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De Newgrange en Irlande à Hal Saflieni à Malte ou Gavrinis en Bretagne, les tombeaux néolithiques sont connus pour leur caractère monumental. Loin d’être de simples “contenants” mortuaires, destinés uniquement à recueillir les restes corporels des défunts, ces tombes sont des architectures complexes et multiples, conçues pour accueillir des rites funéraires élaborés, impliquant plusieurs acteurs, plusieurs temps et plusieurs espaces cérémoniels. Pour l’archéologue, l’organisation spatiale de ces architectures et de leurs contenants constitue un véritable fil conducteur permettant de comprendre les pratiques funéraires et les croyances des sociétés néolithiques. Combinant études récentes et synthèses régionales, cet ouvrage explore la configuration de l’architecture de ces tombes (chambres mégalithiques, hypogées, coffres sous tumulus ou cairns, tertres, etc.), l’organisation spatiale des dépôts funéraires et des décors pariétaux, et les relations entre les tombes et leur espace topographique naturel (le paysage). Ce tour d’horizon européen expose ainsi les différentes manières dont les sociétés néolithiques concevaient, construisaient et utilisaient l’espace des morts en Europe de 5000 à 2000 avant J.-C. Mais il offre également des pistes permettant d’interpréter ces choix. From Newgrange in Ireland to Hal Saflieni in Malta or Gavrinis in Brittany, Neolithic tombs are well known for their monumental nature. Far from being simple mortuary “containers”, only aimed at receiving dead bodies, these tombs are complex and multiple architectures that were designed to host elaborate burial rituals involving several actors and several ceremonial times and spaces. For archaeologists, the spatial organisation of these architectures and their contents is a thread to investigate and understand the burial practices and beliefs of Neolithic communities. Combining recent fieldworks and regional surveys, it explores the configuration of tombs architecture (megalithic chambered tombs, rock-cut tombs, cists under tumulus or cairns, barrows, etc.), the spatial organisation of bodies, grave goods and imagery, and the relationships between the tombs and their landscape setting. This European overview shows the different ways Neolithic societies thought, built and used the space of the dead in Europe from 5000 to 2000 BC. But it also offers and discusses ideas about the meaning of these spatial choices.

The presence of painted, carved or sculpted decorations in European funerary contexts makes megalithic art a basic reference in order to classify the use of burial areas. Complex graphic programmes of paintings, engravings and sculptures constituted an essential part of funerary rites. The burial models provided by the Iberian Peninsula are a great contribution to the study of funerary graphics. Moreover, their concurrent open air versions open unforeseen expectations for a re-evaluation of the whole of megalithic art in Europe. La présence de décorations peintes, taillées ou sculptées dans des contextes funéraires européens font de l'art mégalithique une référence de base pour classer l'utilisation des aires d'enterrement. Les programmes graphiques complexes de peintures, des gravures et des sculptures ont constitué une partie essentielle de rites funéraires. Les modèles d'enterrement fournis par la Péninsule Ibérique sont une grande contribution à l'étude des décors funéraires. De plus, leurs pendants simultanés en plein air ouvrent des perspectives inespérées pour une re-évaluation de tout l'art mégalithique en Europe. La presencia de decoraciones pintadas, grabadas o esculpidas en los contextos funerarios europeos, hace del conjunto del arte megalítico una referencia básica sobre las sistemáticas de uso de los espacios sepulcrales. Programas gráficos complejos de pinturas, grabados y esculturas constituyeron una parte fundamental del dispositivo ritual funerario. La aportación que ofrecen los modelos peninsulares al estudio de los programas gráficos funerarios y a las versiones al aire libre que lo acompañan, abre inéditas expectativas para nuevas lecturas del arte megalítico europeo en su conjunto.

Siega Verde was the third open-air rock art site to be discovered in the Iberian Peninsula, even before Côa and the controversy that followed that discovery. Its practicable size and the study carried out without any publicity allowed the analysis of a new reality that would change the interpretation of Palaeolithic art. From the start of the research, stylistic criteria were used to date the art in the absence of archaeological excavations. Although this has often been criticized, it meant that Siega Verde and Côa could be dated from Leroi-Gourhan’s Style II onwards. Excavations at Fariseu, a site belonging to Côa in Portugal, have proved that hypothesis archaeologically, as well as supporting the applicability of Leroi-Gourhan’s styles. Siega Verde is a good representative of Palaeolithic art in the open, on rocks by a river-bank or on prominent hills, but it is not the only form that can be catalogued as open-air rock art, because there are intermediate forms. These are found in cave entrances and in rock-shelters all over the Iberian Peninsula, especially in areas where little evidence of Palaeolithic art used to be known, such as on the southern Mediterranean coast and in Andalusia. This site possesses an exterior Upper Palaeolithic art ensemble, similar to the art found inside caves and of the same age, but in a different location. Formal relationships are usual inside and outside the caves and in both cases they represent a communicative code that did not need the dark and mystery to be expressed.

The study of adornments found in the necropolis at Valle de las Higueras (Huecas, Toledo) has determined the morphotypology and mineral composition of one quadrangular pendant and 341 stone beads. Most of the beads are short (length ≤ 5 mm), but within this regularity series can be differentiated that might be the result of standardised fabrication processes and different times of acquisition. Portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis identified the use of phyllosilicates as sepiolite and clinochlore, and above all variscite, a mineral that became especially important for adornments in the Iberian Peninsula in the 3rd millennium BC. The inland location of the necropolis, distant from source areas, certifies its remote origin, as far away as northwest Zamora according to the chronological framework. It is still not possible to determine for sure the source of the variscite at Valle de las Higueras. However, the inland location of the necropolis, distant from source areas, certifies its remote origin. The chronology suggests that it might have come from the north-west, in the area of Zamora. Archaeological and chronological data obtained in tombs in the necropolis, together with other inland sites, contribute to understanding variscite circulation in the Iberian Peninsula in the Chalcolithic. It was restricted to a few individuals, both adults and children, who wore necklaces and bracelets. Distance did not condition the arrival of variscite, but the small amounts suggest it was traded together with other ostentation elements, such as sea shells, cinnabar and amber. The heterogeneous regional panorama displays differences in the demand, use and acquisition of variscite depending on the socioeconomic organisation and connection to exchange networks.

Con autorización de la revista para autores CSIC, [EN] We present partial results obtained in an interdisciplinary research project focused on the human settlement of the Guadalajara province (Spain) during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. The excavation of the Peña Capón, Peña Cabra and Los Casares sites have shown outstanding evidence for investigating population dynamics and human-environment interactions in the interior territories of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Pleistocene. Traditionally depicted as marginal and lacking own cultural developments, these territories have provided scarce and weak data for the Middle and –especially– Upper Paleolithic, and thus the proposed interpretations on the mentioned problems have been always flawed. However, our results enable us to confirm the cultural relevance of the region under study during Upper Pleniglacial times previously considered devoid of human occupation. Also, we are now able to contribute with solid data from inland Spain to the problem of the Neandertal demise in the Iberian Peninsula and southwest Europe., [ES] Presentamos parte de los resultados de un proyecto de investigación interdisciplinar sobre el poblamiento humano en la provincia de Guadalajara durante el Paleolítico Medio y el Superior. Basados en la excavación de los yacimientos de Peña Capón, Peña Cabra y Los Casares, los datos obtenidos presentan importantes implicaciones para la investigación de las dinámicas poblaciones y la relación entre ocupación humana y variabilidad climática y ambiental en el interior de la península ibérica durante el Pleistoceno Superior. Tradicionalmente consideradas marginales, las regiones interiores peninsulares han aportado escasas evidencias relevantes para estas cronologías, provocando así que las interpretaciones sobre los problemas aludidos sean altamente cuestionables. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos nos permiten afirmar la entidad cultural de la región estudiada durante momentos del Pleniglacial Superior antes considerados deshabitados, así como contribuir con evidencias sólidas a la controversia del final de los Neandertales en la península ibérica., Gran parte de las investigaciones han sido financiadas a través de un proyecto Marie Curie (IEF) dentro del Séptimo Programa Marco (FP7) de la Comisión Europea (Identificador: 628179) así como por la Fundación Alemana de Investigación (DFG) bajo el CRC 806 “Our Way to Europe”. También se ha contado con financiación proveniente de los siguientes proyectos del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad financiados por la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER): HAR2013-48784-C3-3-P, HAR2016-76760-C3-2-P, HAR2013-43701-P, CGL2012-38434-C03-01 y HAR2017-82483-C3-3-P. Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño disfruta de un contrato co-financiado por las Ayudas para la Atracción de Talento Investigador de la Comunidad de Madrid (referencia 2016-T2/HUM-1251).

Pocos territorios en Europa reúnen la concentración de estelas en piedra que se documentan entre el Tajo y el Duero. La arqueología asegura amplias posibilidades extractivas, con un claro centro neurálgico en el actual distrito de Castelo Branco. Desde los primeros descubrimientos de piezas tan singulares como las de São Martinho, hasta el registro actual, la variedad y diacronía de estelas y menhires en piedra resulta excepcional en el contexto ibérico y europeo. La tradicional lectura, que alejaba los viejos menhires de las estelas del Bronce Final, queda muy matizada ante el uso de referencias temáticas y técnicas semejantes. En este texto aportamos otro argumento a sumar a esas similitudes, con la reutilización de los antiguos soportes como base material para la generación de las estelas del Bronce Final. Las imágenes humanas que se grabaron en estas memorias en piedra expresan narrativas sociales elaboradas. Las secuencias gráficas que argumentamos aseguran el papel político de estas piezas como justificaciones materiales de pasados ancestrales. Indudablemente albergan relatos orales sobre la relación entre los viejos ancestros y los nuevos líderes, justificando el orden del entramado económico asociado al control de la extracción y comercio del metal. Few places in Europe concentrate as many stone stelae as the area between the Tagus and the Douro. Archaeology has shown the ample possibilities for metal mining, the modern region of Castelo Branco being the epicentre in the area. From the first discoveries of such unique objects as the São Martinho stelae to the current record, the variety and diachronicity of stone stelae and menhirs is exceptional on the Iberian and European scales. The traditional interpretation that differentiated between the old menhirs and Late Bronze Age stelae has been nuanced by the evidence of similar themes and techniques. Another argument presented here is the use of the old stones as the basic material to produce the Late Bronze Age stelae. Human images carved on these memorial stones express elaborate social narratives. The graphic sequences described here demonstrate the ‘political’ role of these stones and material justification of ancestral pasts. They were undoubtedly imbued with oral tales about old ancestors and new leaders, to justify the order of the economic system associated with mining and metal trade. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades 2018-099405-BI00

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