Landscapes in prehistory

Archaeological investigations carried out at Case Bastione (Enna, central Sicily) provide a key insight into the cultural and environmental changes that occurred during the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age. Preliminary data of an ongoing paleoenvironmental reconstruction through archaeobotanical analyses are here presented. The selective exploitation of vegetation, the adaptation of lifestyle to local resources, and changing climatic conditions are analysed using different on-site and off-site environmental and archaeological proxies. The environment around the site was constituted by mixed oak woodland. Dietary preferences were reconstructed through the analysis of carpo-remains. Isotopic values provide new data on the 4.2 ka BP event and its effects on vegetation in central Sicily. In a whole, first results from Case Bastione give new light to human choices of vegetal resources exploitation. Comparison of the local results with the regional pollen data support the hypothesis that the growth in population and settlement in the inland part of the island since the Late Copper Age may reflect changing climatic conditions in coastal areas.

This is the draft version of the now much improved and accepted paper "Landscape, orientation and celestial phenomena on the ‘Coast of Death’ of NW Iberia". To be published in JHA in 2023.

It investigates the extended landscapes surrounding dolmens in the area of Costa da Morte (Coast of Death), Galicia. Having previously uncovered that the megalithic monuments in this coherent area of the southeastern side of the Atlantic Façade are visually situated in relation to complex topographical variables, we now reveal our investigations into the connections between the chosen topography of these same sites combined with astronomical phenomena. We will see how the detailed shape of the horizon coincides with specific risings and settings of the Sun and Moon, as well as the dolmen orientations, providing further support for the notion that the creators of these monuments selectively drew upon variables found in their natural world that included astronomical bodies.

This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement SHoW, No 800236.

The site of Wakrita is a small Neolithic establishment located on a wadi in the tectonic depression of Gobaad in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The 2005 excavations yielded abundant ceramics that enabled us to define one Neolithic cultural facies of this region, which was also identified at the nearby site of Asa Koma. The faunal remains confirm the importance of fishing in Neolithic settlements close to Lake Abbé , but also the importance of bovine husbandry and, for the first time in this area, evidence for caprine herding practices. Radiocarbon dating places this occupation at the beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C., similar in range to Asa Koma. These two sites represent the oldest evidence of herding in the region, and they provide a better understanding of the development of Neolithic societies in this region.

A newly discovered prehistoric stela from Cañaveral de León (Huelva, Spain) is studied through a combination of scientific methods, including thin section petrography and lithological contextualisation, various state-of-the-art digital imaging techniques for the analysis of the engraved motifs (3D modelling and Reflectance Transformation Imaging), and detection of pigments on its surface (Principal Components Analysis, HSI-contrast stretch, ferric pigments index and algebraic operations between bands), as well as archaeological surveys aimed at establishing the landscape context the stela was part of. The results reveal this stela is analogous to a larger series of late prehistoric sculptures portraying personages with 'headdresses', largely concentrated in the Iberian southwest and often connected to Bronze Age settlements and burial sites. In addition, the Cañaveral de León stela is closely associated to an old pathway that has had a historical prominence in terms of long-distance mobility, connecting various regions of western Spain in a South-North direction.

"Because of its design and scale, Menga is an outstanding megalithic monument. As such, it has also had a remarkable biography, dating back to the early part of the 4th millennium BC and spanning all prehistoric and historic periods since then. This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive review of the evidence available to understand Menga’s journey through time. The data presented here help understand issues such as the chronology of the building of the monument, its frequentation and use throughout Late Prehistory or its re-use as burial ground in Roman and Medieval times. To date, no other Iberian megalithic monument has shown such pervasiveness as a place filled with long-term ideological significance for memory and identity."

English: This book, stemming from the Project "Nature, Society and Monumentality: High Resolution Archaeological Investigations of the Antequera Megalithic Landscape (MEGA)" developed by the University of Seville between 2014 and 2017, represents a major leap forward towards a renewed research paradigm of the great prehistoric site of Antequera. A 'high resolution' approach is applied to the archaeological record of the Menga dolmen, through the study of the excavations carried out in the spring of 2005. During the last two years, 25 specialists in numerous fields of scientific research, including morphological analysis of ceramic and lithic materials, traceology, geoarchaeology, sedimentology, archaeometallurgy, numismatics, bioarchaeology (faunal and human remains) and radiocarbon dating, have applied a variety of analytical techniques to study the evidence recorded in said excavation.  As a result, we obtain a first image of the extraordinary biography of Menga, one of the most remarkable megalithic monuments in the world. Built in the first half of the 4th millennium cal BC, used as a temple in the Late Prehistory and as burial ground (and possible also as a ritual space) in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Menga witnessed an intense activity in Modern and Contemporary History as well. Throughout this book, we reveal surprising discoveries and unexpected details of that long biography, a reflection of almost 6000 years of human experience in which Menga has been a first-order social and cultural reference.
Español: Esta obra, derivada del Proyecto “Naturaleza, Sociedad y Monumentalidad:
Investigaciones Arqueológicas de Alta Resolución del Paisaje Megalítico de Antequera (MEGA)” desarrollado por la Universidad de Sevilla dentro del Plan Nacional I+D del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad entre 2014 y 2017, supone un importante salto adelante para dar inicio a una etapa de investigaciones renovadas en el gran sitio prehistórico antequerano. Esta monografía constituye la primera aproximación de ‘alta resolución’ al registro arqueológico del dolmen de Menga, realizada a partir del estudio de las excavaciones llevadas a cabo en la primavera de 2005. A este estudio han contribuido 25 especialistas en muy diversos campos de la investigación científica
que a lo largo de dos años han aplicado técnicas de análisis que van desde los estudios de morfología de materiales cerámicos y líticos o la numismática, hasta la geoarqueología, la sedimentología, la arqueometalurgia, la bioarqueología (en sus dos variantes, faunística y antropológica), la datación radiocarbónica o la traceología. Como resultado de este estudio se obtiene una primera imagen de la extraordinaria biografía del dolmen de Menga, uno de los monumentos megalíticos más singulares del mundo. Construido en la primera mitad del IV milenio Antes de Nuestra Era, y utilizado como templo en la Prehistoria Reciente y espacio funerario en la Antigüedad y el Medievo, Menga conoció también una intensa actividad en las épocas moderna y contemporánea. A lo largo de esta obra se revelan descubrimientos y detalles sorprendentes de esa larga biografía, resumen y reflejo de casi 6000 años de experiencia humana en los que Menga ha sido un referente social y cultural de primer orden.

English: Since the discovery in 1860 of La Pastora, one of the most beautiful and outstanding megalithic constructions of Iberia, the Copper Age and Bronze Age site of Valencina de la Concepción – Castilleja de Guzmán has provided an unceasing series of archaeological finds of the utmost significance. Today, a hundred and fifty years after the earliest discoveries, this volume offers an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the research carried out at this site, which underlines, first and foremost, its importance as a scientific and cultural resource. Among the contributions to this volume the reader will find some of the keys to the human occupation of the lower Guadalquivir basin 5000 years ago, the process of social aggregation that gave way to the formation of the city of Seville itself. In addition, this book reflects some of the current discussions that dominate today’s scientific agenda on Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200-2200 cal BC), a period of fascinating social and cultural dynamism that laid the basis for the consolidation of social ranking, long-distance contact and exchange, as well as metallurgy and productive specialization.

Español: Desde que en 1860 se produjera el descubrimiento de La Pastora, una de las construcciones megalíticas más bellas y singulares de España, el yacimiento de la Edad del Cobre y de la Edad del Bronce de Valencina de la Concepción – Castilleja de Guzmán no ha cesado de deparar hallazgos arqueológicos de la mayor significación. Hoy, 150 años después de los primeros descubrimientos, este volumen ofrece una puesta al día de las investigaciones que están revelando la extraordinaria importancia de este yacimiento como recurso científico y patrimonial. Entre las colaboraciones de esta obra el lector encontrará algunas de las claves de la ocupación de la desembocadura del río Guadalquivir hace 5000 años: el proceso de agregación humana que representa el origen de la misma ciudad de Sevilla. Igualmente, en las páginas de este libro encuentra reflejo el debate que en la actualidad preside el estudio de la Edad del Cobre (c. 3200-2200 antes de nuestra era), un periodo de apasionante dinamismo social y cultural en el que se consolidaron las bases de la jerarquización social, las relaciones comerciales a larga distancia, la metalurgia y la especialización productiva.

Popularizační publikace ke stejnojmenné autorské výstavě realizované ve dnech 15. 2. 2022 - 17. 7. 2022 ve výstavních prostorách Muzea a galerie v Prostějově, p. o., prezentující současný stav poznání starší doby železné na Moravě s důrazem na nejnovější výsledky archeologických odkryvů v geografické oblasti Prostějovska. – Popularizating publication of the same named author's exhibition realized on February 15 - July 17, 2022 in the exhibition area of the Museum and Gallery in Prostějov, p. o.
The exhibition and book are presenting the current state of knowledge of the Early Iron Age in Moravia with emphasis on the latest results of archaeological excavations in the geographical area of Prostějov.

"The discovery of the Menga dolmen water well in 2005 raised a number of scientific challenges. The obvious connection of this great megalithic monument with water demands an entirely new approach to its geographical and historical context. To achieve this, a complete analysis of the geochemical characteristics of the well’s water is undertaken and the hydrological context of the surrounding region is examined. The results of this study are discussed within the context of the complex economic, social and cultural history of water resources in Lands of Antequera, which are reviewed on the basis of archaeological, historical and geographic data. Altogether, this approach reveals a completely new dimension of this great megalithic monument, in which ecology, water resources, economy, architecture and beliefs are interwoven into one of the most complex and persistent monumental landscapes of European Prehistory."