Early Iron Age Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
Trabajos de Prehistoria, 2023
Se presentan los resultados de las excavaciones de 2022 en el Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca), q... more Se presentan los resultados de las excavaciones de 2022 en el Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca), que amplían el área exhumada en 2021. Se discute la secuencia diacrónica de dicho espacio y su interpretación funcional y social. Se aborda la religiosidad doméstica a partir de varios edificios de uso cultual y un abundante elenco de objetos litúrgicos: vajilla torneada egipcia o levantina pintada y fenicia de engobe rojo, un aplique de taracea y abalorios de fayenza con iconografía oriental, pebeteros y terracotas y vajilla local con temas orientalizantes, etc. Además, sobresalen los nuevos indicadores de prácticas aristocráticas: instrumentos para artesanías de alta calidad –alfarería y actividades textiles– y atalajes ecuestres –dos camas de bocados óseos–. El cocinado con bandejas y hornillos de atanor, las artesanías especializadas, los rituales domésticos y la edilicia remiten también al ámbito mediterráneo. Todas estas evidencias permiten interpretar el sector excavado como un esp...
Complutum, 2024
En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de la campaña de 2018 en la aldea del Hierro I del Ce... more En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de la campaña de 2018 en la aldea del Hierro I del Cerro de San Vicente. El trabajo de campo conllevó una prospección previa con georradar (GPR) y la verificación de sus resultados preliminares mediante una cata de 200 m2, centrada en una segunda fase en los 64 m2 donde se centraban las anomalías. Se ha identificado una vivienda de planta circular, cuya trayectoria de uso muestra una biografía intercalada con cenizales, dos estructuras adjetivas y retazos de un edificio rectangular, datados en los siglos VII-VI a.C. La excavación de un potente cenizal ha permitido recuperar abundantes restos óseos y carpológicos que han sido estudiados por especialistas. También destaca la muestra cerámica, que presenta vajilla inciso-impresa más antigua (s. IX-VIII a.C.) y vajilla coetánea a la ocupación doméstica, tanto local a mano como importada (un fragmento de urna Cruz del Negro y otro de engobe rojo fenicio). Se plantea la hipótesis de que el sector excavado formó parte de un vecindario mayor aún no excavado. Su edilicia, la elaboración local de vajilla exótica (grafitada, de “estilo Carambolo”, imitaciones de cerámica gris o nurágica estampada), el empleo de abalorios como cuentas de fayenza, el uso de lámparas-candiles o el esgrafiado de la vajilla con grafitos no grafemáticos parecen indicar además la presencia de mujeres educadas en otras regiones ibéricas, que reproducen tales saberes procedimentales exógenos.
THAUMA. FESTSCHRIFT PARA DIRCE MARZOLI, 2023
La transición entre el Bronce Final y la Primera Edad del Hierro en la Meseta norte de la Penínsu... more La transición entre el Bronce Final y la Primera Edad del Hierro en la Meseta norte de la Península Ibérica (ca. 1100-600 a.C.) es un periodo de transformación, marcado por un gran cambio en la estructura socioeconómica de los grupos locales, promovido por los contactos meridionales y orientales. Este proceso se ve reflejado en las prácticas agrícolas, así como en la aparición de un repertorio cerámico renovado y de nuevas técnicas constructivas: mientras que los yacimientos del Bronce se caracterizan por cabañas levantadas con estructuras de madera y manteados de tierra, en los poblados del Hierro predominan las construcciones de adobe. Sin embargo, no se trata de un cambio radical, ya que durante tres siglos se experimentó con las nuevas técnicas, una idea que se sostiene gracias a la presencia de ambos sistemas en los mismos asentamientos, así como de técnicas mixtas. Aunque se ha escrito mucho sobre estos cambios, la arquitectura de tierra ha sido poco estudiada en este contexto, lo que lleva a una confusión conceptual que pasa por alto las prácticas socioeconómicas implicadas en los diferentes procesos constructivos. En este trabajo se realiza una revisión de la bibliografía publicada e inédita sobre los yacimientos con estos restos constructivos, con el objetivo de conocer las evidencias con las que se cuenta para caracterizar las tradiciones constructivas utilizadas en la Meseta Norte durante la Protohistoria. Discernir las técnicas y sus respectivas cadenas operativas puede ayudarnos a comprender mejor estos cambios sociales y demográficos, que parecen indicar una adaptación progresiva de las tradiciones locales a las innovaciones exteriores. //
The transition between the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the Early Iron Age (EIA) on the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula (ca. 1100-600 BC) is a period of transformation, marked by a major change in the socio-economic structure of local groups, promoted by southern and eastern contacts. This process is reflected in agricultural practices, as well as in the emerge of a renewed ceramic repertoire and new construction techniques: while LBA sites are characterised by wattle-and-daub huts, EIA settlements are dominated by mudbrick buildings. However, this is not a radical change, as the new techniques were experimented with for three centuries, an idea that is supported by the presence of both systems in the same settlements, as well as mixed techniques. Although much has been written about these changes, earthen architecture has been little studied in this context, leading to a conceptual confusion that overlooks the socio-economic practices involved in the different construction processes. In this paper we review the published and grey literature published on sites with these remains, with the aim of finding out what evidence we have to characterise the building traditions used in the Northern Plateau throughout Late Prehistory. Discerning the techniques and their respective operational chains can help us to better understand these social and demographic changes, which seem to indicate a progressive adaptation of local traditions to outside innovations.
Bronze Age Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
Zephyrvs, 2024
Los Tolmos, en Caracena, provincia de Soria, es un yacimiento de referencia para el estudio del B... more Los Tolmos, en Caracena, provincia de Soria, es un yacimiento de referencia para el estudio del Bronce Medio en la Meseta Norte. Su excavación durante las décadas de los 70 y los 80 del pasado siglo conllevó el hallazgo de varias tumbas de inhumación y de dos cabañas derribadas que se atribuyeron al grupo arqueológico de Cogotas i. El objetivo del presente artículo es valorar la pertenencia de este sitio clave en su clásica adscripción a la fase Proto-Cogotas i. Se ha tratado de reconsiderar los materiales arqueológicos depositados en el Museo Numantino de Soria que corresponden a los niveles de las cabañas y de una inhumación, así como al estrato situado inmediatamente sobre ellos del Sector a. Todo ello ha sido analizado de forma crítica y recurriendo a técnicas actuales que incluyen el estudio bioarqueológico y la datación radiométrica de los restos humanos previamente documentados, así como de otro fragmento errático, localizado por azar. Estos resultados, junto con el estudio de la cerámica, de la relectura de los materiales publicados y la revisión de los inventarios disponibles, han permitido reubicar la construcción, el mantenimiento y el derrumbe de las cabañas en el tránsito del iii al ii milenio a. C. y enriquecer su interpretación social.
Complutum, 2020
La investigación sobre restos humanos prehistóricos, tradicionalmente centrada en las sepulturas ... more La investigación sobre restos humanos prehistóricos, tradicionalmente centrada en las sepulturas y enterramientos de esqueletos completos, relegó el estudio de los restos secundarios y aislados, cuya gran importancia en relación con prácticas mortuorias complejas se ha ido revelando, por contra, en la bibliografía antropológica y bioarqueológica. En el caso de los yacimientos de la Edad del Bronce del interior peninsular, la creciente presencia de 'huesos sueltos' reclama similar consideración, y aquí se acomete el estudio de un fragmento craneal (frontal y cara) de un subadulto, datado por radiocarbono en el intervalo 1660-1497 cal BC, correspondiente a la fase Formativa de la cultura de Cogotas I, y en el que se han detectado impactos y fracturas que evidencian un tratamiento peri mortem que debió de realizarse para separar esta parte respecto de la calvaria. Para intentar comprender su significado se analizan diversas posibilidades-p.ej., sepultura destruida, 'máscara facial' o residuo de la preparación de un elemento neurocraneal-, en relación con los comportamientos sociales que conllevan la manipulación de restos humanos, incluyendo los de fragmentación y supresión de lo individual. El avance en el conocimiento de la sociedad que realizaba estas prácticas mortuorias requiere prestar atención a su heterogénea evidencia, que incluye los restos, "sueltos" y aparentemente insignificantes como este fragmento de La Huelga. Palabras clave. Península Ibérica; Proto-Cogotas I; bioarqueología; prácticas mortuorias; máscara facial; eliminación de la cara. [en]
ABSTRACT. Research on prehistoric human remains primarily focuses on tombs and burials with full-representation skeletons, relegating the study of secondary and isolated remains whose great importance for the knowledge of mortuary practices is gradually being revealed in the anthropological and bioarchaeological literature. In the case of the Bronze Age sites placed in the inland Iberian Peninsula, the increasing presence of loose bones demands similar consideration. To this end, this paper undertakes the analysis of a cranial fragment (frontal and facial skeleton) of a subadult individual. The radiocarbon analysis places the death of this individual between 1660-1497 Cal BC, linked to the formative phase of Cogotas I archaeological culture. The fragment shows chop marks and fractures that reveal a perimortem treatment to separate the frontal and the facial bones from the rest of the skull. To try to understand its meaning, different possibilities are analyzed-e.g., destroyed tomb, 'facial mask' or residue from the preparation of a neurocranial object-in relation to social behaviours involving the manipulation of human remains, including those of fragmentation and suppression of the individual. The advance in the knowledge of the society practicing this mortuary conducts requires paying attention to all its evidence, including the loose and apparently insignificant remains, even those without clear context as is the case of this fragment from La Huelga.
Archaeologies, 2018
Social Sciences and Humanities are increasingly interested in the relationship between society an... more Social Sciences and Humanities are increasingly interested in the relationship between society and material culture, and archaeology can provide, among other contributions, its chronological depth and the variability and certain regularities in mortuary rituals. In this respect, archaeological literature frequently cites cases of a few human bones redeposited at mortuary sites, often burials of adults accompanied by some bones of an infant, but without a clear pattern being discernable. In contrast, research on the Bronze Age Cogotas I archaeological culture in the Iberian Peninsula (MBA and LBA, ca. 1800–1100 cal BC) has identified what seems to be an emerging pattern: primary burials of very young children accompanied by the bone of an adult, possibly female, who had died before, even long before, as the statistical analysis of the radiocarbon dates of the individuals involved appears to corroborate. This may therefore be a ritualised mortuary practice that included bone relics, but its explanation is not simple, due to the polysemic nature of such relics. The creation and maintenance of real or fictitious kinship ties, a special protection for dead infants, possible gender aspects, ideas about fertility and renewal, strengthening interpersonal relationships, legitimisation of emerging inequality, etc., are some of the possible components of this social practice which was until now unknown in the Iberian prehistory, but also little known in other areas in European prehistory.
Zephyrus, 2014
Since the last decade of the twentieth century, and thanks to open area excavations that had take... more Since the last decade of the twentieth century, and thanks to open area excavations that had taken place in pit sites, afforded us some structured depositions containing articulated faunal remains, dogs among them. This paper studies one of these animal deposits which is dated by means of the most recent pottery of the pit filling as Protocogotas I –Middle Bronze Age in the Iberian plateau– as well as radiocarbon dating 3350 ± 30 bp. The results of the above said study revealed that those dogs underwent an exhaustive disarticulation and butchering processes as well as appearing accompanied by some pieces of cattle bones. This paper presents a study of the recovered artifacts and faunal remains and the interpretation not only of this singular context but also discuss ethnographical and historical referents of activities related to different types of sacrifices in which dogs played the main role. It was also taken into consideration other symbolic practices performed during the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age in the Iberian plateau in which dogs are involved. Deposits containing articlated faunal remains are rare but not exceptional and require excavation and registers techniques similar to those used for human burials, in order to perform a later rigorous study, unavoidable for getting forward in further research about Bronze Age societies in which animals’ death, and death in general, played a relevant ideological role. //
La realización de excavaciones de gran escala en ‘campos de hoyos’ desde los años 90 del siglo pasado ha ido deparando con cierta frecuencia la aparición de depósitos con restos de fauna articulados, entre ellos, algunos de perros. En este trabajo se estudia uno de tales depósitos, datado por las cerámicas más recientes del relleno del hoyo en la fase Protocogotas i –Bronce medio de la Meseta– y por el C14 en 3350 ± 30 bp, que contenía los restos de dos perros sometidos a una exhaustiva desarticulación y despiece, acompañados por piezas óseas de vacuno. Se presenta el estudio completo de los materiales recuperados de este hoyo de cara a la interpretación de su significado y se examinan también posibles referentes etnográficos e históricos de actividades relacionadas con diferentes tipos de sacrificios donde los canes son los principales protagonistas. Se plantea también su encuadre con otras prácticas simbólicas en las que interviene el perro durante las Edades del Cobre y del Bronce de la Meseta. Poco frecuentes, aunque no excepcionales, los depósitos con restos articulados de fauna requieren de unas técnicas de excavación y registro análogas a las que se emplean con las sepulturas humanas, en orden a posibilitar un estudio posterior riguroso, imprescindible para avanzar en la investigación de estas sociedades prehistóricas de la Edad del Bronce en las que la muerte de ciertos animales –la muerte en general– desempeña un papel relevante en lo ideológico.
Zephyrus, LXXXIV: 89-115, 2014
Zephyrus, LXXIV, julio-diciembre 2014, 89-115 recovered artifacts and faunal remains and the inte... more Zephyrus, LXXIV, julio-diciembre 2014, 89-115 recovered artifacts and faunal remains and the interpretation not only of this singular context but also discuss ethnographical and historical referents of activities related to different types of sacrifices in which dogs played the main role. It was also taken into consideration other symbolic practices performed during the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age in the Iberian plateau in which dogs are involved. Deposits containing articulated faunal remains are rare but not exceptional and require excavation and registers techniques similar to those used for human burials, in order to perform a later rigorous study, unavoidable for getting forward in further research about Bronze Age societies in which animals' death, and death in general, played a relevant ideological role.
European Journal of Archaeology
This paper addresses the formation processes at an unparalleled Bronze Age settlement in the Iber... more This paper addresses the formation processes at an unparalleled Bronze Age settlement in the Iberian Meseta. The site of El Cerro (Burgos, Spain) presents a series of challenging features: the simultaneous inhumation of three subadults alongside a dwelling quarter and adjacent pits, some of them filled with apparent formality, including such anachronistic elements as Neolithic and Beaker items and several placed deposits, such as a leg of a cow. A critical evaluation of the contextual dataset, a re-fitting operation, and an assessment of the abrasion and size of a ceramic sample were carried out. The archaeological peculiarities of the site are explained as a contextually specific cultural response to a grievous and traumatic episode: the death of three young siblings, which entailed the abandonment of the settlement through prescribed practices. Some depositions are a product of recognizable intentionality, while others are regarded as unintended cumulative outcomes.
European Journal of Archaeology, 2014
This paper addresses the formation processes at an unparalleled Middle Bronze Age (1800-1450 cal ... more This paper addresses the formation processes at an unparalleled Middle Bronze Age (1800-1450 cal BC) settlement in the Iberian Northern Meseta and tries to shed some light on the cultural tenets behind particular ways of managing and discarding things and substances (contemporary debris, old 'valued' sherds, human corpses, animal parts, etc).
The pit site of El Cerro (municipality of La Horra, province of Burgos, Spain) was excavated in 1996 by the archaeological team of Aratikos S.L. on occasion of large-scale ground disturbance by a bulldozer in order to build wine cellars.
These developer-funded excavations unearthed a series of challenging features which are reinterpreted in this paper, positing a fresh and inclussive hypothesis. These outstanding features are: 1) the inhumation of three children (two boys and a girl) in a gully, all of them dated by AMS dates. Their almost simultaneous radiocarbon calibrated intervals, the absence of sedimentary hiatus and their shared orientation suggests a unique and triple burial episode. According to recent and yet unpublished aDNA studies at least two of them were kin-related individuals (Esparza et al. 2012); 2) a very rare and exceptional dwelling quarter and 3) several adjacent pits, some of them filled with apparent formality, including such anachronistic elements as Early Neolithic and Bell Beaker items and several placed deposits, such as a leg of veal.
A critical evaluation of the contextual dataset, a re-fitting operation and an assessment of the abrasion and size of a selective ceramic sample were carried out. The archaeological peculiarities of the site are explained as a contextually specific cultural response to deal with a grievous and traumatic episode:
the decease of three young siblings (a case of ‘mauvaise mort’ due to an unfortunate accident?), which entailed an 'ad hoc' protocol (including a deviant treatment of the dead) to re-establish the cosmological order. This goal might have been probably achieved via the abandonment of the settlement through prescribed practices, involving the mobilization and eventual deposition of relics or heirlooms such as some Early Neolithic sherds from the same grooved vessel cached on top of a Bronze Age gully alongside the burial pit.
The diverse depositional histories of a set of cut features have been appraised: some depositions are the outcome of recognizable doses of intentionality, yet others may be regarded as unintended cumulative outcomes.
Arkeogazte. Revista de Arqueología, 2: 73-93., Oct 2012
Post-processual archaeology in Spain has had a short historiographical trajectory. Rather than tr... more Post-processual archaeology in Spain has had a short historiographical trajectory. Rather than trying to carry out the historiography of this theoretical framework by Spanish archaeologists –an issue that has already been assessed by other authors– this paper will develop one of the principles of post-processual archaeology, that is, the acknowledgment of the alterity of past societies. In particular, it will consider a case study of the Middle and Late Bronze Age of central Iberia (18th to 10th centuries B.C.), the archaeological group of Cogotas I. In order to do so it will analyse those archaeological contexts in which we can find complete pots and quern stone deposits. This will enable us to identify the formal categories according to which the prehistoric communities performed the filling of the pits, some of which could correspond to the way in which this Bronze Age society was organised.
Arkeogazte Revista De Arqueologia Arkelogia Aldizkaria, Oct 1, 2012
Teoría y praxis en la Arqueología Contemporánea: entrevista con Margarita Díaz Andreu.
RODRÍGUEZ MARCOS, J.A. y FERNÁNDEZ MANZANO (Eds.): Cogotas I: una cultura de la Edad del Bronce en la Península Ibérica.Valladolid: 449-464., 2012
El objeto de la presente comunicación es reflexionar sobre un aspecto concreto de l grupo arqueol... more El objeto de la presente comunicación es reflexionar sobre un aspecto concreto de l grupo arqueológico Cogotas I: las inhumaciones de cánidos, presumiblemente perros 1 , que son desenterradas con relativa frecuencia en e l ' área nuclear' y de contacto (Abarquero, 2005) de la cultura prehistórica referida. Es cierto que esta especie no fue la única en ser enterrada corno si de seres humanos se tratase 2 , pero tampoco lo es menos su singularidad: su condición de animales de compañía y guardia, la escasa cantidad de materia alimenticia y piel que de ellos se puede ex-• Becaria FPl de la Junta de Castilla y León. Este trabajo se ha realizado parcia lmente en el marco del proyecto "Nuevos hallazgos y nuevas perspect ivas en e l estudio de los restos humanos de Cogotas 1" (HAR-20 09-1 O 1 05/HIST), dirigido por el prof Ángel Esparza.
Los Vinculos Entre El Habitat Y El Paisaje Actas Del I Congreso De Arqueologia De Chamartin 2011 Isbn 8 84 938490 0 9 Pags 105 116, 2011
El estilo de las cerámicas de Cogotas I ha sido una cuestión ampliamente discutida en la bibliogr... more El estilo de las cerámicas de Cogotas I ha sido una cuestión ampliamente discutida en la bibliografía. Así, la identificación del «área nuclear» cogotense necesita de una valoración a nivel regional, donde pudieron haberse dado cotas basculantes de comunicación, interacción y reciprocidad entre las diferentes comunidades. A tal efecto, la distribución de ciertas composiciones estilísticas en una zona concreta del Occidente peninsular puede ofrecer guías para interpretar la regionalización del patrón observado.
In LÓPEZ, J.P.; HERNÁNDEZ, D. & GARCÍA, J. (Eds.): Actas del I Congreso de Chamartín (Ávila). La Ergástula. Madrid: 105-116., 2011
The style of ceramics from Cogotas I have been a very contentious issue. Therefore, the identific... more The style of ceramics from Cogotas I have been a very contentious issue. Therefore, the identification of the «nuclear area» needs a regional valuation. In these areas there may have existed distinct levels of communication, interaction and reciprocity between different communities. In this way the distribution of some stylistic compositions in a specific area of the peninsular West may offer guides to interpret the regionalization of the observed pattern.
El Futuro del Pasado, 1: 137-145., 2010
Death, necropolis and the objects buried together with the deceased, represented an attraction to... more Death, necropolis and the objects buried together with the deceased, represented an attraction to the first archaeologists that dug up -with little but an undoubted scientific interest- these valuable treasures in countless sites for two centuries. After words, this antiquarist vision of Archaeology has been abandoned to adopt other reference frames that did not take precedence over the object itself but also to the society which manufactured it. In the present communication, I will deal with theoretical positions that mark a historical milestone in the historiography along the XX century, taking samples from excavated sites, putting special emphasis on how scientific interest accent different aspects in each period. Finally, I will achieve a notice about the most vanguardist frameworks which explore the rational horizons of past people.
Chalcolithic Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2024
En este trabajo se presentan los primeros resultados de las excavaciones llevadas a cabo en el as... more En este trabajo se presentan los primeros resultados de las excavaciones llevadas a cabo en el asentamiento de Castillejo (Villasbuenas de Gata, Cáceres). Las excavaciones han permitido exhumar un pequeño conjunto
de estructuras domésticas, así como un potencial recinto amurallado en la zona más alta del enclave. Estas han podido ser adscritas a un momento del Calcolítico Pleno a través del estudio de la cultura material y de las dataciones radiocarbónicas. Así mismo, la abundancia de materiales arqueológicos ha posibilitado realizar un amplio abanico de análisis que incluye el repertorio cerámico, la industria lítica, los manteados constructivos
de barro, los registros arqueobotánicos de carbones y semillas, así como un análisis arqueometalúrgico de una gota de cobre de fundición. Todas estas evidencias señalan a Castillejo como un relevante núcleo fortificado de articulación del territorio y control de la metalurgia de la zona, añadiendo una información muy valiosa a un territorio carente de ella para el período analizado.
Books by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
Catálogo Pigmentos y brillos en la costa del Ecuador precolombino / PIGMENTS AND SHEENS ON THE COAST OF PRE-COLUMBIAN ECUADOR, 2018
El color forma parte de nuestra manera de relacionarnos
con el mundo. Lo envuelve todo. Comprende... more El color forma parte de nuestra manera de relacionarnos
con el mundo. Lo envuelve todo. Comprender cómo se
percibían los colores en el pasado es sustancial para un
acercamiento más holístico a la concepción del mundo
y de las sociedades precolombinas. Las culturas de la costa
ecuatoriana compartían la cosmovisión andina, que
entendía que los objetos estaban imbuidos de espíritu,
denominado camay en quechua (Bray 2009). Esta fuerza
vital viene dada por su proveniencia del mundo natural,
que, en la cosmovisión prehispánica, estaba animado. Las
entidades y objetos más excepcionales por su colores, brillos
y formas, portaban esta energía. El color, como propiedad
intrínseca de la materia, debe ser reconectado con
su contexto de producción y uso.
/
Color forms part of the way we relate to the world. It envelops everything.
Understanding how colors were perceived in the past is fundamental to
a more holistic approach to the view of the world and of pre-Columbian
societies. The cultures of Ecuador’s coast shared the Andean worldview,
this being that objects were imbued with spirit, known as camay in
Quechua (Bray 2009). This life-giving force stemmed from the natural world, which according to the pre-Hispanic world view, was animate. The
entities and objects that were most exceptional due to their colors, sheens and shapes, bore this energy. Color, as an intrinsic property of matter, should be relinked to its context of production and use.
Studia Archaeologica 103. Universidad de Valladolid, 2022
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Early Iron Age Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
The transition between the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the Early Iron Age (EIA) on the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula (ca. 1100-600 BC) is a period of transformation, marked by a major change in the socio-economic structure of local groups, promoted by southern and eastern contacts. This process is reflected in agricultural practices, as well as in the emerge of a renewed ceramic repertoire and new construction techniques: while LBA sites are characterised by wattle-and-daub huts, EIA settlements are dominated by mudbrick buildings. However, this is not a radical change, as the new techniques were experimented with for three centuries, an idea that is supported by the presence of both systems in the same settlements, as well as mixed techniques. Although much has been written about these changes, earthen architecture has been little studied in this context, leading to a conceptual confusion that overlooks the socio-economic practices involved in the different construction processes. In this paper we review the published and grey literature published on sites with these remains, with the aim of finding out what evidence we have to characterise the building traditions used in the Northern Plateau throughout Late Prehistory. Discerning the techniques and their respective operational chains can help us to better understand these social and demographic changes, which seem to indicate a progressive adaptation of local traditions to outside innovations.
Bronze Age Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
ABSTRACT. Research on prehistoric human remains primarily focuses on tombs and burials with full-representation skeletons, relegating the study of secondary and isolated remains whose great importance for the knowledge of mortuary practices is gradually being revealed in the anthropological and bioarchaeological literature. In the case of the Bronze Age sites placed in the inland Iberian Peninsula, the increasing presence of loose bones demands similar consideration. To this end, this paper undertakes the analysis of a cranial fragment (frontal and facial skeleton) of a subadult individual. The radiocarbon analysis places the death of this individual between 1660-1497 Cal BC, linked to the formative phase of Cogotas I archaeological culture. The fragment shows chop marks and fractures that reveal a perimortem treatment to separate the frontal and the facial bones from the rest of the skull. To try to understand its meaning, different possibilities are analyzed-e.g., destroyed tomb, 'facial mask' or residue from the preparation of a neurocranial object-in relation to social behaviours involving the manipulation of human remains, including those of fragmentation and suppression of the individual. The advance in the knowledge of the society practicing this mortuary conducts requires paying attention to all its evidence, including the loose and apparently insignificant remains, even those without clear context as is the case of this fragment from La Huelga.
La realización de excavaciones de gran escala en ‘campos de hoyos’ desde los años 90 del siglo pasado ha ido deparando con cierta frecuencia la aparición de depósitos con restos de fauna articulados, entre ellos, algunos de perros. En este trabajo se estudia uno de tales depósitos, datado por las cerámicas más recientes del relleno del hoyo en la fase Protocogotas i –Bronce medio de la Meseta– y por el C14 en 3350 ± 30 bp, que contenía los restos de dos perros sometidos a una exhaustiva desarticulación y despiece, acompañados por piezas óseas de vacuno. Se presenta el estudio completo de los materiales recuperados de este hoyo de cara a la interpretación de su significado y se examinan también posibles referentes etnográficos e históricos de actividades relacionadas con diferentes tipos de sacrificios donde los canes son los principales protagonistas. Se plantea también su encuadre con otras prácticas simbólicas en las que interviene el perro durante las Edades del Cobre y del Bronce de la Meseta. Poco frecuentes, aunque no excepcionales, los depósitos con restos articulados de fauna requieren de unas técnicas de excavación y registro análogas a las que se emplean con las sepulturas humanas, en orden a posibilitar un estudio posterior riguroso, imprescindible para avanzar en la investigación de estas sociedades prehistóricas de la Edad del Bronce en las que la muerte de ciertos animales –la muerte en general– desempeña un papel relevante en lo ideológico.
The pit site of El Cerro (municipality of La Horra, province of Burgos, Spain) was excavated in 1996 by the archaeological team of Aratikos S.L. on occasion of large-scale ground disturbance by a bulldozer in order to build wine cellars.
These developer-funded excavations unearthed a series of challenging features which are reinterpreted in this paper, positing a fresh and inclussive hypothesis. These outstanding features are: 1) the inhumation of three children (two boys and a girl) in a gully, all of them dated by AMS dates. Their almost simultaneous radiocarbon calibrated intervals, the absence of sedimentary hiatus and their shared orientation suggests a unique and triple burial episode. According to recent and yet unpublished aDNA studies at least two of them were kin-related individuals (Esparza et al. 2012); 2) a very rare and exceptional dwelling quarter and 3) several adjacent pits, some of them filled with apparent formality, including such anachronistic elements as Early Neolithic and Bell Beaker items and several placed deposits, such as a leg of veal.
A critical evaluation of the contextual dataset, a re-fitting operation and an assessment of the abrasion and size of a selective ceramic sample were carried out. The archaeological peculiarities of the site are explained as a contextually specific cultural response to deal with a grievous and traumatic episode:
the decease of three young siblings (a case of ‘mauvaise mort’ due to an unfortunate accident?), which entailed an 'ad hoc' protocol (including a deviant treatment of the dead) to re-establish the cosmological order. This goal might have been probably achieved via the abandonment of the settlement through prescribed practices, involving the mobilization and eventual deposition of relics or heirlooms such as some Early Neolithic sherds from the same grooved vessel cached on top of a Bronze Age gully alongside the burial pit.
The diverse depositional histories of a set of cut features have been appraised: some depositions are the outcome of recognizable doses of intentionality, yet others may be regarded as unintended cumulative outcomes.
Chalcolithic Papers by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
de estructuras domésticas, así como un potencial recinto amurallado en la zona más alta del enclave. Estas han podido ser adscritas a un momento del Calcolítico Pleno a través del estudio de la cultura material y de las dataciones radiocarbónicas. Así mismo, la abundancia de materiales arqueológicos ha posibilitado realizar un amplio abanico de análisis que incluye el repertorio cerámico, la industria lítica, los manteados constructivos
de barro, los registros arqueobotánicos de carbones y semillas, así como un análisis arqueometalúrgico de una gota de cobre de fundición. Todas estas evidencias señalan a Castillejo como un relevante núcleo fortificado de articulación del territorio y control de la metalurgia de la zona, añadiendo una información muy valiosa a un territorio carente de ella para el período analizado.
Books by Alejandra Sánchez Polo
con el mundo. Lo envuelve todo. Comprender cómo se
percibían los colores en el pasado es sustancial para un
acercamiento más holístico a la concepción del mundo
y de las sociedades precolombinas. Las culturas de la costa
ecuatoriana compartían la cosmovisión andina, que
entendía que los objetos estaban imbuidos de espíritu,
denominado camay en quechua (Bray 2009). Esta fuerza
vital viene dada por su proveniencia del mundo natural,
que, en la cosmovisión prehispánica, estaba animado. Las
entidades y objetos más excepcionales por su colores, brillos
y formas, portaban esta energía. El color, como propiedad
intrínseca de la materia, debe ser reconectado con
su contexto de producción y uso.
/
Color forms part of the way we relate to the world. It envelops everything.
Understanding how colors were perceived in the past is fundamental to
a more holistic approach to the view of the world and of pre-Columbian
societies. The cultures of Ecuador’s coast shared the Andean worldview,
this being that objects were imbued with spirit, known as camay in
Quechua (Bray 2009). This life-giving force stemmed from the natural world, which according to the pre-Hispanic world view, was animate. The
entities and objects that were most exceptional due to their colors, sheens and shapes, bore this energy. Color, as an intrinsic property of matter, should be relinked to its context of production and use.
The transition between the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and the Early Iron Age (EIA) on the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula (ca. 1100-600 BC) is a period of transformation, marked by a major change in the socio-economic structure of local groups, promoted by southern and eastern contacts. This process is reflected in agricultural practices, as well as in the emerge of a renewed ceramic repertoire and new construction techniques: while LBA sites are characterised by wattle-and-daub huts, EIA settlements are dominated by mudbrick buildings. However, this is not a radical change, as the new techniques were experimented with for three centuries, an idea that is supported by the presence of both systems in the same settlements, as well as mixed techniques. Although much has been written about these changes, earthen architecture has been little studied in this context, leading to a conceptual confusion that overlooks the socio-economic practices involved in the different construction processes. In this paper we review the published and grey literature published on sites with these remains, with the aim of finding out what evidence we have to characterise the building traditions used in the Northern Plateau throughout Late Prehistory. Discerning the techniques and their respective operational chains can help us to better understand these social and demographic changes, which seem to indicate a progressive adaptation of local traditions to outside innovations.
ABSTRACT. Research on prehistoric human remains primarily focuses on tombs and burials with full-representation skeletons, relegating the study of secondary and isolated remains whose great importance for the knowledge of mortuary practices is gradually being revealed in the anthropological and bioarchaeological literature. In the case of the Bronze Age sites placed in the inland Iberian Peninsula, the increasing presence of loose bones demands similar consideration. To this end, this paper undertakes the analysis of a cranial fragment (frontal and facial skeleton) of a subadult individual. The radiocarbon analysis places the death of this individual between 1660-1497 Cal BC, linked to the formative phase of Cogotas I archaeological culture. The fragment shows chop marks and fractures that reveal a perimortem treatment to separate the frontal and the facial bones from the rest of the skull. To try to understand its meaning, different possibilities are analyzed-e.g., destroyed tomb, 'facial mask' or residue from the preparation of a neurocranial object-in relation to social behaviours involving the manipulation of human remains, including those of fragmentation and suppression of the individual. The advance in the knowledge of the society practicing this mortuary conducts requires paying attention to all its evidence, including the loose and apparently insignificant remains, even those without clear context as is the case of this fragment from La Huelga.
La realización de excavaciones de gran escala en ‘campos de hoyos’ desde los años 90 del siglo pasado ha ido deparando con cierta frecuencia la aparición de depósitos con restos de fauna articulados, entre ellos, algunos de perros. En este trabajo se estudia uno de tales depósitos, datado por las cerámicas más recientes del relleno del hoyo en la fase Protocogotas i –Bronce medio de la Meseta– y por el C14 en 3350 ± 30 bp, que contenía los restos de dos perros sometidos a una exhaustiva desarticulación y despiece, acompañados por piezas óseas de vacuno. Se presenta el estudio completo de los materiales recuperados de este hoyo de cara a la interpretación de su significado y se examinan también posibles referentes etnográficos e históricos de actividades relacionadas con diferentes tipos de sacrificios donde los canes son los principales protagonistas. Se plantea también su encuadre con otras prácticas simbólicas en las que interviene el perro durante las Edades del Cobre y del Bronce de la Meseta. Poco frecuentes, aunque no excepcionales, los depósitos con restos articulados de fauna requieren de unas técnicas de excavación y registro análogas a las que se emplean con las sepulturas humanas, en orden a posibilitar un estudio posterior riguroso, imprescindible para avanzar en la investigación de estas sociedades prehistóricas de la Edad del Bronce en las que la muerte de ciertos animales –la muerte en general– desempeña un papel relevante en lo ideológico.
The pit site of El Cerro (municipality of La Horra, province of Burgos, Spain) was excavated in 1996 by the archaeological team of Aratikos S.L. on occasion of large-scale ground disturbance by a bulldozer in order to build wine cellars.
These developer-funded excavations unearthed a series of challenging features which are reinterpreted in this paper, positing a fresh and inclussive hypothesis. These outstanding features are: 1) the inhumation of three children (two boys and a girl) in a gully, all of them dated by AMS dates. Their almost simultaneous radiocarbon calibrated intervals, the absence of sedimentary hiatus and their shared orientation suggests a unique and triple burial episode. According to recent and yet unpublished aDNA studies at least two of them were kin-related individuals (Esparza et al. 2012); 2) a very rare and exceptional dwelling quarter and 3) several adjacent pits, some of them filled with apparent formality, including such anachronistic elements as Early Neolithic and Bell Beaker items and several placed deposits, such as a leg of veal.
A critical evaluation of the contextual dataset, a re-fitting operation and an assessment of the abrasion and size of a selective ceramic sample were carried out. The archaeological peculiarities of the site are explained as a contextually specific cultural response to deal with a grievous and traumatic episode:
the decease of three young siblings (a case of ‘mauvaise mort’ due to an unfortunate accident?), which entailed an 'ad hoc' protocol (including a deviant treatment of the dead) to re-establish the cosmological order. This goal might have been probably achieved via the abandonment of the settlement through prescribed practices, involving the mobilization and eventual deposition of relics or heirlooms such as some Early Neolithic sherds from the same grooved vessel cached on top of a Bronze Age gully alongside the burial pit.
The diverse depositional histories of a set of cut features have been appraised: some depositions are the outcome of recognizable doses of intentionality, yet others may be regarded as unintended cumulative outcomes.
de estructuras domésticas, así como un potencial recinto amurallado en la zona más alta del enclave. Estas han podido ser adscritas a un momento del Calcolítico Pleno a través del estudio de la cultura material y de las dataciones radiocarbónicas. Así mismo, la abundancia de materiales arqueológicos ha posibilitado realizar un amplio abanico de análisis que incluye el repertorio cerámico, la industria lítica, los manteados constructivos
de barro, los registros arqueobotánicos de carbones y semillas, así como un análisis arqueometalúrgico de una gota de cobre de fundición. Todas estas evidencias señalan a Castillejo como un relevante núcleo fortificado de articulación del territorio y control de la metalurgia de la zona, añadiendo una información muy valiosa a un territorio carente de ella para el período analizado.
con el mundo. Lo envuelve todo. Comprender cómo se
percibían los colores en el pasado es sustancial para un
acercamiento más holístico a la concepción del mundo
y de las sociedades precolombinas. Las culturas de la costa
ecuatoriana compartían la cosmovisión andina, que
entendía que los objetos estaban imbuidos de espíritu,
denominado camay en quechua (Bray 2009). Esta fuerza
vital viene dada por su proveniencia del mundo natural,
que, en la cosmovisión prehispánica, estaba animado. Las
entidades y objetos más excepcionales por su colores, brillos
y formas, portaban esta energía. El color, como propiedad
intrínseca de la materia, debe ser reconectado con
su contexto de producción y uso.
/
Color forms part of the way we relate to the world. It envelops everything.
Understanding how colors were perceived in the past is fundamental to
a more holistic approach to the view of the world and of pre-Columbian
societies. The cultures of Ecuador’s coast shared the Andean worldview,
this being that objects were imbued with spirit, known as camay in
Quechua (Bray 2009). This life-giving force stemmed from the natural world, which according to the pre-Hispanic world view, was animate. The
entities and objects that were most exceptional due to their colors, sheens and shapes, bore this energy. Color, as an intrinsic property of matter, should be relinked to its context of production and use.
/
Las prácticas funerarias precolombinas que incluyen restos humanos esqueléticos de la cultura Napo (1188–1480 D.C.), en el oeste de la Amazonía, han sido escasamente dadas a conocer en la literatura arqueológica. Debido a la pobre preservación de los huesos en ese medio y a una dilatada trayectoria de huaquerismo, desde la bioarqueología no ha sido posible recoger, analizar e interpretar restos humanos. Este artículo trata de solventar este vacío al atender desde una perspectiva bioarqueológica los restos óseos humanos provenientes de la Amazonía ecuatoriana pertenecientes a la cultura Napo, preservados en una urna funeraria que se conserva en el Museo de Arte Precolombino Casa del Alabado en Quito, Ecuador. Por un lado, este esqueleto parcial del que se conservan huesos largos fragmentados de un adulto fue datado mediante técnicas radiométricas entre 1021 y 1155 cal D.C.
Habría sido una persona robusta, con una altura que oscilaría entre los 160 y 170 cm. Aunque no se ha observado ningún traumatismo, las patologías registradas incluyen quistes, como los debidos a la enfermedad de Osgood-Schlatter, e inserciones musculares robustas. Entre las afecciones tafonómicas más relevantes, se han apreciado las causadas por osteofagia de termitas, las cuales se infieren por la presencia de perforaciones redondas, cavidades, túneles y decapado cortical en húmero, fémur y tibia. Por otro lado, la urna es un ejemplar antropomorfo policromado de apertura basal con seis orificios espaciados que ayudaban a cerrarla. El entierro en urna es similar a aquellos otros de las culturas de la Tradición Polícroma Amazónica localizadas al este en Brasil.
Para emprender este estudio se ha partido, por un lado, de un marco teórico esbozado desde preceptos posprocesuales de la academia anglosajona, que pretenden alejarse de las lógicas occidentales cartesianas y acercarse más a enfoques antropológicos. Por otro lado, metodológicamente, se ha recurrido a análisis arqueométricos (DRX y petrografía) para hallar las condiciones y temperaturas de cocción de los barros de construcción y a la revisión de las estratigrafías de los yacimientos y a estudios tafonómicos de miles de fragmentos cerámicos custodiados en varios museos para comprender su historia pre- y posdeposicional y poder inferir pautas de comportamiento.
De todo ello, se infiere que las comunidades de Cogotas I mediatizaron el registro arqueológico con sus acciones en la Prehistoria, de acuerdo a pautas de conducta regidas por la moral y las creencias supramateriales y a conceptos como visibilidad-invisibilidad u ocultación-monumentalidad.
Although much has been written about these changes, earthen architecture has been dramatically understudied in this context, which leads to a conceptual confusion that overlooks the socio-economic practices involved in the different construction processes. Through a multidisciplinary study of a selection of earthen remains from several settlements, this contribution aims to characterise the building traditions used in the Northern Plateau during Late Prehistory. Discerning the operational construction chains and their implementation can help us to better understand these social and demographic changes, which seem to indicate a progressive adaptation of local traditions to outside innovations.
In light of this background, the Archterra research group was founded, in an effort to connect these young researchers who share a common study period (Prehistory), regions (northern Iberian Peninsula), and subject of inquiry (earthen architecture). Our main objective is to foster synergies, collaboratively enhance our understanding of different techniques and building remains from the past and collectively characterize this underexplored archaeological heritage. In this communication we summarize our achievements as a group, while also addressing the difficulties we have faced and the opportunities we have encountered in our research journey.
The Annual Meeting (conference) online registration is now open: https://www.e-a-a.org//EAA2023/Registration.aspx
Call for papers is open until 9 February 2023.
Please note that you need to be a current EAA Member before you register for the Annual Meeting.
Useful link of general info (venue, deadlines, registration policy and guidelines): https://tinyurl.com/3jk2mw47
The Annual Meeting (conference) online registration is now open: https://www.e-a-a.org//EAA2023/Registration.aspx
Call for papers is open until 9 February 2023.
Please note that you need to be a current EAA Member before you register for the Annual Meeting.
Useful link of general info (venue, deadlines, registration policy and guidelines): https://tinyurl.com/3jk2mw47
--#202 "Using Earthen Architecture as an Excuse: Productive and Social Practices in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Building" and
--#303 "Unsolved Case Studies of Earthen Architectural Remains: A Workshop to Share Experiences"
The Annual Meeting (conference) on line registration is now open:
https://www.e-a-a.org//EAA2023/Registration.aspx
Please note that you need to be a current EAA Member before you
register for the Annual Meeting.
Call for papers is now open until 9 February 2023.
Useful link of general info (venue, deadlines, registration policy and
guidelines): https://tinyurl.com/3jk2mw47
--#202 "Using Earthen Architecture as an Excuse: Productive and Social Practices in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Building" and
--#303 "Unsolved Case Studies of Earthen Architectural Remains: A Workshop to Share Experiences"
The Annual Meeting (conference) on line registration is now open:
<https://www.e-a-a.org//EAA2023/Registration.aspx>
Please note that you need to be a current EAA Member before you
register for the Annual Meeting.
Call for papers is now open until 9 February 2023.
Useful link of general info (venue, deadlines, registration policy and
guidelines): <https://tinyurl.com/3jk2mw47>.
The mud remains preserved in museums or described in reports or publications are often true unsolved cases as they are insufficiently described. When confronted with these artefacts, some questions arise, such as whether these remains were part of the rooftops, other building sections, or some kind of furniture, who made them, and so on. With these concerns in mind, we are searching for case studies that address enigmatic fragments, undetermined earthen elements, to try to propose a function. Additionally, attending the different life stages of the buildings, we would like to discuss examples of repairing, rebuilding and abandonment processes.
How will we work at this special session? It aims to be a practical workshop where participants share archaeological materials and discuss them together. At this point, we refer to the identification of earthen materials (from a macroscopic view to a microscopic approach, including XRD, XRF, FTIR, petrology, etc.), paying attention to imprints, decoration and composition to understand the different construction techniques (wattle and daub, cob, mud brick, plasters, etc.), as well as earthen furniture (ovens, grills, benches, shelves, buckets, ornaments, etc.). We welcome papers from any era, as long as the material presented is raw earth. We aspire to collectively solve our cases, strengthening individual research and shedding light on this fundamental part of humanity's material past.
In this paper we intend to re-build and make visible the history of a space of Salamanca which has not received much attention by scholars: the once populous banks of the Tormes in Salamanca. From the present and absent material remains, we have developed two complementary ways of working: first, an archive and photographic work on significant spaces within the so-called peripheries. The second is an ethnographic research within the community in order to give voice to different social agents, the “other” active participants in local history, whose experiences are about to disappear if not registered.
The ultimate aim is to highlight these spaces while thinking, about how and why these spaces of the city have changed over time and how these changes are steemed by the agents who are involved.