Mineral adornments at chalcolithic sites in inland Iberia: variscite beads at Valle de las Higueras (Huecas, Toledo) Spain

The study of adornments found in the necropolis at Valle de las Higueras (Huecas, Toledo) has determined the morphotypology and mineral composition of one quadrangular pendant and 341 stone beads. Most of the beads are short (length ≤ 5 mm), but within this regularity series can be differentiated that might be the result of standardised fabrication processes and different times of acquisition. Portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis identified the use of phyllosilicates as sepiolite and clinochlore, and above all variscite, a mineral that became especially important for adornments in the Iberian Peninsula in the 3rd millennium BC. The inland location of the necropolis, distant from source areas, certifies its remote origin, as far away as northwest Zamora according to the chronological framework. It is still not possible to determine for sure the source of the variscite at Valle de las Higueras. However, the inland location of the necropolis, distant from source areas, certifies its remote origin. The chronology suggests that it might have come from the north-west, in the area of Zamora. Archaeological and chronological data obtained in tombs in the necropolis, together with other inland sites, contribute to understanding variscite circulation in the Iberian Peninsula in the Chalcolithic. It was restricted to a few individuals, both adults and children, who wore necklaces and bracelets. Distance did not condition the arrival of variscite, but the small amounts suggest it was traded together with other ostentation elements, such as sea shells, cinnabar and amber. The heterogeneous regional panorama displays differences in the demand, use and acquisition of variscite depending on the socioeconomic organisation and connection to exchange networks

Paleoecología y cultura material en el complejo tumular prehistórico de Castillejo del Bonete (Terrinches, Ciudad Real)

Castillejo del Bonete es un complejo tumular situado en el borde meridional de la Meseta Ibérica, ocupado en fechas calcolíticas y de la Edad del Bronce, vinculado a la Cultura de las Motillas. Materiales arqueológicos muy diversos han sido recuperados asociados a las arquitecturas del lugar (túmulos, corredores, potentes muros, etc.). Se presenta un avance de la investigación paleoecológica sobre las colecciones de carbón, polen y microvertebrados. Además se presentan cuentas de piedra y madera, colgantes de concha, material lítico, la colección cerámica, nuevas metalografías e industria metálica y botones de marfil. El conjunto de estas evidencias arqueológicas pone de manifiesto la celebración ritual de banquetes y ofrendas durante la Prehistoria Reciente en una cueva monumentalizada mediante túmulos en el interior de la Península Ibérica

The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter- gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol)

Plant material culture can offer unique insights into the ways of life of prehistoric societies; however, its perish- able nature has prevented a thorough understanding of its diverse and complex uses. Sites with exceptional preservation of organic materials provide a unique opportunity for further research. The burial site of Cueva de los Murciélagos in southern Iberia, uncovered during 19th-century mining activities, contained the best-pre- served hunter-gatherer basketry in southern Europe, together with other unique organic artifacts associated with the first farming communities, such as sandals and a wooden hammer. We present 14 14C dates for the perishable artifacts (N = 76), situating the assemblage between the Early and Middle Holocene (c. 7500 to 4200 cal BCE). Our integrated analysis includes raw material determination and technological and chrono-cul- tural contextualization of this unique and important set of materials.Peer reviewe

Funerary red (cinnabar versus ochre) and megalithic rituals in the central Iberian peninsula. The hypogean necropolis of Valle de las Higueras, Huecas, Toledo, Spain

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 south-eastern 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.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 péninsulaire (dès le IVe jusqu’au IIIe 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 corporelles, de tatouages ou de masques. Il est possible que les défunts affichent, à travers la source de leur couleur rouge, des récits qui proviennent de leur vie quotidienne, comme le travail des mineurs, ou encore leur valeur sociale par les vêtements, les tatouages et les peintures corporelles funéraires. On peut envisager une variété d’explications par rapport à l’usage du cinabre, si on tient compte du registre archéologique ici analysé : une ritualité où le rouge joue le rôle de signe de la vie et de la mort avec des symboles qui perdurent tout au long du Néolithique et du Chalcolithique ibériques.Bueno-Ramirez Primitiva, Barroso bermejo Rosa maría, De Balbin Behrmann Rodrigo. Funerary red (cinnabar versus ochre) and megalithic rituals in the central Iberian peninsula. The hypogean necropolis of Valle de las Higueras, Huecas, Toledo, Spain. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, tome 116, n°1, 2019. pp. 73-93

Así soy yo

La finalidad del proyecto es analizar el desarrollo de los niños desde su nacimiento hasta el momento actual. Se trata de elaborar su autobiografía o aspectos de la vida propia de cada uno de ellos como su familia, cómo dieron los primeros pasos, qué comían de pequeños, cómo fue su primer día en el colegio o cuáles eran sus juegos preferidos. Los objetivos son que se formen una adecuada imagen de su esquema corporal; mejorar su autoestima; y que actúen de forma cada vez más autónoma en sus actividades habituales. Para realizar el proyecto se divide el aula en rincones donde se trabajan contenidos y actividades de todas las áreas de Infantil. Se organizan rincones de lógica matemática, de plástica, de construcciones o el rincón de las letras. Las actividades que se llevan a cabo son individuales y en grupo, favoreciendo así hábitos de convivencia, y todos pasan por todos los rincones. Entre las actividades destacan las de orientación espacial; de seriación y de secuenciación; actividades de medición y de lecto-escritura; de plástica, dramatización y búsqueda de información con ayuda de las familias. Se incluye un modelo de los criterios de evaluación , inicial y final, y un ejemplo de todas las fichas elaboradas.Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de Educación. Dirección General de Ordenación AcadémicaMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES

The use and abuse of cinnabar in Late Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia

In this study, total mercury (THg) was analyzed in archaeological human bone from 23 sites dating to between the Middle Neolithic and the Antiquity. A total of 370 individuals from individual or collective burials was sampled, mostly using cortical bone from the humerus. These individuals were recovered from over 50 different funerary structures ranging from tholoi, pits, caves, and hypogea. Although cinnabar (HgS) is a likely cause of mercury poisoning and toxicity for people exposed to this mineral from mining or use as a paint or pigment, not all sites investigated here had cinnabar associated with the burials or other excavated areas. We found unusual levels of THg in many of the sampled individuals that we assume were caused by exposure to cinnabar in life, and not by diagenetic processes or other exposures to mercury such as through diet, which would only cause negligible accumulation of THg in bone. Our data, based on the largest sampling ever undertaken on contamination of human bone through archaeological evidence, provide a baseline for additional research on cinnabar and its use in Prehistory. Moderate to high levels of THg in human bone are mainly associated with societies dating from the second half of the 4th to late 3rd millennia B.C. (Late Neolithic to Middle Chalcolithic) in southern Iberia. By the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, the use of cinnabar decreased significantly and became minimal or absent. The use and abuse of cinnabar appears to have been pervasive throughout the above-mentioned period and particularly between c. 2900-2300 B.C. This occurred in connection with the high symbolic and probably sacred value of the substance, which was sought after, traded, and extensively used in a variety of rituals and social practices.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol)

Plant material culture can offer unique insights into the ways of life of prehistoric societies; however, its perishable nature has prevented a thorough understanding of its diverse and complex uses. Sites with exceptional preservation of organic materials provide a unique opportunity for further research. The burial site of Cueva de los Murciélagos in southern Iberia, uncovered during 19th-century mining activities, contained the best-preserved hunter-gatherer basketry in southern Europe, together with other unique organic artifacts associated with the first farming communities, such as sandals and a wooden hammer. We present 14 14C dates for the perishable artifacts (N = 76), situating the assemblage between the Early and Middle Holocene (c. 7500 to 4200 cal BCE). Our integrated analysis includes raw material determination and technological and chrono-cultural contextualization of this unique and important set of materials

Paleoecology and material culture in the tumular complex Castillejo del Bonete (Terrinches, Ciudad Real-Spain). Preview of archaeological materials

Castillejo del Bonete es un complejo tumular situado en el borde meridional de la Meseta Ibérica, ocupado en fechas calcolíticas y de la Edad del Bronce, vinculado a la Cultura de las Motillas. Materiales arqueológicos muy diversos han sido recuperados asociados a las arquitecturas del lugar (túmulos, corredores, potentes muros, etc.). Se presenta un avance de la investigación paleoecológica sobre las colecciones de carbón, polen y microvertebrados. Además se presentan cuentas de piedra y madera, colgantes de concha, material lítico, la colección cerámica, nuevas metalografías e industria metálica y botones de marfil. El conjunto de estas evidencias arqueológicas pone de manifiesto la celebración ritual de banquetes y ofrendas durante la Prehistoria Reciente en una cueva monumentalizada mediante túmulos en el interior de la Península Ibérica.Castillejo del Bonete is a tumulus complex located on the southern edge of Iberian Plateau, occupied during Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods, and linked to the Culture of the Motillas. Diverse archaeological objects have been recovered in association with the architectures of the site (barrows, corridors, big walls, etc.). A preview of paleoecological research on coal, pollen or microvertebrates studied are presented, wirh stone and wood accounts, shell pendants, lithic materials, pottery, new metallographies and metallic tools and ivory buttons. All these archaeological evidence may reflect the ritual celebration of feasts and offerings during Late Prehistory in a cave monumentalised in the interior of Iberian Peninsula.Depto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y ArqueologíaDepto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaDepto. de Medicina Legal, Psiquiatría y PatologíaFac. de Geografía e HistoriaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasFac. de MedicinaTRUEpu