Megaliths (Archaeology)

Louvain-la-Neuve, 8-9 december 2016 Collective tombs were widespread in the Near East and Europe during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, up to the point that their proliferation and diffusion in the late 4 th millennium BC was singled out as a «phenomenon». For example, 6000 Neolithic collective burials have been identified in France 1 and it is by far the most common type of tomb on Crete during the Early Bronze Age, a situation which strongly contrasts with the mortuary customs of other areas and periods of the Aegean 2. All collective burials are characterized by the successive gathering, during a more or less extended period of time, of several deceased within the same confined space. The treatment of the body, however, as well as the mortuary practices and the rituals associated with collective tombs display much variability. The latter can be architectural, with natural and man-made tombs, subterranean and above-ground structures or apply to funerary treatment with a diversity which includes primary or secondary deposits, cremation and inhumation. It can also imply a variety in the deposition of objects, such as personal belongings, provisions for the journey of the deceased or ceremonial items. Finally, it may also entail various manipulations of bones for tomb cleaning or ritual purposes. Currently, research on collective tombs tends to focus on one of the following issues: 1 Chambon 2003 Les morts dans les sépultures collectives néolithiques en France, CNRS éditions. 2 Herrero 2009 The Minoan fallacy: cultural diversity and mortuary behaviour on Crete at the beginning of the Bronze Age, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 28: 29–57

The use of satellite imagery is explored in mapping the distribution of archaeometallurgical sites for iron and steel production and as a tool for potential reconnaissance in northern districts of Telangana. Travellers' accounts from at least the seventeenth century suggest that this was an area where pre-industrial iron and steel production flourished, which is also testified by the vast amount of archaeometallurgical debris in the region. The geographical distribution of ferrous metal production sites within this landscape has been documented by integrating data from surface surveys on over 100 archaeometallurgical sites with satellite imagery. Despite the constraints that the surface sites could not be dated by archaeological excavation, this pilot study explores how satellite imagery and related experimental procedures may be used to complement surface archaeometallurgical surveys and reconnaissance efforts.

Müller, J., Rassmann, K., 2020. Frühe Monumente - soziale Räume. Das neolithische Mosaik einer neuen Zeit, in: Bánffy, E., Hofmann, K.P., Rummel, P.v. (Eds.), Spuren des Menschen. 800 000 Jahre Geschichte in Europa, WBG, Darmstadt, pp. 134-158.

An illustrated account of the award-winning community archaeology project summarising the research, fieldwork, excavation, educational outeach and the restoration of Carwynnen Quoit, a "lost" megalith located on the edge of Camborne, Cornwall, UK. The project was developed by The Sustainable Trust in collaboration with Cornwall Archaeological Unit and funded by the HLF, CAS, Cornwall Heritage Trust, the Trussell Trust and Getty fund. The book has been written by Jacky Nowakowski, Pip Richards and Dom Williamson with James Gossip. The restored monument is open for everyone to visit and enjoy.

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 presence of cinnabar in collective graves in the interior of the Iberia reveals a symbolic role identifying ritual practices well known in megaliths in the south of the peninsula. The data from the necropolis of Valle de las Higueras at Toledo, in the context of the Chalcolithic of the peninsula interior (from the 4th to the 3rd millennium cal BC), provide a point of reference for discussing "funerary red" in later Prehistory. The exotic source of cinnabar, probably from Almadén, adds an original aspect. While cinnabar was the "specific" funerary red of the south of the Iberia, the evidence found in Catalonia and southeastern France reflects the major role played by the Ebro valley. Combined with the circuits for ivory, amber and gold, it underlines the role of the south in the emergence of funerary models that became particularly important across Europe in the 3rd millennium (at the same time as use of bell beakers reaches its hight). The data from Iberian megaliths from which pigment samples have been taken, shows a clear difference between the red used for the constructional features of the tombs, in stone or earth, and the red used for bones and human figurines. Cinnabar was reserved for the latter, while walls were decorated with iron oxides. The engraved decorations associated with painting on figurines are convincing proof of the importance of dyed clothing, as well as the more than probable presence of ceremonial garments, shrouds, body paint, tatoos or masks. Through the source of their red colour, the deceased possibly display narratives that come from their everyday life, such as the work of miners, or else their social position through clothes, tatoos and funerary body paint. On the basis of the archaeological evidence analysed here, various explanations can be suggested for the use of cinnabar: a rituality in which red plays the role of a sign of life and death with symbols that persist throughout the Iberian Neolithic and Chalcolithic. Résumé : La présence de cinabre dans les sépultures collectives du centre de la péninsule Ibérique, montre un rôle symbolique identifiant des pratiques rituelles bien connues dans les mégalithes du sud de la péninsule. Les données obtenues sur la nécropole de Valle de las Higueras à Toledo, dans le contexte du Chalcolithique de l'intérieur péninsu-laire (dès le IV e jusqu'au III e millénaire cal BC), constituent un point de repère pour réfléchir sur le « rouge funéraire » dans la Préhistoire récente. La source exotique de cinabre, probablement d'Almadén, ajoute un élément unique. Alors que le cinabre était le rouge funéraire « spécifique » du sud de la péninsule Ibérique, les indices trouvés en Catalogne et dans le sud-est de la France témoignent du rôle majeur joué par la vallée de l'Èbre. S'ajoutant aux circuits de l'ivoire, de l'ambre et de l'or, il souligne le rôle du sud dans l'apparition de modèles funéraires qui, au troisième millénaire (en même temps que l'utilisation des gobelets campaniformes est à son apogée), devient particulièrement importante dans toute l'Europe. Les informations provenant des mégalithes ibériques où des pigments ont été prélevés, montrent une nette différence entre le rouge utilisé dans les structures architectoniques des tombes, de pierre ou de terre, et le rouge utilisé pour les os et les figurines humaines. Le cinabre était réservé à ces derniers tandis que les parois sont décorées avec des oxydes du fer. Les décorations gravées associées à la peinture sur les figurines sont une preuve convaincante de la valeur des vêtements teints, ainsi que de la présence plus que probable de vêtements de cérémonie, de linceuls, de peintures cor-porelles, de tatouages ou de masques. Bueno-Ramírez B., Barroso-Bermejo R., Balbín-Behrmann R. de (2019)-Funerary red (cinnabar versus ochre) and megalithic rituals in the central Iberian peninsula. The hypogean necropolis of Valle de las Higueras, Huecas, Toledo, Spain, Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 116, 1, p. 73-93.

In this work we intent to share various rock art panels found in a small cave located in the site of Peña Redonda, next
to Sierra del Castillo (Espiel, Cordoba). In the same way in order to contextualize this find, we analyze the evidence of prehistoric
occupation of the surrounding territory, represented by two distinct cores, both datable around central centuries of
the IIIrd millennium BC.

Монография посвящена публикации материалов мегалитического комплекса и поселений острова Веры на озере Тургояк в Южном Зауралье. Комплекс представлен тремя камерными мегалитами и святилищами энеолитического времени (IV–III тыс. до н. э.). На поселениях выявлены материалы неолита, энеолита и раннего железного века. В книге обсуждаются особенности архитектуры и строительных технологий, астрономическая ориентация сооружений, социальная организация и вопросы религии и идеологии мегалитического общества Урала. В монографии приводятся и обсуждаются различные аспекты результатов исследований европейских мегалитов, которые являются фоном и базой для многих выводов, изложенных в книге. Мегалитический комплекс на острове Веры является уникальным в силу большой концентрации объектов разного типа на небольшой территории. И этот ареал оторван от ареалов иных культур с мегалитической традицией в Европе, на Ближнем Востоке и на Кавказе. Это, а также отсутствие здесь в тот период производящего хозяйства ставит ряд новых проблем при осмыслении мегалитического феномена в целом.

El dolmen de Soto (Trigueros, Huelva) se define como una de las arquitecturas megalíticas monumentales en piedra y arcilla más singulares y excepcionales de la Península Ibérica. Es uno de los yacimientos arqueológicos referentes para el conocimiento del megalitismo, destacando su grandiosa arquitectura y sus excepcionales grafías en el contexto de la Prehistoria de Europa. Ha sido objeto de diversos estudios arqueológicos y restauraciones desde su descubrimiento y primera publicación en 1924, reconociéndose su valor patrimonial desde 1931, cuando fue declarado monumento nacional.
Las recientes actuaciones patrimoniales promovidas por la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía han contribuido a un mayor conocimiento científico del monumento megalítico y al establecimiento de determinadas directrices para su conservación y puesta en valor. El objetivo principal ha sido convertirlo en el sitio central del itinerario cultural conocido como la ruta dolménica de Huelva, dotando de contenidos a su centro de visitantes, desde el que se recepciona y aporta material divulgativo a los ciudadanos. Sin embargo, a pesar de los grandes esfuerzos realizados hasta el presente, no se ha conseguido una gestión integral del sitio, que aúne una investigación arqueológica continuada, una conservación preventiva del yacimiento, un mantenimiento periódico del monumento y una adecuada difusión, que garanticen su conocimiento, preservación y valoración social. Este es el gran reto para el futuro, que posicionaría a este monumento megalítico en el lugar que le corresponde, como uno de los bienes patrimoniales referentes de los paisajes culturales de la Prehistoria de Andalucía.