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The Necropolis Of El Barranquete In Níjar Used for Funerary Rituals throughout the Bronze Age

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Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have discovered that the megalithic necropolis of El Barranquete in Níjar (Almería, south‑eastern Spain) prolonged its funerary use throughout the Bronze Age, a thousand years longer than previously thought, and that despite its proximity to the sea, people living there did not make use of marine resources.

El Barranquete is an Almerian megalithic necropolis, a classic in the study of the societies of Los Millaresculture. This necropolis is made up of at least 17 tholos‑type tombs –places used for collective burials– that were excavated between 1968 and 1971.

 Image  of the megalithic necropolis El Barranquete in Níjar (Almería), where this study was carried out. -
Credit: University of Granada.

After those field works, the research group “GEA – Cultura material e identidad social en la Prehistoria Reciente en el sur de la Península Ibérica“, belonging to the UGR Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, has applied high‑resolution methods to inspect the necropolis.

One of the researchers, Gonzalo Aranda, explains that this re‑inspection has been focused on characterizing the population buried at that site from their anthropological and biochemical study, as well as from the analysis of the chronology and temporality of this cultural phenomenon through the radiocarbon dating of their funerary activities.

The anthropological study of the remains, which are mixed together forming ossuaries, has shown that individuals of both genders and of all ages accessed to the funerary ritual, with little presence of children despite the high mortality rates.

“In addition, the anthropological study has shown that these populations suffered from degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis,” Aranda says.

The analysis of the diet through the isotopes contained in the bone remains has shown that, despite the proximity of the Mediterranean, the diet of these populations was based almost exclusively on animal proteins (meat and derivatives) and on vegetables (especially wheat and barley), but not fish.

The second line of research has used radiocarbon dating to analyze the age at which 44 individuals died. This has allowed to discover that the necropolis was used for funerary rituals thoughout the Copper and Bronze ages, about 2,000 years, a thousand more than what was previously thought.

The study has emphasized that the use of large megalithic funerary structures shows, for the first time, the desire of human societies of transcending their present by creating a sacred landscape based on collective memory and the cult of ancestors.

Moreover, the UGR team of researchers points out that, although in the Bronze Age a new type of funerary ritual with individual tombs was established, this did not mean the social rupture that we thought until now, since the re‑use of ancient funerary monuments continued for several hundred years.

These studies allow us to affirm that the construction of megalithic landscapes is probably one of the most long‑lasting and powerful legacies of past societies and that, for millennia, these monuments were the scene for social interaction and the encounter with supernatural powers.
https://canal.ugr.es/noticia/el-barranquete-in-nijar-funerary-rituals-bronze-age/

Contacts and sources:
Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez
University of Granada (UGR)

Citation:

Aranda Jiménez, G., Lozano Medina, A., Díaz‑Zorita Bonilla, M., Sánchez Romero, M., Escudero Carrillo, J. 2017. Cultural Continuity and Social Resistance: The Chronology of Megalithic Funerary Practices in Southern Iberia. European Journal of Archaeology.
https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2017.42 

Díaz‑Zorita Bonilla, M., Aranda Jiménez, G., Escudero Carrillo, J., Robles Carrasco, S., Lozano Medina, A., Sánchez Romero, M., Alarcón García, E. 2016. Estudio bioarqueológico de la necrópolis megalítica de El Barranquete (Níjar, Almería). Menga. Revista de Prehistoria de Andalucía, 7, 71-98. 
Lozano Medina, A., Aranda Jiménez, G. 2018. Long‑lasting sacred landscapes: The numerical chronology of the megalithic phenomenon in south‑eastern Iberia. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 19, 224-238.
   


Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2018/11/the-necropolis-of-el-barranquete-in.html


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