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The joint research of five universities sheds new light on the importance of the Soto dolmen, which preserves engravings from 6,000 years ago of armed figures
The results indicate that the megalithic complex is covered by a large mound of about 60 meters in diameter and surrounded, in turn, by a circle of stones of another 65 meters. Inside it houses a gallery composed of 63 stone supports, a frontal slab and another 30 that cover it. A corridor of 21.50 meters begins narrowly to reach more than three meters in width and height at the bottom of the monument. All the stones are engraved, carved or painted, according to the study revealed in the book Symbols of Death in Recent Prehistory in Southern Europe, the dolmen de Soto, published by the Junta de Andalucía.
And where did their builders get such moles? "They dismantled a previous circle [in the style of Stonehenge, in England] and transported it to the interior of the burial mound, although we do not know the reasons, but the most plausible thing is that it was the center of a large necropolis," Bueno-Ramírez points out.
To bury the stones, and since their height was superior to that of the tumulus, they had to fracture and lower them. "The most striking case is that of the header. It appeared very fragmented above, even with old engravings cut. We have managed to demonstrate that this fragment must have reached a height close to six meters, "says the professor. The dolmen, in turn, is surrounded by a circle of fragmented stones. The excavations confirm that this circumference is older than the dolmen itself and that from it were extracted supports that served for the underground construction. Hence the current state of the circle stones, many cut flush.
Thanks to carbon 14 tests experts have dated construction in the fourth millennium BC. The supports that make up its walls are decorated. The most notable are those of the corridor and all have an initial decoration with engravings and red paint that comes from the first circle or other structures that had been raised in the environment. However, when constructing the new dolmen, the Neolithic population rewrote them and began to reproduce armed characters.
"There is not a single megalithic monument in Europe that has so many armed stelae on its walls," says Bueno-Ramírez. In fact, there are two rows of figures that "constitute a unique exhibition of drawn weapons". Outside the mound, the specialists located a metallurgical workshop of the third millennium, which means that the images with weapons from the interior correspond to the metallurgical knowledge achieved at that time.
Another exceptional discovery is a figure with a carp tongue type sword, a typology typical of the Late Bronze Age (3,000 years before Christ) and the Tartesos setting, which means that it is the first case of an armed wake of this era in a dolmen. This means that the following occupants of the complex "had an interest in integrating themselves in the monument of the ancient ancestors to reinforce their prestige".
Experts have also found human remains. Obermaier described eight bodies with their corresponding trousseaus, which he handed over to the owner of the farm, who, in turn, transported them to the United Kingdom, where his trail is lost. "A pity, because they have never been able to analyze", shrugs the professor, somewhat upset despite the success of the universities.
https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/03/14/actualidad/1552556739_082454.html
The results indicate that the megalithic complex is covered by a large mound of about 60 meters in diameter and surrounded, in turn, by a circle of stones of another 65 meters. Inside it houses a gallery composed of 63 stone supports, a frontal slab and another 30 that cover it. A corridor of 21.50 meters begins narrowly to reach more than three meters in width and height at the bottom of the monument. All the stones are engraved, carved or painted, according to the study revealed in the book Symbols of Death in Recent Prehistory in Southern Europe, the dolmen de Soto, published by the Junta de Andalucía.
And where did their builders get such moles? "They dismantled a previous circle [in the style of Stonehenge, in England] and transported it to the interior of the burial mound, although we do not know the reasons, but the most plausible thing is that it was the center of a large necropolis," Bueno-Ramírez points out.
To bury the stones, and since their height was superior to that of the tumulus, they had to fracture and lower them. "The most striking case is that of the header. It appeared very fragmented above, even with old engravings cut. We have managed to demonstrate that this fragment must have reached a height close to six meters, "says the professor. The dolmen, in turn, is surrounded by a circle of fragmented stones. The excavations confirm that this circumference is older than the dolmen itself and that from it were extracted supports that served for the underground construction. Hence the current state of the circle stones, many cut flush.
Thanks to carbon 14 tests experts have dated construction in the fourth millennium BC. The supports that make up its walls are decorated. The most notable are those of the corridor and all have an initial decoration with engravings and red paint that comes from the first circle or other structures that had been raised in the environment. However, when constructing the new dolmen, the Neolithic population rewrote them and began to reproduce armed characters.
"There is not a single megalithic monument in Europe that has so many armed stelae on its walls," says Bueno-Ramírez. In fact, there are two rows of figures that "constitute a unique exhibition of drawn weapons". Outside the mound, the specialists located a metallurgical workshop of the third millennium, which means that the images with weapons from the interior correspond to the metallurgical knowledge achieved at that time.
Another exceptional discovery is a figure with a carp tongue type sword, a typology typical of the Late Bronze Age (3,000 years before Christ) and the Tartesos setting, which means that it is the first case of an armed wake of this era in a dolmen. This means that the following occupants of the complex "had an interest in integrating themselves in the monument of the ancient ancestors to reinforce their prestige".
Experts have also found human remains. Obermaier described eight bodies with their corresponding trousseaus, which he handed over to the owner of the farm, who, in turn, transported them to the United Kingdom, where his trail is lost. "A pity, because they have never been able to analyze", shrugs the professor, somewhat upset despite the success of the universities.
https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/03/14/actualidad/1552556739_082454.html
