Neolithic Spain

Reflection on the depiction of a Neolithic figurine on the Cypriot one-euro coin raises this paper’s question: what is the purpose of past material culture appropriation as national and regional images in the 21st century and how could archaeology raise awareness of this phenomenon? In order to understand this phenomenon within Mediterranean Europe, it is compared to 20th-century nationalisms. This establishes common characteristics in the construction of meaning, collective memory and a united identity in present-day communities, and a contrast in terms of how such appropriations can be used as extreme propaganda. From this perspective, a closer examination of the Cypriot two-euro coin presents it as an example of ´soft´ nationalism. It fosters a collective belonging and pride but not enough to promote superiority or separatism. Similar examples are drawn from the depiction of an Athenian tetradrachma on the Greek one-euro coin and from the appropriation of prehistoric rock art in the Andalusian Indalo. Finally, the implications of this situation for archaeology are analysed at a public and academic level. It is suggested that archaeology has the potential to make a change in the public consciousness if it starts acknowledging the relationship between past material culture and nationalism. Thus, it calls for an acknowledgement and a reciprocal relationship between the discipline of archaeology and the appropriation of past material culture serving 'soft' nationalisms.

Reflection on the depiction of a Neolithic figurine on the Cypriot one-euro coin raises this paper’s question: what is the purpose of past material culture appropriation as national and regional images in the 21st century and how could archaeology raise awareness of this phenomenon? In order to understand this phenomenon within Mediterranean Europe, it is compared to 20th-century nationalisms. This establishes common characteristics in the construction of meaning, collective memory and a united identity in present-day communities, and a contrast in terms of how such appropriations can be used as extreme propaganda. From this perspective, a closer examination of the Cypriot two-euro coin presents it as an example of ´soft´ nationalism. It fosters a collective belonging and pride but not enough to promote superiority or separatism. Similar examples are drawn from the depiction of an Athenian tetradrachma on the Greek one-euro coin and from the appropriation of prehistoric rock art in the Andalusian Indalo. Finally, the implications of this situation for archaeology are analysed at a public and academic level. It is suggested that archaeology has the potential to make a change in the public consciousness if it starts acknowledging the relationship between past material culture and nationalism. Thus, it calls for an acknowledgement and a reciprocal relationship between the discipline of archaeology and the appropriation of past material culture serving 'soft' nationalisms.

"Abstract: The open-air site of Caserna de Sant Pau del Camp, located today in Raval district of Barcelona, has a sequence comprising between Neolithic Cardial to Late Bronze Age, with subsequent occupation in Roman and modern times. It is through old Neolithic Postcardial levels related to a funerary complex with a 24 graves that we try to make an approach to the selection of the recovered materials and the intentionality in the origin and recurrence in the composition of such deposits. The analysis of different materials with a biotic and abiotic origin give a multidisciplinary approach that allowed us to identify the procedence of part of the materials as stone and ceramic, and identify the technological processes related to manufacture process and handling. The contextualization of this set, as well as his formation and origin gives us information about the different practices of this group, particularly those related to the movement of materials and products and with the inherent porpoises in his manipulation."

Fire has a transformative impact on terrestrial ecosystems, including changes in plant and animal communities, nutrient cycling, and biome productivity. Humans are uniquely able to take advantage of the ecological impacts of fire and use it as a tool to create and sustain changes to their environments. Anthropogenic fires constitute bi-directional feedbacks between people and their environments, where ecosystems respond to changing cultural burning practices and vice versa. Archaeological research has not traditionally focused on fire as an important line of inquiry for understanding the linkages between social and ecological systems. Fire ecologists and social scientists agree that to manage fire effectively in coupled social-ecological landscapes, it is vital to understand the origins of these systems. The Neolithic transition to agriculture (7,700–4,500 cal. BP) in the western Mediterranean Basin involved a substantial shift in subsistence, technology, and the use of fire. The proposed research will examine prehistoric anthropogenic burning and agricultural land-use during the Neolithic to understand the origins and evolution of agricultural landscapes in the Comunitat Valenciana, eastern Spain. The specific aims of this research include: 1) to identify the spatial and temporal attributes of Neolithic anthropogenic fire regimes from alluvial sedimentary charcoal records, 2) to determine the scale and speed of change in prehistoric vegetation communities as a response to human burning practices, 3) to evaluate the role of anthropogenic fire during the Neolithic in the long-term development of agricultural landscapes in eastern Spain.

Emmer wheat (Triticum diccocum) has been positively identified from the stratigraphically oldest ceramic-and domesticated livestock-bearing level of El Mirón Cave in the Cantabrian Cordillera. The grain is AMS 14 C-dated to 5550±40 BP. This date is congruent with six ...

The coast of Málaga has shown an important concentration of prehistoric sites with Neolithic occupation. This paper aims to review their historiography as well as briefly present the main lines of the interdisciplinary research carried at Cueva of Nerja and sites located at the southern part of Sierra de Mijas. Data is still preliminary but it shows the presence of a fully developed Neolithic which seems to be related to the arrival of Neolithic pioneers from the second half of the 8th millennium cal BP.