Production, use and circulation of artifacts in the Andarax basin (Almería)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19821487

Abstract

From 3300 cal B.C. at the confluence of the Andarax river with the Rambla de Huéchar, was established an important settlement surrounded by several lines of walls, Los Millares. Certain specialised activities were carried out, crafty and ideological ones. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the settlement took care to provide with certain infrastructures such as aqueducts, cisterns, silos and unique rectangular-plan buildings. This settlement was associated with an extensive necropolis composed almost of masonry tombs circular chambers and relatively long corridors divided into sections. Starting around 2900 cal B.C., the settlement experienced a significant growth, which led to the occupation of part of the land previously used by the necropolis. This expansion may be related to the integration of nearby populations who lived in small settlement in the Alhama and Gádor mountain ranges and who buried their dead in megalithic tombs made of orthostats. The graves, distributed along the banks of various tributaries of the Andarax river, extended to the necropolis of Los Millares itself. To control these lands, at an as-yet-undetermined time but prior to 2600 cal B.C., up to 13 hill-forts were placed on similar situations to these scattered megaliths, surrounding the main settlement. The territorial control system, consisting of fortified settlement, attached necropolis with masonry tombs and dispersed orthostatic megaliths, spread throughout the Andarax-Nacimiento river basin and the Hoya de Guadix. Along with the dispersion of certain items (particularly ideo-technical ones) and raw material supply, this organization constitutes, at the moment, the best indicator about the territory over which Los Millares exerted its influence.