The Radiocarbon Chronology of Southern Spain's Late Prehistory (5600-1000 cal BC): A Comparative Review

Summary This paper is the first updated review of the scope, depth and problems related to the current radiocarbon chronology of the late prehistory of southern Iberia. The aim is twofold. First, it critically analyses the quantity and quality of radiocarbon dates used to interpret the diverse trajectories of western Mediterranean societies throughout more than four millennia. Secondly, it reviews a set of three different and prominent archaeological phenomena from an inter-regional comparative perspective: primary and secondary burial practices, domestic stone architecture and ditched enclosures. Our long-term, geographically wide-ranging approach locates similarities while highlighting the effects of local and historical conditions in certain divergent circumstances.