The Chalcolithic "mega-site" of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19821382

Résumé

The "mega-site" of Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán extends throughout the northeastern limit of the Aljarafe Plateau, 6 km to the West of modern-day Seville, in southern Spain. During prehistoric times the site was located next to an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, which covered most of the estuary of the Guadalquivir River. Geomagnetic survey of a surface of over 37.5 ha has revealed the existence of seven ditched enclosures, each consisting of between one and three ditches. In addition, two small enclosures with a sinuous ditch forming a sort of bastion were documented. By means of the survey a large number of pits, circular huts and workshops excavated in the ground and a new necropolis area with some 80 tombs with a circular chamber and short access corridor under barrows and possible hypogea could be documented. During the excavations carried out int the municipal plot of Cerro de la Cabeza we have been able to investigate a dense sequence of Chalcolithic pits and semi-excavated huts and workshops, located near the edge of one of the ditches. The series of C14 dates obtained by AMS and the reconstruction of the outline of the ditched enclosures begin to reveal the sequence of the settlement. Starting in the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic (end of the 4th millennium BC) the site experiments its peak occupation during the Middle Chalcolithic (first half 3rd millennium BC). During the transition to the Late Chalcolithic (mid 3rd millennium BC) there seems to be a reduction in the size of the settlement, being limited to the central area of the modern day Valencina, during the Late Chalcolithic (second half of the 3rd millennium BC). It seems that after 2300/2250 BC all the ditches were abandoned and refilled. We also present some evidence that seems to indicate a short and not very intense occupation of the Cerro de la Cabeza area during the Early Bronze Age (beginning of the 2nd millennium BC). The site of Valencina played an important role as the settlement of a large population, acting as a central place controlling the mouth of the Lower Guadalquivir, as well as a production centre and exchange gateway, due to its proximity to the sea, of exotic products and goods, to be processed, consumed, and traded in it, also functioning as a funerary and ritual space of reference for a wide region.