisoles sincrónicos con sistema de prensión existentes en la Península Ibérica y, tras detallar los paralelos en el Próximo Oriente y Europa, se propone su llegada a través del Mediterráneo Occidental vinculados a otras innovaciones metalúrgicas. Finalmente se detallan las características principales de la metalurgia de la Edad del Bronce en el nordeste de la Península Ibérica. Se hace especial hincapié en la innovación tecnológica, estructuración de la producción y circulación de materiales entre regiones