At the beginnings of the funerary Megalithism in Iberia at Campo de Hockey necropolis

Abstract

The excavations undertaken at the Campo de Hockey site in 2008 led to the identification of a major Neolithic necropolis in the former Island of San Fernando (Bay of Cádiz). This work presents the results of the latest studies, which indicate that the site stands as one of the oldest megalithic necropolises in the Iberian Peninsula. The main aim of this work is to present with precision the chronology of this necropolis through a Bayesian statistical model that confirms that the necropolis was in use from c. 4300 to 3800 cal BC. The presence of prestige grave goods in the earliest and most monumental graves suggest that the Megalithism phenomenon emerged in relation to maritime routes linked to the distribution of exotic products. We also aim to examine funerary practices in these early megalithic communities, and especially their way of life and the social reproduction system. As such, in addition to the chronological information and the Bayesian statistics, we provide the results of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study, including anthropological, archaeometric and genetic data.

Chronological Study of Collective Burials in the Northern Iberian Plateau: Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates on Human Bones From the Megalithic Complex of La Lora (Burgos, Spain)

“…However, recent reviews (Scarre et al 2003; Aranda Jiménez et al 2017; García Sanjuán et al 2022) concur in their statistical rejection of dates of long-lived samples for a general analysis of peninsular “megalithisation.” According to these latest studies, it is proposed that the first megalithic constructions took place during the 5th millennium (Scarre 2010; Laporte and Bueno Ramírez 2019) in coastal areas associated with European neolithic maritime routes (Schulz Paulsson 2019). The radiocarbon measurements on human bone that support this proposal derive from the “protomegalithic” structures discovered in Campo de Hockey (Cádiz, Spain), with dates around 4300 cal BC (Vijande-Vila et al 2015, 2022; García Sanjuán et al 2022), and from some tombs in northeastern Catalonia, with chronological intervals in ca. 4200 cal BC (García Sanjuán et al 2022: 5).…”

As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE)

“…In this sense, we have an increasingly large body of 14 C dates that place southern Iberia as an early focus in the development of this phenomenon from c. 4000 cal. BCE [ 8 , 22 , 91 , 92 ]. This fits chronologically with the first depositional phase documented at CM.…”

Estratigrafía, materiales arqueológicos y dataciones del corte C005 de Cueva de la Dehesilla: primicia pleistocena y nueva contribución a la secuencia neolítica

“…También en campiña, pero un poco hacia el Noroeste, se conoce desde antiguo -al igual que el de Alberite y el de Antequera-otro de los núcleos megalíticos primigenios del sur peninsular, el de Los Molares, con dólmenes y enterramientos en fosa datados por radiocarbono entre el rango máximo acumulado 3823-3500 cal BC (García Rivero et al, 2020b). Por último, en la línea costera gaditana se ha excavado intensamente y extraído mucha información de Campo de Hockey, donde existen numerosos enterramientos datados a principios del V milenio cal BC (Vijande, 2022).…”