La Draga (Banyoles, Catalonia), an Early Neolithic Lakeside Village in Mediterranean Europe

The site of La Draga is located on the eastern shore of the Estany de Banyoles (Lake Banyoles). The excavation work carried out so far has lasted from 1990 to 2005. It was coordinated by the Museu Arqueològic Comarcal de Banyoles and the Centre d'Arqueologia Subaquàtica de Catalunya. Three different areas were investigated: the upper area, or Sector A; the lower area, beside the Lake, or Sector B; and the Neolithic lakeshore, or Sector C, which is now under water. Appropriate methods of excavation, including extraction pumps and underwater divers, were applied to each sector. La Draga is an early Neolithic village (Cardial-ware phase) which dates from the end of the 6th millennium BC. Its material culture is similar to that found at other contemporary sites in southern France, Catalonia and Valencia. One feature, however, makes it unique in the Iberian Peninsula: the remains of large rectangular huts with oak posts, numerous wooden and basketry items, and vast quantities of animal bones and cereal grains have been preserved there. Two monographs about the site have been published so far, one in 2000 and the other in 2006. It has been the subject of many papers given at conferences and published in specialized journals in Catalan, Spanish and French. This is the first text of any length to be published directly in English

La Draga (Banyoles, Catalonia), an Early Neolithic Lakeside Village in Mediterranean Europe

The site of La Draga is located on the eastern shore of the Estany de Banyoles (Lake Banyoles). The excavation work carried out so far has lasted from 1990 to 2005. It was coordinated by the Museu Arqueològic Comarcal de Banyoles and the Centre d'Arqueologia Subaquàtica de Catalunya. Three different areas were investigated: the upper area, or Sector A; the lower area, beside the Lake, or Sector B; and the Neolithic lakeshore, or Sector C, which is now under water. Appropriate methods of excavation, including extraction pumps and underwater divers, were applied to each sector. La Draga is an early Neolithic village (Cardial-ware phase) which dates from the end of the 6th millennium BC. Its material culture is similar to that found at other contemporary sites in southern France, Catalonia and Valencia. One feature, however, makes it unique in the Iberian Peninsula: the remains of large rectangular huts with oak posts, numerous wooden and basketry items, and vast quantities of animal bones and cereal grains have been preserved there. Two monographs about the site have been published so far, one in 2000 and the other in 2006. It has been the subject of many papers given at conferences and published in specialized journals in Catalan, Spanish and French. This is the first text of any length to be published directly in English

Megalithism in Catalonia: A brief overview

The study of megalithism in Catalonia, especially southern Catalonia (south of the Pyrenees), has changed considerably in the past four decades (1980-2020) thanks to several extraordinarily important excavations. They include the dolmen in Els Reguers de Seró (Artesa de Segre) and the menhir in El Pla de les Pruneres (Mollet del Vallès), both of which yielded heretofore unseen engravings, and most importantly the long-term campaigns focused on specific regions, such as the Alt Empordà, Tavertet (Osona) and, more recently, Maresme-Baix Vallès. Also worth noting is the work done on the western dolmen region, such as in Odèn (Solsonès), and the new excavations and studies on underground Neolithic cists from the Solsonian (Solsonès), which have now been included in megalithism in Catalonia, a much more complex, long and varied period than we imagined back in the 1970s. Indeed, the timeline of Catalan megalithism currently stretches from the early middle Neolithic (4500 BC) to the onset of the Bronze Age (1800 BC), that is, more than 2500 years through Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze-Age cultural groups which shared the custom of burying their dead in more or less monumental stone graves, their hallmark. Alongside the graves, these recent decades have also finally revealed some of the settlements where their builders lived, such as the one in Ca n’Isach (Palau-saverdera, Alt Empordà); new menhirs and sites or cromlechs consisting in menhirs or built around menhirs near the habitat areas have been discovered; and new megalithic statuary, such as the one from Ca l’Estrada (Canovelles, Granollers). These are similar to the megalithic world in southeast France, while also enriching the known megalithic art records here in Catalonia, which until now were primarily centred around schematic anthropomorphicand geometric engravings in some megalithic graves in the Alt Empordà/Roussillon/Conflent.Keywords: Southern Catalonia, middle Neolithic-old Bronze Age, dolmens, menhirs and megalithic ar

El megalitisme a Catalunya: una breu síntesi

L’estudi del megalitisme de Catalunya, i en especial del de la Catalunya Sud, ha experimentat grans canvis en les darreres quatre dècades (1980-2020), gràcies a algunes excavacions puntuals de gran repercussió, com la del dolmen dels Reguers de Seró (Artesa de Segre) o la del menhir del Pla de les Pruneres (Mollet del Vallès), tots dos amb gravats inèdits, i també, sobretot, gràcies a les campanyes de llarga durada centrades en territoris concrets com l’Alt Empordà, la zona de Tavertet (Osona) o, més recentment, el Maresme - Baix Vallès. Sense oblidar la gran tasca feta a la zona dolmènica occidental, com a Odèn (Solsonès), ni tampoc les noves excavacions i estudis sobre les cistes neolítiques soterrades del Solsonià (Solsonès), que ara veiem integrades en el megalitisme de Catalunya, un període molt més complex, llarg i variat del que imaginàvem fins als anys setanta del segle xx. En efecte, actualment, la cronologia del megalitisme català s’estén des del Neolític mitjà inicial (4500 aC) fins als inicis de l’edat del bronze (1800 aC), més de 2.500 anys a través de grups culturals neolítics, calcolítics i de l’edat del bronze, units pel costum d’enterrar els morts en tombes pètries més o menys monumentals, que són el seu tret distintiu. I, al costat de les sepultures, aquestes darreres dècades ens han permès conèixer, finalment, alguns dels poblats on vivien els seus constructors, com el de Ca n’Isac (Palau-saverdera, Alt Empordà); s’han descobert nous menhirs i també recintes o cromlecs fets de menhirs o al voltant de menhirs a prop de les zones d’hàbitat; i ha aparegut una nova estatuària megalítica, com la de Ca l’Estrada (Canovelles, Granollers, Vallès Oriental), que ens apropa al món megalític del sud-est francès i alhora enriqueix els registres coneguts en relació amb l’art megalític de les nostres terres, molt centrat fins ara en els gravats esquemàtics antropomorfs i geomètrics d’alguns sepulcres megalítics de l’Alt Empordà, el Rosselló i el Conflent.Paraules clau: Catalunya Sud, Neolític mitjà - bronze antic, dòlmens, menhirs i art megalíti