Amazing stuff!
Too bad, the University of Salamanca (a very famous and very old university), Spain website is in Spanish only! I don't speak Spanish and I have no time to translate. And Google Translate failed (see screenshot below). Researchers from this university were involved in this study!
The other Spanish University website, i.e. University of Alcalá, was also not very helpful to find additonal information on this research! At least it offered EN translation!
"... Archaeologists working in Toledo, central Spain, have discovered what they believe is the oldest documented monumental necropolis in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. This ancient site dates back to about the end of the 5th millennium BC (about 4300 to 4000 BC) and challenges a long-held theory that megalithic funerary structures were initially restricted to the coastline before spreading inland. ...
The prehistoric site, called Valdelasilla, sits on a hill overlooking the town of Illescas. It was discovered in 2020 and excavated during that year. ...
The site contains a large circular chamber tomb measuring 6 meters across, surrounded by a large, ditched enclosure measuring roughly 36 meters in diameter. Around it are several smaller funerary chambers made from wood, clay, and compacted earth, and measuring 2 to 3 meters wide. Human remains from at least 46 individuals were found inside 11 of the funerary structures and dated using radiocarbon dating and computer modeling. ..."
From the abstract:
"This study presents an analysis of funerary practices at the site of Valdelasilla (Illescas, Toledo, Spain). The methodology integrates the morphological study of burial structures, anthropological analyses, a consideration of grave goods and the radiocarbon dating of human bone.
The chronological data indicate funerary activity at the site from the Late Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period. Bayesian modelling confirms the establishment of a planned cemetery by the end of the fifth millennium cal. bc, featuring small burial chambers organized around a larger tomb enclosed by a ditch. The burial chambers, which were constructed from wood, clay and small stones, created distinct spaces for the deceased.
This embryonic form of monumentalization, the funerary practices observed and the early chronology link Valdelasilla to other peninsular cemeteries associated with the emergence of megalithism, now identified for the first time on the plateau. The location of the necropolis offers new insights into the role of inland regions in the emergence of Iberian and European megalithism."
Location of the site in the Iberian Peninsula and aerial photograph taken during the excavation work.
Graves, enclosure and post-holes of upper area with the excavation sequence of each of them.
Figure 7.
Grave goods.
(a) Hairpins next to the skull in VLD-T296;
(b) stone beads from chamber VLD-T450;
(c) flint microliths from VLD-T520;
(d) flat rods from VLD-T452.
No comments:
Post a Comment