Mass animal sacrifice at casas del Turuñuelo (Guareña, Spain): A unique Tartessian (Iron Age) site in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Zooarchaeological analyses of the skeletal remains of 52 animals unearthed in the courtyard of an Iron Age Tartessian building known as Casas del Turuñuelo (Badajoz, Spain) shed light on a massive sacrifice forming part of a series of rituals linked to the site's last period of activity and final abandonment. The rites took place towards the end of the 5th century BCE when both the building (intentionally destroyed) and the sacrificed animals were intentionally buried under a tumulus 90 m in diameter and 6 m high. The main objective of the zooarchaeological and microstratigraphic analyses was to determine the phasing of the sacrificial depositions. Evidence gathered from taphonomic assessments and a series of radiocarbon datings indicate that the sacrifices fall into three consecutive phases spanning several years. The findings of the zooarchaeological analyses clearly point to a selection of equid and cattle males. Adult equids predominate (MNI = 41) followed by adult and sub-adult cattle (MNI = 6). Pigs, in turn, are only represented by a few adults and sub-adult females (MNI = 4). Among the animals is a single dog of undetermined sex between 3 and 4 years of age. The fact that the animals are mostly adults discards the likelihood that they died from natural causes or an epidemic. In addition, the scenographic deposition of certain equids in pairs, as well as evidence of the burning of plant offerings, suggest an intentional ritualistic sacrifice. Nine of the initial depositions of Phase 1 in the SE quadrant were scattered and certain of their bones bear marks characteristic of both prolonged open air exposure and scavengers. Another 31 animals from Phases 1 and 2 are represented by almost complete, articulated skeletons, indicating they were promptly covered. Phase 3, by contrast, reveals both almost complete and partial animals bearing clear signs of processing for human consumption. This study thus sheds light on both the sequence of the animal sacrifices and the protocols linked to rites accompanied by the celebration of banquets. Certain features associated with the sealing of this building under a tumulus offer evidence of the decline of the Tartessian Culture. This study thus advances notions serving to contextualize ritual animal sacrifices in the framework of practice observed at other Iron Age sites in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere throughout Europe.

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.

As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000-1000 cal. BCE).

The deposition and manipulation of human remains in natural caves are well known for the Neolithic of Southern Iberia. The cultural meaning of these practices is however still largely unclear. Cueva de los Marmoles (CM, Priego-Córdoba) is one of the most important cave contexts from Southern Spain, which returned a large number of commingled skeletal remains suggesting its funerary use from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Here we discuss CM from a chronological and cultural perspective based on new radiocarbon, anthropological, and taphonomic analyses. These include the estimation of the minimum number of individuals, the exploration of fragmentation patterns characterizing different skeletal regions, and the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of modifications to the remains of possible anthropic origin. Radiocarbon data point to a funerary use of CM between the 5th -2nd millennium cal. BCE. MNI estimates reveal the presence of at least 12 individuals (seven adults and five nonadults). The low representation of elements from hands and feet suggests that individuals were placed in the cave while partially decomposed. Anthropic traces on the remains (e.g. fresh fractures, marrow canal modifications, and scraping marks) hint at their intentional fragmentation, cleaning from residual soft tissues, and in some cases reutilization. These practices are well-exemplified by the recovery of one "skull cup" and of two long bones used as tools. These data align with those from other cave contexts from the same geographic region, suggesting the presence, especially during the Neolithic period, of shared ideologies centered on the human body.

Northwest African Neolithic initiated by migrants from Iberia and Levant.

In northwestern Africa, lifestyle transitioned from foraging to food production around 7,400 years ago but what sparked that change remains unclear. Archaeological data support conflicting views: (1) that migrant European Neolithic farmers brought the new way of life to North Africa1-3 or (2) that local hunter-gatherers adopted technological innovations4,5. The latter view is also supported by archaeogenetic data6. Here we fill key chronological and archaeogenetic gaps for the Maghreb, from Epipalaeolithic to Middle Neolithic, by sequencing the genomes of nine individuals (to between 45.8- and 0.2-fold genome coverage). Notably, we trace 8,000 years of population continuity and isolation from the Upper Palaeolithic, via the Epipaleolithic, to some Maghrebi Neolithic farming groups. However, remains from the earliest Neolithic contexts showed mostly European Neolithic ancestry. We suggest that farming was introduced by European migrants and was then rapidly adopted by local groups. During the Middle Neolithic a new ancestry from the Levant appears in the Maghreb, coinciding with the arrival of pastoralism in the region, and all three ancestries blend together during the Late Neolithic. Our results show ancestry shifts in the Neolithization of northwestern Africa that probably mirrored a heterogeneous economic and cultural landscape, in a more multifaceted process than observed in other regions.

Multidisciplinary investigation reveals the earliest textiles and cinnabar-coloured cloth in Iberian Peninsula.

Textile production is among the most fundamental and more complex technologies in human prehistory, but is under-investigated due to the perishable nature of fibrous materials. Here we report a discovery of five textile fragments from a prehistoric (fourth-third millennium cal BC) burial deposit located in a small cave at Peñacalera in Sierra Morena hills, near Córdoba, Southern Spain. These textiles accompanied a set of human remains as grave goods, together with other organic elements such as fragments of wood and cork, and some pottery vessels. They were characterized and dated using digital microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. Two of the fragments described here are the oldest examples of loom-woven textiles in the Iberian Peninsula, dating from the second half of the fourth millennium cal BC. This correlates chronologically with the first appearance of loom weights in the archaeological record of this region. The more recently dated textile is the earliest preserved cloth intentionally coloured with cinnabar in the western Mediterranean. The Peñacalera finds are a key reference for understanding the development of textile technologies during the Neolithic and Copper Age in western Europe and beyond.

Four millennia of Iberian biomolecular prehistory illustrate the impact of prehistoric migrations at the far end of Eurasia.

Population genomic studies of ancient human remains have shown how modern-day European population structure has been shaped by a number of prehistoric migrations. The Neolithization of Europe has been associated with large-scale migrations from Anatolia, which was followed by migrations of herders from the Pontic steppe at the onset of the Bronze Age. Southwestern Europe was one of the last parts of the continent reached by these migrations, and modern-day populations from this region show intriguing similarities to the initial Neolithic migrants. Partly due to climatic conditions that are unfavorable for DNA preservation, regional studies on the Mediterranean remain challenging. Here, we present genome-wide sequence data from 13 individuals combined with stable isotope analysis from the north and south of Iberia covering a four-millennial temporal transect (7,500-3,500 BP). Early Iberian farmers and Early Central European farmers exhibit significant genetic differences, suggesting two independent fronts of the Neolithic expansion. The first Neolithic migrants that arrived in Iberia had low levels of genetic diversity, potentially reflecting a small number of individuals; this diversity gradually increased over time from mixing with local hunter-gatherers and potential population expansion. The impact of post-Neolithic migrations on Iberia was much smaller than for the rest of the continent, showing little external influence from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Paleodietary reconstruction shows that these populations have a remarkable degree of dietary homogeneity across space and time, suggesting a strong reliance on terrestrial food resources despite changing culture and genetic make-up.