Proofs of Long-Distance Relations between Central Europe and Inland Iberian Peninsula during Neolithic and Bronze Age. Evidences from the Material Culture of the Site of El Portal&#243;n (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

Alfonso Alday,Gema Adán,María Ángeles Galindo-Pellicena,Juan-Luis Arsuaga,Amalia Pérez-Romero,José-Miguel Carretero

doi:10.4236/aa.2015.54023

Abstract

El Portalón of Cueva Mayor is one of the present-day entrances to the Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo karst system located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). It is an important archaeological site with extended Holocene occupation which has been subjected to a number of excavations since the nineteen seventies. From its significant collection of bone and antler industry, for this work, we have chosen artefacts indicating local production and others evidencing contact between this part of the Iberian Peninsula and other areas of the Mediterranean Basin. Wishing to emphasise this symbiotic relationship, we have likewise presented a special collection of Neolithic Boquique pottery. The data confirm that, far from being occasional, the relationship of the groups living in the area around the Atapuerca Mountains continues unbroken for several cultural episodes.

Highlights

Introduction and ObjectivesEach recent prehistoric site is valued for its size, the quality of its archaeological record and the exactness of a classification backed up by stratigraphy and absolute chronology
A dozen pieces ascribed to Neolithic were decorated using the Boquique technique (Figure S6) and reiterate themes found in El Portalón, with more complex iconographies
The set of archaeological materials presented in this work belongs to two distinct cultural periods, the Early Neolithic on the one hand and the advanced Chalcolithic/Bronze Age on the other hand, the latter with presence of metal objects and both within the same cultural dynamics

Summary

Introduction

Each recent prehistoric site is valued for its size, the quality of its archaeological record and the exactness of a classification backed up by stratigraphy and absolute chronology. It is valued for its capacity to be integrated in its geographical and cultural context. Artefacts making up common household items, created, brought to, reactivated and abandoned on the site, and on the other hand, artefacts belonging to the social or ritual sphere (ornaments, offerings, etc.) for a more prolonged use and with sporadic and/or special functions The latter need more time to be made and imply foreign and good quality raw materials, a social cost incentivising their exchange. At Cueva Mayor, occupations during the Holocene developed in its large entrance, called El Portalón (Figure S1), and in the inner galleries as in Galería del Sílex, a place for burials and artistic purposes (Apellániz & Domingo, 1987)

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Conclusion