Victor Jimenez-Jaimez
I'm an archaeologist who, for the last 15 years, has been working on the topic of 'Recintos de Fosos', that is, Neolithic and Copper-Age Iberian Ditched Enclosures. These have become my main research guideline and the primary theme of my PhD thesis, which was publicly presented on March 2009 at the University of Malaga (Spain). I have published a book centred around the issue (2010) and numerous papers in national and international journals and conferences. The main idea guiding my research is that Iberian 'recintos de fosos' must be understood in the broader context of Neolithic Europe. This contrasts with traditional, locally-focused approaches to the problem in Iberian Chalcolithic Archaeology.
From 2000 to 2015, first as an undergraduate and postgraduate student, and later as a post-doctoral researcher, I was involved in many of the research activities performed by a group from the Department of Prehistory of the University of Málaga (Spain), led by Dr. José Márquez Romero and called PERUMA (www.peruma.es). In 2013 I was awarded a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship to work at the University of Southampton for two years, under the supervision of Dr. David Wheatley. The project was named IBERENCLOGIS. This research project is based on a comparative and multi-scalar approach to Iberian and European Neolithic-Chalcolithic enclosures (including ‘ditched’ but also ‘walled enclosures)’. The GIS analyses executed have shown interesting differences between Iberian enclosures: 4th and 3rd millennia BC ditched enclosures, on one side, and 3rd millennium BC walled enclosures, on the other. This suggests dissimilarities in function or meaning, or changes over time.
In 2017 I joined the University of Malaga (Spain) as Faculty Member. As part of the job, I teach Prehistory and Archaeology and continue to follow my research goals. I am now conducting research aimed at understanding the role of grain storage in Prehistoric communities of Europe, and particularly Neolithic to Iron age pit sites.
NOTE: For legal reasons, some papers could not be uploaded directly to this site. Some have links to the webpages where they are legally hosted, others are not online at all. Please, do not hesitate to ask the author for a copy of any paper you are interested in, sending an email to the address on this page.
Phone: (+34) 952131733
Address: Víctor Jiménez Jáimez
Área de Prehistoria, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Teatinos s/n.
29071 Málaga (Spain)
From 2000 to 2015, first as an undergraduate and postgraduate student, and later as a post-doctoral researcher, I was involved in many of the research activities performed by a group from the Department of Prehistory of the University of Málaga (Spain), led by Dr. José Márquez Romero and called PERUMA (www.peruma.es). In 2013 I was awarded a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship to work at the University of Southampton for two years, under the supervision of Dr. David Wheatley. The project was named IBERENCLOGIS. This research project is based on a comparative and multi-scalar approach to Iberian and European Neolithic-Chalcolithic enclosures (including ‘ditched’ but also ‘walled enclosures)’. The GIS analyses executed have shown interesting differences between Iberian enclosures: 4th and 3rd millennia BC ditched enclosures, on one side, and 3rd millennium BC walled enclosures, on the other. This suggests dissimilarities in function or meaning, or changes over time.
In 2017 I joined the University of Malaga (Spain) as Faculty Member. As part of the job, I teach Prehistory and Archaeology and continue to follow my research goals. I am now conducting research aimed at understanding the role of grain storage in Prehistoric communities of Europe, and particularly Neolithic to Iron age pit sites.
NOTE: For legal reasons, some papers could not be uploaded directly to this site. Some have links to the webpages where they are legally hosted, others are not online at all. Please, do not hesitate to ask the author for a copy of any paper you are interested in, sending an email to the address on this page.
Phone: (+34) 952131733
Address: Víctor Jiménez Jáimez
Área de Prehistoria, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Teatinos s/n.
29071 Málaga (Spain)
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Books by Victor Jimenez-Jaimez
Despite their abundance and the huge size of some of them -over 100 ha in certain cases-, references to Iberian recintos de fosos have been scarce, partial or inaccurate in international meetings and collective works on the matter. This state of affairs can be explained in part by the traditional tendency of both Portuguese and Spanish archaeologists to isolate themselves from the surrounding European academia. Methods and techniques that had been proved to be successful in other parts of Europe were not applied until recently; e.g. aerial photographs, geophysical surveys, extensive excavations, etc.
One of the ideas we defend is that Iberian recintos de fosos must be understood in an European context, especially Neolithic causewayed enclosures. It all contrasts with traditional approaches to the problem in Iberian Archaeology, but we think is very state-of-the-art when considered in a broader academic environment. We also found that formation processes of the archaeological record were a crucial aspect of the problem which had gone partly unnoticed.
The results of our research have been very fruitful, getting a lot of attention in Portuguese and Spanish academic circles lately.
Papers by Victor Jimenez-Jaimez
https://doi.org/10.14198/LVCENTVM.25385
OR
https://hdl.handle.net/10630/37903
Iberian Copper Age «ditched» and «walled» enclosure sites are often thought to represent two clearly distinguishable groups of sites. However, the discovery of sites where both ditches and walls are present («mixed sites») complicates things. There are good reasons to question whether the aforementioned dichotomy is real, or if, instead, it is largely an artifact of research, resulting from a combination of poorly preserved archaeological contexts and inadequate survey strategies and methods which missed the potential integration of both building techniques at the same sites. This paper will address this problem from a Pan-Iberian perspective, as we will compare type-sites across multiple Iberian regions. We shall formulate and test seven relevant hypotheses by undertaking multiple comparative analyses at various scales on top of a purpose-built database including 345 sites. Among others, we will address questions such as: How frequent or rare are mixed sites? Is the perceived duality of the archaeological record (ditched versus walled) a by-product of preservation issues or the differential availability of certain building materials? Did walled and ditched enclosures really coexist in space and time? We conclude that: (a) Chalcolithic Iberian enclosures are markedly dichotomous (ditched vs walled); (b) «mixed» sites are rare exceptions rather than the rule; (c) walled and ditched enclosures show important differences in key features (topographic setting, geographical distribution); (d) such differences cannot be solely attributed to geological factors. The paper will end with a discussion of possible explanations for this dichotomy.
Final, peer-reviewed version available online at: https://rdcu.be/b8WU3
Pits are virtually omnipresent in the archaeological record. In Prehistoric Europe, pits occasionally form large concentrations known as ‘pit sites’, where they are the most visible, sometimes the sole, remnants of past human activity. How can we interpret the social roles played by places comprising hundreds or even thousands of pits? A critical point of contention in these debates is how certain we are that all or most pits on a site indeed acted as grain storage pits for most of their use-lives. However, it is not easy to distinguish between pits used for storage and pits destined for other purposes. This paper represents an attempt to circumvent, to an extent, this problem. We will do so by turning our attention away from the problem of accuracy and by focusing on external consistency instead. We gather up-to-date experimental, ethnographic and historical data about the challenges that the storage of grain poses and how pits can help people to overcome them. Then, we discuss their advantages and disadvantages relative to other methods: why would anybody use airtight pits instead of, for instance, weather-proofed raised granaries? Next, we examine the social and economic contexts in which storage pits are an effective solution as opposed to those in which their performance is suboptimal. The conclusions drawn serve as a background against which to evaluate the external consistency of current interpretations concerning three selected case studies in Prehistoric Western Europe.
Resumen: Las lecturas históricas tradicionales sobre la Prehistoria Reciente realizadas en la cuenca media del Guadiana (so de Iberia) han unificado bajo un mismo concepto de 'poblado' o 'asentamiento' yacimien-tos muy distintos en su morfología, en la formación del registro arqueológico o en su cronología. Bajo ese etiquetado se han incluido tanto los yacimientos de hoyos como los recintos de fosos y/o los recintos murados/ fortificados. Sin embargo, todos ellos son muy diferentes en su forma y características, la formación de depósitos arqueológicos y su cronología. Esto sugiere que un análisis más preciso, en el que la aparición y la evolución de cada tipo de sitio se estudie por sí solo, podría ser fructífero. En el presente artículo se sitúa el Foso 1 de Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) en el contexto más amplio del proceso de monumentalización de los paisajes del Medio Guadiana durante el iv y el iii milenio cal ac. Desde la perspectiva anteriormente descrita, haremos un primer intento de exponer la genealogía de los recintos amurallados, los sitios de fosos y los recintos abandonados en esta región.
Digital photogrammetry is an inexpensive computerised method that enables the creation of three-dimensional models from photographs using image pattern recognition. The technique can be employed during the process of excavation to better record the archaeological evidence, to generate 3D models of the stratigraphical units and to digitalise singular findings. It is also useful for activities aiming to spread knowledge and awareness about the site. In this paper we will describe the basics of the method and its workflows, and three specific applications at Perdigões. Later, we will briefly compare digital photogrammetry with alternative solutions for the digitalisation of cultural heritage, such as LIDAR and total station scanners with LASER.
ties at the highly important Prehistoric site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal), where a number of
ditched enclosures have been found. In this paper we will review the works carried out, particularly magnetometric
surveys and excavations, both extensive and within the so-called Ditch 1. We will subsequently present new data
about the layout of Gate 1 and the dynamics of ditch filling at Ditch 1.
Despite their abundance and the huge size of some of them -over 100 ha in certain cases-, references to Iberian recintos de fosos have been scarce, partial or inaccurate in international meetings and collective works on the matter. This state of affairs can be explained in part by the traditional tendency of both Portuguese and Spanish archaeologists to isolate themselves from the surrounding European academia. Methods and techniques that had been proved to be successful in other parts of Europe were not applied until recently; e.g. aerial photographs, geophysical surveys, extensive excavations, etc.
One of the ideas we defend is that Iberian recintos de fosos must be understood in an European context, especially Neolithic causewayed enclosures. It all contrasts with traditional approaches to the problem in Iberian Archaeology, but we think is very state-of-the-art when considered in a broader academic environment. We also found that formation processes of the archaeological record were a crucial aspect of the problem which had gone partly unnoticed.
The results of our research have been very fruitful, getting a lot of attention in Portuguese and Spanish academic circles lately.
https://doi.org/10.14198/LVCENTVM.25385
OR
https://hdl.handle.net/10630/37903
Iberian Copper Age «ditched» and «walled» enclosure sites are often thought to represent two clearly distinguishable groups of sites. However, the discovery of sites where both ditches and walls are present («mixed sites») complicates things. There are good reasons to question whether the aforementioned dichotomy is real, or if, instead, it is largely an artifact of research, resulting from a combination of poorly preserved archaeological contexts and inadequate survey strategies and methods which missed the potential integration of both building techniques at the same sites. This paper will address this problem from a Pan-Iberian perspective, as we will compare type-sites across multiple Iberian regions. We shall formulate and test seven relevant hypotheses by undertaking multiple comparative analyses at various scales on top of a purpose-built database including 345 sites. Among others, we will address questions such as: How frequent or rare are mixed sites? Is the perceived duality of the archaeological record (ditched versus walled) a by-product of preservation issues or the differential availability of certain building materials? Did walled and ditched enclosures really coexist in space and time? We conclude that: (a) Chalcolithic Iberian enclosures are markedly dichotomous (ditched vs walled); (b) «mixed» sites are rare exceptions rather than the rule; (c) walled and ditched enclosures show important differences in key features (topographic setting, geographical distribution); (d) such differences cannot be solely attributed to geological factors. The paper will end with a discussion of possible explanations for this dichotomy.
Final, peer-reviewed version available online at: https://rdcu.be/b8WU3
Pits are virtually omnipresent in the archaeological record. In Prehistoric Europe, pits occasionally form large concentrations known as ‘pit sites’, where they are the most visible, sometimes the sole, remnants of past human activity. How can we interpret the social roles played by places comprising hundreds or even thousands of pits? A critical point of contention in these debates is how certain we are that all or most pits on a site indeed acted as grain storage pits for most of their use-lives. However, it is not easy to distinguish between pits used for storage and pits destined for other purposes. This paper represents an attempt to circumvent, to an extent, this problem. We will do so by turning our attention away from the problem of accuracy and by focusing on external consistency instead. We gather up-to-date experimental, ethnographic and historical data about the challenges that the storage of grain poses and how pits can help people to overcome them. Then, we discuss their advantages and disadvantages relative to other methods: why would anybody use airtight pits instead of, for instance, weather-proofed raised granaries? Next, we examine the social and economic contexts in which storage pits are an effective solution as opposed to those in which their performance is suboptimal. The conclusions drawn serve as a background against which to evaluate the external consistency of current interpretations concerning three selected case studies in Prehistoric Western Europe.
Resumen: Las lecturas históricas tradicionales sobre la Prehistoria Reciente realizadas en la cuenca media del Guadiana (so de Iberia) han unificado bajo un mismo concepto de 'poblado' o 'asentamiento' yacimien-tos muy distintos en su morfología, en la formación del registro arqueológico o en su cronología. Bajo ese etiquetado se han incluido tanto los yacimientos de hoyos como los recintos de fosos y/o los recintos murados/ fortificados. Sin embargo, todos ellos son muy diferentes en su forma y características, la formación de depósitos arqueológicos y su cronología. Esto sugiere que un análisis más preciso, en el que la aparición y la evolución de cada tipo de sitio se estudie por sí solo, podría ser fructífero. En el presente artículo se sitúa el Foso 1 de Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) en el contexto más amplio del proceso de monumentalización de los paisajes del Medio Guadiana durante el iv y el iii milenio cal ac. Desde la perspectiva anteriormente descrita, haremos un primer intento de exponer la genealogía de los recintos amurallados, los sitios de fosos y los recintos abandonados en esta región.
Digital photogrammetry is an inexpensive computerised method that enables the creation of three-dimensional models from photographs using image pattern recognition. The technique can be employed during the process of excavation to better record the archaeological evidence, to generate 3D models of the stratigraphical units and to digitalise singular findings. It is also useful for activities aiming to spread knowledge and awareness about the site. In this paper we will describe the basics of the method and its workflows, and three specific applications at Perdigões. Later, we will briefly compare digital photogrammetry with alternative solutions for the digitalisation of cultural heritage, such as LIDAR and total station scanners with LASER.
ties at the highly important Prehistoric site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal), where a number of
ditched enclosures have been found. In this paper we will review the works carried out, particularly magnetometric
surveys and excavations, both extensive and within the so-called Ditch 1. We will subsequently present new data
about the layout of Gate 1 and the dynamics of ditch filling at Ditch 1.
and social diferentiation in Prehistoric Europe, a central focus of this conference, prompts us to discuss the evolution of their study and interpretation, with particular attention to Southern Iberia.
In this paper we will describe the history of research of southwest Iberian ditched enclosures, noting a clear break occurred in the last few years of the 20th century, when an empirical and theoretical revolution took place, bringing about profound changes in methodology and interpretation of said places. The new approaches not only have transformed the way Iberian Neolithic and Chalcolithic ditched enclosures are studied and conceptualised, but also have fostered their integration in the more general European debates about aspects
such as their temporality, formation and social meaning, including ethnoarchaeological studies that attempt to understand monumentalised meeting places in context.
In an attempt to keep the spirit of these meetings alive, this workshop will gather researchers from different countries and institutions and allow them to debate old and new approaches, on the basis of comparison between the different European regions. It is important to note that comparison does not necessarily lead to analogy; paying attention to dissimilarities and attempting to find out why they exist can be as fruitful as finding regularities, or more. Importantly, almost for the first time, Iberia will be part of the wider European discussion, after the striking discoveries being made in the last 25 years in that area.
The desired outcome of the meeting would be the creation of a network of researchers focused on these archaeological problems all around Europe, that could eventually result in joint projects, collaborations or further initiatives.
Palabras clave: Neolítico, Calcolítico, recintos de fosos, megalitismo, Península Ibérica, Alentejo, Perdigões, prospección geofísica.
Discovered in 1997, the Neolithic-Chalcolithic ditched site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Évora, Portugal) is located in an area widely known for the profusion of megalithic monuments. Within a global research project co-ordinated by Era-Arqueologia, recent fieldworks have been carried out by a team from the University of Málaga (UMA). Firstly, extensive geophysical surveys, which revealed the existence of up to 11 ditched enclosures. Secondly, two excavation campaigns at a point in the feature named Ditch 1, the most external, in close proximity to the causeway known as Gate 1. The works focused on testing some of the hypotheses which constitute the interpretative model for Southwestern Iberian ditched enclosures that we have been defending in the last few years. In the current paper we present our reading of the stratigraphic sequence of Ditch 1, according to the new data, and compare the results obtained with our own previous theoretical expectations.
Keywords: Neolithic, Calcolithic; Ditched Enclosures, Megalithism, Iberian Peninsula, Alentejo, Perdigões, Geophysical Survey.