The Copper Age Settlement of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain): Demography, Metallurgy and Spatial Organization

Manuel Eleazar Costa Caramé,Leonardo García Sanjuán,David W Wheatley,Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla

doi:10.3989/tp.2010.10032

Manuel Eleazar Costa Caramé, Leonardo García Sanjuán + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2010.10032

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Abstract

This paper presents the results obtained from a review of the archaeological record available for the prehistoric site of Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain), one of the most important settlements of SW Iberia in the 3 rd and 2 nd millennia BC. Two main variables, namely demography and metallurgical production, are examined in the light of both conventional and spatial statistical methods (with particular emphasis on significance testing) with the aim of assessing the wider issue of social complexity. Among the various conclusions emerging from this empirical study, two stand out. Firstly, neither the correlation between the total extension of the settlement and the complexity of its internal organisation, nor the spatial delimitation between domestic/productive and funerary practices is as straightforward as previously claimed. Secondly, no simple, clear-cut statistical patterns are found in the spatial distribution of human remains or metal objects. These conclusions provide the basis for a critique of currently held interpretations of Valencina de la Concepcion as the political centre of an early state extending across the lower Guadalquivir valley.

Highlights

The archaeological site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville) is located near the right bank of the Guadalquivir River, about 6 km from the city centre of Seville to the west, occupying the higher elevations of the region of El Aljarafe Norte, mainly within the municipality of Valencina de la Concepción, and partly in Castilleja de Guzmán
This physical environment was characterized above all by the richness and diversity of natural resources provided by the great marine gulf into which the Guadalquivir flowed, the complex network of river channels and marshes that occupied the mouth of the river, and the fertile lands of the El Aljarafe platform (Fig. 1)
Regarding the first of the aims stated above, analysis of minimum number of individuals considered (MNI)/m2 density shows that human osteological material appears distributed throughout the entire area of the settlement (Figs. 4 and 6, Tab. 2)

Summary

Introduction

The archaeological site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville) is located near the right bank of the Guadalquivir River, about 6 km from the city centre of Seville to the west, occupying the higher elevations of the region of El Aljarafe Norte, mainly within the municipality of Valencina de la Concepción, and partly in Castilleja de Guzmán. The main features of that earlier environment have recently begun to be determined from geo-archaeological studies of the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir river (Arteaga Matute et al 1995a; 1995b) and of fluvial deposits in the city of Seville and its surroundings (Barral Muñoz and Borja Barrera 2002; Borja Barrera and Barral Muñoz 1999, 2003a, 2003b) This physical environment was characterized above all by the richness and diversity of natural resources provided by the great marine gulf into which the Guadalquivir flowed, the complex network of river channels and marshes that occupied the mouth of the river, and the fertile lands of the El Aljarafe platform (maximum elevation of 165 metres at Cerro de la Cruz) (Fig. 1). The list of specialists who have contributed to this research includes some of the most famous and influential scholars across several generations of Spanish prehistorians

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Conclusion