The Copper Age in South-West Spain cover

Published:28/02/2017Language:EnglishPages:287, Illustrated throughout in black and white. 91 tables, 118 figures (27 colour figures).BAR Number: S2840Series: BAR International Series

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The Copper Age in South-West Spain

A bioarchaeological approach to prehistoric social organisation

Written by Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla

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Description

The prehistoric communities in Iberia have never been investigated before using a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary approach. In this research, the latest techniques are applied in order to allow a reconstruction of prehistoric social structure and social organization. Specifically, this investigation uses bioarchaeological methods, such as osteological, paleopathological and biochemical approaches (stable isotopes), in combination with funerary context to reconstruct the mortality, morbidity, dietary and mobility patterns of two human skeletal populations from the Copper Age (c. 3300-2100 cal BC). The main objective was to test whether social differences were already present during the 3rd millennium BC in southern Iberia. For this purpose, two main Copper Age sites, Valencina de la Concepción (Seville) and La Pijotilla (Badajoz), were analysed and then compared to many other contemporary sites from the same geographical location. In sum, the results of this research demonstrate the complexity of the funerary patterns in the Iberian Copper Age, providing evidence for social inequality and differentiation.

About the Author

Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla (PhD, MA, BA) is a bioarchaeologist specialised in the study on prehistoric human remains from the 4th-2nd millennia BC from the Iberian Peninsula. Specifically, her research aims to reconstruct social structure and mobility patterns and connections with central Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Reviews

‘Díaz-Zorita Bonilla is clearly an effective advocate for Spanish bioarchaeology, and in a most useful preface to her own research she reviews the study of funerary sites and human remains in Spain across time and space. As much of this scholarship is published regionally and in Spanish, the availability of this information should encourage international scholars to access this important and largely underappreciated literature…In her closing discussion, Díaz-Zorita Bonilla outlines a blueprint for further bioarchaeological studies. I look forward to these and others that will further illuminate the multi-faceted, important past of those whose lives are documented in the Iberian Peninsula’s archaeological record.’ From the preface by Jane E. Buikstra, Regents Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University