Artículos (Prehistoria y Arqueología)

URI permanente para esta colecciónhttps://hdl.handle.net/11441/10793

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Seafaring megaliths: A geoarchaeological approach to the Matarrubilla giant stone basin at Valencina (Spain)
(Elsevier, 2025) Cáceres Puro, Luis M.; Donaire Romero, Teodosio; Lozano Rodríguez, José Antonio; Díaz-Guardamino, Marta; Martínez-Sevilla, Francisco; Muñiz Guinea, Fernando; García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Riksbankens Jubileumsfon. Sweden
A broad multidisciplinary approach is deployed to study an exceptional megalithic feature: the stone basin that presides over the chamber of the Matarrubilla tholos, part of the Valencina Copper Age mega-site (Sevilla, Spain). The study, including geoarchaeological characterisation and sourcing of the stone, traceological analysis of its surfaces based on photogrammetry and morphometrics, digital image analysis as well as OSL dating, leads to a number of substantial findings of great relevance to understand the significance of this stone basin, the only of its kind documented to this date in the Iberian Peninsula, with parallels only in Ireland and Malta. Among the most relevant conclusions, it is worth noting the fact that the gypsiferous cataclasite block the basin was made of was brought from the other side of the marine bay that five thousand years ago extended across the south-east of Valencina, this is the first evidence of waterborne transport of a megalithic stone in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, the basin appears to have been put where it stands today sometime in the first half of the 4th millennium BC, long before any tholoi were built at Valencina, which suggest a prior history of still poorly documented monumentality at this mega-site.
Wild and Domesticated Fauna in Desert Regions of the Near East: The Case of Saruq al-Hadid (UAE)
(The University of Chicago Press, 2024) Bernáldez Sánchez, Eloisa; García Viñas, Esteban; Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Ramos Soldado, José Luis; Boraik, Mansour; Youssef, Ya’Aqub; Dantascayuela, Javier; Ferrer Albelda, Eduardo; Prehistoria y Arqueología; HUM152: De la Turdetania a la Bética
The authors present the results of the archaeozoological studies of the 2019–2020 archaeological field seasons conducted in Saruq al-Hadid (Dubai, UAE) by the University of Seville and the Andalusian Institute of Historic Heritage (Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico, IAPH). We analyzed two large assemblages of animal bone remains and, through the archaeozoological analysis, observed differences between two cultural and taphonomical contexts at the site. In the oldest levels—dated between the Bronze Age and Iron Age I—hunted animals predominate, while data from the Iron II period show a higher frequency of domesticated species. These differences suggest a change in the use of the environment, related to changes in the culture and/or the climate, as well as the human activity that originated each deposit.
Valencina: A copper age polity
(Elsevier, 2025) García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Earle, Timothy; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades de España; HUM694: Atlas. Territorios y Paisajes en la Prehistoria Reciente de Andalucía
For a century, Copper Age Iberia (c. 3200-2200 BCE) has been seen as a grand laboratory for discussions of early social complexity. And yet, most theories were, from an empirical view point, infradetermined, as evidence was limited and restricted to a few sites. This situation has changed, as the availability of highquality scientific data for a broader spectrum of sites now provides opportunities for fresh theoretical approaches. We propose a new take on emergent Iberian Copper Age social organisation, based on elements of political economy and collective action. We use the Valencina Copper Age megasite, located in southwestern Spain, to postulate the crucial role played by monumentalised central places in early complex societies. This site, and others like it, operated as attractors of large contingents of people, probably in the thousands, for social congregations that extended the fabric of society along a distinctive Neolithic pattern. Monumentbuilding, largely (but not only) in the form of megaliths and ditched enclosures, brought people together, creating and maintaining a sense of belonging and cooperation, while at the same time keeping in check topdown impulses for more authoritarian and centralised political organisation. In the Neolithic tradition, monuments appear to create identity tied to place among expanding corporate social groups. Copper Age social formations lived in a ‘monument-oriented’ mode of production of sorts, in which the establishment of place and associated monumentalism served both to encourage and ‘burn’ surplus that could otherwise be manipulated and controlled by aspiring leaders. As part of this process, distinctive female leadership emerged at Valencina as materialized by identities supported by sumptuary objects made on exotic raw materials and produced by specialists. The social world built around Valencina as a monumentalised central place came to a rather abrupt end c. 2300, after which a different social medium, the Bronze Age, was started.
Military reliefs in Thutmose III's Temple of millions of years in western Luxor (Pl. XXVI-XXVII)
(2020) Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Martínez Babón, Javier; Fundación Botín; Banco Santander; Fundación Gaselec; Fundación Cajasol
Funerary cones from Thutmose III's temple of millions of years, Luxor
(2019) Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Martínez Babón, Javier; Fundación Botín; Banco Santander; Fundación Gaselec; Fundación Cajasol
The Magnificent Mummy-Cartonnage of Amunrenef
(2019) Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Martínez Babón, Javier; Fundación Botín; Santander Universities; Fundación Cajasol; Fundación Gaselec
Three Middle Kingdom Tombs in Thutmose III's Mortuary Temple
(2019) Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Martínez Babón, Javier; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Fundación Botín; Fundación Gaselec; Santander Universities; Fundación Cajasol
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project
(Cambridge University Press, 2025) Smith, Jansen A.; Dowding, Elisabeth M.; Abdelhady, Ahmed A.; Abondio, Paolo; Araújo, Ricardo; Aze, Tracy; Cortés Sánchez, Miguel; Kiessling, Wolfgang; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Volkswagen Foundation; HUM1089: Paleolítico Medio y Superior en el sur de Iberia
Paleontology provides insights into the history of the planet, from the origins of life billions of years ago to the biotic changes of the Recent. The scope of paleontological research is as vast as it is varied, and the field is constantly evolving. In an effort to identify “Big Questions” in paleontology, experts from around the world came together to build a list of priority questions the field can address in the years ahead. The 89 questions presented herein (grouped within 11 themes) represent contributions from nearly 200 international scientists. These questions touch on common themes including biodiversity drivers and patterns, integrating data types across spatiotemporal scales, applying paleontological data to contemporary biodiversity and climate issues, and effectively utilizing innovative methods and technology for new paleontological insights. In addition to these theoretical questions, discussions touch upon structural concerns within the field, advocating for an increased valuation of specimen-based research, protection of natural heritage sites, and the importance of collections infrastructure, along with a stronger emphasis on human diversity, equity, and inclusion. These questions offer a starting point—an initial nucleus of consensus that paleontologists can expand on—for engaging in discussions, securing funding, advocating for museums, and fostering continued growth in shared research directions.
Fossil Tusk Shells (Mollusca, Scaphopoda) in Archaeological Sites in the South of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)
(MDPI AG, 2025-09-15) Lozano Francisco, María C.; Simón Vallejo, María Dolores; Vera-Lozano, José Antonio; Vera-Peláez, José L.; Cortés Sánchez, Miguel; Prehistoria y Arqueología; HUM1089: Paleolítico Medio y Superior en el sur de Iberia
The interest of human groups in fossil collecting from the Middle Pleistocene onwards has recently been highlighted. Among the taxa identified at several archaeological sites, a particular group of molluscs stands out: the scaphopods. This paper provides an exhaustive review of scaphopod (Mollusca, Scaphopoda) fossils recovered from archaeological sites in southern Iberia, particularly two sites: Cueva del Hoyo de la Mina and El Tesoro, both in the province of Málaga (southern Spain). The importance of using fossils of this mollusc from the Magdalenian to the Neolithic period has been confirmed at these sites. While the Iberian Peninsula is home to a rich diversity of scaphopod species, with 24 species belonging to nine genera during the Neogene period alone, our analysis reveals that only two species, Paradentalium inaequale and Paradentalium sexangulum, were chosen for symbolic purposes. Additionally, we provide a synthesis of the presence of these species and this group in other Iberian sites. A total of 258 scaphopods were found at eight Iberian archaeological sites ranging from the Solutrean to the Bronze Age. We also discuss some of their cultural connotations. The fossil scaphopod species have been reviewed and compared with palaeontological collections from southern Iberia.
Descubriendo la prehistoria con un móvil: digitalización 3D de la cueva de La Pileta
(Conversation Media Group, 2025) Antón García, Daniel; Mayoral Valsera, Juan; Simón Vallejo, María Dolores; Cortés Sánchez, Miguel; Parrilla-Giráldez, Rubén; Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación; Prehistoria y Arqueología
Estudio preliminar sobre tapones hallados en el Templo de Millones de Años de Tutmosis III en Luxor (Egipto)
(Museo Arqueológico Nacional, 2019) Martínez Babón, Javier; Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Moreno Cifuentes, María Antonia; Prehistoria y Arqueología; HUM152: De la Turdetania a la Bética
Este trabajo muestra la información arqueológica, histórica y técnica que aporta un conjunto de tapones de recipientes cerámicos, elaborados con barro, recuperados a lo largo de varias campañas en el Templo de Millones de Años de Tutmosis III. La mayoría de estos tapones conserva inscripciones con diversos nombres de reyes y reinas que permiten realizar un recorrido histórico que abarca buena parte de la dinastía XVIII y la primera fase de la XIX. Asimismo, otras inscripciones revelan distintos tipos de productos almacenados en dichos recipientes. Su composición y estado de conservación ayudan a conocer diferentes elementos de elaboración y tipologías.
Un enterramiento femenino en decúbito prono del Primer Período Intermedio hallado en el yacimiento del templo funerario de Tutmosis III en Luxor
(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2025) Seco Álvarez, Myriam; Martínez Babón, Javier; Peña Romo, Victoria; Prehistoria y Arqueología; HUM152: De la Turdetania a la Bética
Al norte del muro perimetral del templo funerario de Tutmosis III en Luxor, se excavó un promontorio rocoso que conservaba pequeñas tumbas del Primer Período Intermedio y comienzos del Reino Medio. En el año 2018 fue encontrado, en la parte oeste de este promontorio, el cadáver en parte momificado, probablemente por procesos naturales, de una mujer que había sido colocado en posición prono, con piedras sobre el ataúd de madera y con un pequeño túmulo de arena y piedras sobre el enterramiento. Tumbas con estas particularidades son atípicas en el ámbito funerario del Egipto faraónico y, según antiguas creencias, pueden significar te-mor ante determinados difuntos.
Fresh insights into sex-specific mobility in Copper Age Perdigoes (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) provided by amelogenin peptide analysis
(Springer, 2025-03-29) Cintas Peña, Marta; Shaw Evangelista, Lucy; Valera, A. C.; García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Rebay-Salisbury, Katharina; Koenig, Christoph; Olsen,John Elmerdahl; Kanz, Fabian; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU). España; HUM694: Atlas. Territorios y Paisajes en la Prehistoria Reciente de Andalucía
Sex estimation based on amelogenin peptides in dental enamel has opened up possibilities to study prehistoric demography in a new light. The application of this technique is of particular importance for the analysis of prehistoric collective burials, where the commingled and disarticulated nature of human remains makes sex estimations challenging. This paper presents data on the sex of 35 individuals from the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal), obtained by amelogenin peptide analysis of dental enamel. The results are combined with observations on chronological and spatial distribution of the burial structures as well as strontium isotope data obtained from the same teeth. The new evidence enables the analysis of sex-specific mobility patterns, even at a site where the large majority of human remains discovered to date (MNI = 565) are heavily commingled and highly fragmented. The results show a greater number of males (n = 6) than females (n = 2) among the local individuals, and a balance between males (n = 14) and females (n = 13) among nonlocal ones, suggesting similar mobility for both sexes. These results are contextualized with the evidence available both for the Iberian Peninsula and the European continent. The greater female mobility observed at sites with similar chronologies in Central Europe, which has been interpreted in terms of female exogamy and patrilocality, is not replicated at Perdigões, where males and females have similar strontium isotope values.
A propósito de la altura de los hornos romanos de ánforas: una restitución arquitectónica en el alfar de El Mohíno (Provincia Bética, Hispania)
(Editorial CSIC, 2025-05-13) González Tobar, Iván; Mauné, Stéphane; García Vargas, Enrique Alberto; Tiago-Seoane, O.; Arvidsson, O.; Lucena González, J.; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Agence Nationale de la Recherche. France; Junta de Andalucía; HUM152: De la Turdetania a la Bética
Aunque las restituciones completas de las cámaras de cocción de los hornos cerámicos romanos son frecuentes, estas suelen realizarse con una escasa base documental. Su altura total es uno de los aspectos peor conocidos y sin embargo se trata de un parámetro esencial para estimar la capacidad de producción de un horno. En este trabajo presentamos el descubrimiento de un horno romano de ánforas de aceite de la provincia Bética de los años 100-140 d. C. para el que proponemos restituir su altura original gracias al hallazgo de la fachada derrumbada in situ. Presentamos los resultados obtenidos, que permiten proponer una cámara de cocción casi tan alta como el diámetro de la parrilla (al 92 %) y discutimos el resto de su arquitectura con la ayuda de paralelos etnográficos. El caso de estudio es excepcional y supone un avance en el conocimiento de los hornos romanos de ánforas, confirmando los cálculos de capacidad volumétrica de las cámaras de cocción y dando solidez a los cálculos estadísticos sobre capacidades de producción de los talleres de ánforas romanas del Mediterráneo occidental.
Built-in smartphone LiDAR for archaeological and speleological research
(Elsevier, 2025) Antón García, Daniel; Mayoral Valsera, Juan; Simón Vallejo, María Dolores; Parrilla Giráldez, Rubén; Cortés Sánchez, Miguel; Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación; Prehistoria y Arqueología
LiDAR technology is reshaping cave surveying by providing detailed 3D models that enhance the accuracy of morphological and rock art digitisation and reduce subjective interpretation. This technology, in its varied forms and solely or combined with other remote sensing techniques such as photogrammetry, enriches the documentation and supports multidisciplinary research by enabling spatial analyses and virtual exploration, thus opening new possibilities in various fields such as archaeology, geology, speleology, tourism or education. In this sense, this research aimed to democratise the use of low-cost mobile LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) 3D scanning, subjected to fewer accessibility limitations than tripod-mounted Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS), in cave archaeology and speleology. For this purpose, La Pileta Cave in M´ alaga (Spain) was chosen as a case study. Declared a Spanish National Monument in 1924, the cave boasts one of the greatest collections of prehistoric art in Europe and, therefore, a reference in South Iberia, and outstands out for its varied karstic morphologies. The research methodology involved a systematic process to ensure clarity and accuracy. First, the main itinerary in La Pileta was scanned using the smartphone LiDAR technique. This was followed by a Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) survey of a specific sector within the same itinerary, with numerous morphological details of its karstic environment and important Palaeolithic rock art samples. Both the smartphone LiDAR and TLS spatial data were then validated against a Ground Control Points (GCPs) network previously established using a total station. Given the higher accuracy of TLS for graphical documentation, it was further employed as a benchmark to validate the accuracy of smartphone LiDAR. Despite its limitations, this research revealed smartphone LiDAR as a suitable technique for geometric data recording in cave archaeology and speleology. Solely or combined with TLS, mobile LiDAR can be used to document rock art panels in karstic environments, surpassing the latter technique in terms of texture quality. In addition to the accurate graphic documentation carried out in the cave sector, this research broke down the advantages and disadvantages of the smartphone LiDAR technique and provided a series of recommendations for its use in this context.
The Lyon Mint in the Roman Tomares Hoard (Seville): Some Considerations on Its Metallic Composition Determined by XRF
(Willey, 2025-06-15) Pliego Vázquez, Ruth; Gómez-Tubio, Blanca María; Alcaide Ramírez, María; Scrivano, Simona; Respaldiza Galisteo, Miguel Ángel; Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Física Aplicada III; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU). España; Universidad de Sevilla
Esculturas romanas de pescadores de la Baetica. A propósito de una nueva escultura-fuente del ager de Igabrum (Cabra, Córdoba)
(Editorial Universidad de Sevilla, 2023-02-20) Beltrán Fortes, José; Lozano Azuaga, María Luisa; Prehistoria y Arqueología
Se estudian varias esculturas romanas de pescadores procedentes de la Baetica, que han decorado contextos domésticos acuáticos, como ocurre en sendos casos de Hispalis (Sevilla) y Corduba (Córdoba), dos opera nobilia de gran formato. A continuación, presentamos un fragmento escultórico inédito que se conserva en el Museo Arqueológico Municipal de Cabra (Córdoba), recuperado en el contexto de una villa romana; consiste en la parte baja de una estatua de fuente, que habría sido elaborada en un taller local. Se decora con relieves alusivos al entorno marino y se coronaría con la figura de un pescador con caña, aunque este se encuentra perdido por fractura. Otras dos estatuas fuentes de la Baetica también representarían pescadores con caña, sentados o acuclillados: uno de Priego de Córdoba, también de una villa, y otro de la ciudad romana de Hispalis (Sevilla).
Sobre una cabeza romana pretendidamente de Patricia Corduba (Córdoba). Una rectificación sobre su origen
(Editorial Universidad de Sevilla, 2024-03-25) Beltrán Fortes, José; Prehistoria y Arqueología
Nuevos datos proporcionados por la casa de subastas Christie’s, de Londres, permiten desechar la procedencia hispana, en concreto de la colonia Patricia Corduba (Córdoba), de una cabeza escultórica romana que formó parte en la primera mitad del siglo XX de una colección cordobesa y que, erróneamente, había dado como de ese origen, integrándola en las producciones escultóricas provinciales de la Bética. Corresponde a una cabeza de figura ideal, con largos cabellos y una corona mixta de hojas de laurel y espigas de trigo, de difícil interpretación. Elaborada en el siglo II d. C., sigue modelos del siglo IV a. C., en concreto de Apolo y con referencias al retrato de Alejandro Magno en la forma del cabello. Por la corona mixta podría corresponder también a un héroe o a un joven dios (¿de ambiente eleusino?), muy idealizado, o a un Genius, por lo que presenta una evidente originalidad iconográfica.
Shedding new light on the context and temporality of Iberian warrior stelae: The Cañaveral de León 2 Stela and Las Capellanías burial complex (Huelva, SW Spain)
(Public Library of Science, 2025-04-23) García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Rivera-Jiménez, Timoteo; Díaz-Guardamino, Marta; Wheatley, David; Lozano Rodríguez, José Antonio; Donaire Romero, Teodosio; Montero Artús, Raquel; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ); University of Gothenburg; University of Durham; University of Southampton; University of Sevilla – Grupo de Investigación ATLAS (HUM-694); Ayuntamiento de Cañaveral de León (Huelva); HUM694: Atlas. Territorios y Paisajes en la Prehistoria Reciente de Andalucía
Iberian late prehistoric stelae stand out as a significant expression of European prehistoric art. For well over a hundred years, the context of use of the c. 300 Iberian stelae known to this date has been intensely discussed. This debate, however, was inherently flawed and limited in its scope, as almost all the available examples were found by chance, and no good-quality empirical evidence was available to understand their primary context. In this paper, we present the first conclusive scientific evidence demonstrating that Iberian late prehistoric stelae were used both as grave markers and landscape landmarks associated with pathways. This incontrovertible evidence stems from fieldwork undertaken in June 2022 and September 2023 at the site of Las Capellanías (Cañaveral de León, Huelva) in south-west Spain, including field walking, geophysics and excavation. The ground-breaking discoveries made at this remarkable site within barely a year reveal the contextual association of three different stelae to as many graves within the context of a large long-standing burial complex. Specifically, in this paper we study Stela #2 through a broad combination of methods ranging from geoarchaeology to luminescence dating and archaeoastronomy, as well as multiple digital visualization and remote sensing techniques. This multidisciplinary approach provides data that reveal multiple lines of evidence concerning the context and temporality of the stela, its manufacture and its graphic design. Altogether, this lays out a much needed and long-awaited reliable empirical base to understand where, when and how Iberian prehistoric stelae were used. “We hewed logs and built his pyre upon the tallest headland where it runs out above the sea: duly we made his funeral, bewailing him with bitter tears. After body and armour were quite burned away, we piled a mound over them and to crown it dragged up a monolith”, Homer, The Odyssey (London, Arcturus, 2021. Trans. by Alexander Pope). “As he spoke he began stripping the spoils from the son of Paeon, but Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen aimed an arrow at him, leaning against a pillar of the monument which men had raised to Ilus son of Dardanus, a ruler in days of old”, Homer, The Illiad (Project Gutenberg, 2022. Trans. by Samuel Butler).
From the jaws of the 'Leviathan': A sperm whale tooth from the Valencina Copper Age Megasite
(Public Library of Science, 2025-05-14) Ramírez-Cruzado Aguilar-Galindo, S.; Luciañez-Triviño, Miriam; Muñiz Guinea, Fernando; Cáceres Puro, L. M.; Toscano Grande, Antonio; Díaz-Guardamino, Marta; Rodríguez Vidal, Joaquín; García Sanjuán, Leonardo; Prehistoria y Arqueología; Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola; European Commission (EC). Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); Junta de Andalucía. Consejería de Economía y Conocimiento; HUM694: Atlas. Territorios y Paisajes en la Prehistoria Reciente de Andalucía
During the excavations undertaken in 2018 at the Nueva Biblioteca sector of the Valencina Copper Age mega-site, in south-west Spain, an exceptional sperm-whale tooth was found inside a non-burial pit. This remarkable object is the first of its kind ever found for Late Prehistoric Iberia. Due to its rarity and importance, a multidisciplinary study was carried out, including photogrammetric 3D modelling, as well as taphonomic, paleontological, technological and contextual analysis. This led to a full characterisation of the artefact through the analysis of its bioerosion traces, anthropogenic marks, depositional context and socio-cultural background. The ensuing discussion covers the history and processes the tooth went through from the death of the animal and disposal on the seabed, through the disarticulation of the tooth to its collection in a coastal environment and its subsequent use and deposition in the pit.

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