Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain)

En este TFM se realiza un análisis comparativo del yacimiento arqueológico de Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla, España) con el Recinto de Sarup (Assens, Dinamarca). Para ello se lleva a cabo una recopilación y análisis crítico a los diferentes registros arqueológicos
realizados hasta ahora en el yacimiento arqueológico de Valencina de la Concepción, los cuales son comparados con las evidencias registradas en el recinto de fosos identificado en el yacimiento de Sarup (Dinamarca), quizás sitio de fosos mejor investigado a nivel europeo.
El fin último de este TFM es proponer una lectura del sitio de Valencina informada a partir de las evidencias arqueológicas más cualificadas sobre sitios análogos del IV y III milenios cal ANE, desvinculando su categorización como asentamiento y relacionándolo a un tipo de
yacimiento más acorde a la naturaleza de su registro arqueológico.

In this masters dissertation a comparative analysis between the archaeological site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain) and The Sarup Enclosures (Assens, Denmark) is made. To this end, a compilation and critical analysis of the archaeological evidence retrieved at Valencina is first made. Later, this evidence is compared to the one provided by the ditches enclosure at Sarup, perhaps the best-known site of this type at a European level. The ultimate purpose of this dissertation is to discuss alternative interpretations of Valencina as a site, based on the most qualified evidence currently available for 4th and 3rd millennium BC ditched sites and detaching its categorization as a settlement while linking to site types more in keeping with the available archaeological evidence.

La planificación y ordenación espacial de Valencina muestra algunos aspectos determinantes para significar las formaciones sociales: a) la existencia de los hitos delimitadores entre las áreas de hábitat y necrópolis, persistiendo en su disposición durante casi un milenio; b) la sectorización y agrupación de las actividades de vida cotidiana y producción artesanal; y c) la clasificación, organización y estructuración del espacio de necrópolis; apuntan a una concepción avanzada y planificada del espacio que va más allá de la mera ordenación, mostrándose como el reflejo de formaciones sociales avanzadas, complejas y socialmente estratificadas.
Planning and spatial arrangement of Valencina shows some determining aspects to signify the social formations: a) the existence of the delimiting milestones between the habitat and necropolis areas, persisting in their disposition for almost a millennium; b) the sectorization and grouping of activities of daily life and artisanal production; and c) the classification, organization and structuring of the necropolis space; they point to an advanced and planned conception of space that goes beyond mere organization, showing itself as the reflection of advanced social formations, complex and socially stratified.

Ray De-AlTaef / Moluk - AL –Tavaef / portrayal of power in andalusia
Dr.Mohammadrezashahidipak
The theory of local government and the extraordinary development of culture and civilization:
There is very important historical fact in history of worold, it is the Power Flow and portrayal of power in Andalusia.There is The paradox in history of Iberian peninsula, it is the political collapse of Iberian peninsula in the Islamic era, and at the same time the continuation of the Islamic civilization. it is a historical an sociological of the Iberian history. As the flow of power in Iberian peninsula accelerated, but at the same time as the divisive momentum, Islamic civilization was split up into a large city states, expanded from the Muslim communities of Andalusia and moved to Europe. There are any articles and researches about the glow of the court of Muluk al- tawayf. Which was the haven of poets and philosophers and astronomers and mathematicians, and the place for the development of science and culture and Islamic education, and many of the elders and ulama and their permanent works in this age emerged. And this is very evident in the period of the bani hud dynasty and the nasrids dynasty. The hypothesis of this book proves the relationship between the local government and civilization in the of the cities – states of Mauluk-al-Tavayf in Cordoba – Toledo, Lisboan - Murcia - Granada - Seville - Zaragoza,Malaka, …. These governments expanded the Andalusian heritage and transferred as bridge to Europe.
Research background of Power Flow in Andalusia
historians of the Islamic West, Abdul Wahad Moroccas, and Ibn Khatib and Ibn Khaldun have been mentioned in the name of the moluk al tawayf of Andalusia. But the work of the historian and geographer of Shiite Ibn Sa'id Maghribi (14 AD/ 685AH)is a masterpiece in the technical prose of Andalusian historiography literature on the theme of Muluk al-Tavayf. there are any orientalist as a boswerth and doozy described moluk altavayf upon Islamic sources. and analytic history of Andalusia book (2010) collected and combined and analyzed all historical and modern report abbot moluk altawayf. This situation involved Andalusia in the first half of the fifth century of Hejrah / 11AD, as a divided society, comprised of powerful political factions, which resulted in the formation of twenty-six states and a rival independent emperor, who united against the common enemy of the Christian community in Iberian peninsula. Molukaltavayf governments were formed on the basis of the tribes, powers and tribal forces existing in Cordoba. In the meantime, the three foundations were at the head of the power-hungry parties of Andalusia:
1- Saghlebids Party
2. "The Berber Party"
3. "The Arab Party"
There are any reports of Power Flow in Andalusia but According to Ibn Khaldun's figures, the number of Mauluk al-Tawayf is around forty. Contemporary sources, counted to thirty nine centers.

Provenancing exotic raw materials and reconstructing the nature and routes of exchange is a major concern of prehistoric archaeology. Amber has long been recognised as a key commodity of prehistoric exchange networks in Europe. However, most science-based studies so far have been localised and based on few samples, hence making it difficult to observe broad geographic and chronological trends. This paper concentrates on the nature, distribution and circulation of amber in prehistoric Iberia. We present new standardised FTIR analyses of 22 archaeological and geological samples from a large number of contexts across Iberia, as well as a wide scale review of all the legacy data available. On the basis of a considerable body of data, we can confirm the use of local amber resources in the Northern area of the Iberian Peninsula from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age; we push back the arrival of Sicilian amber to at least the 4 th Millennium BC, and we trace the appearance of Baltic amber since the last quarter of the 2 nd Millennium BC, progressively replacing Sicilian simetite. Integrating these data with other bodies of archaeological information, we suggest that the arrival of Baltic amber was part of broader Mediterranean exchange networks, and not necessarily the result of direct trade with the North. From a methodological perspective, thanks to the analyses carried out on both the vitreous core and the weathered surfaces of objects made of Sicilian simetite, we define the characteristic FTIR bands that allow the identification of Sicilian amber even in highly deteriorated archaeological samples.

The hypothesis that assumes our new starting point, which we are going to raise to the thesis level with this work, is that Valencina is a settlement with ditches of the III millennium BCE that is configured as a stable habitat, where the social inequality existing among its inhabitants shows a type of social class formation, expressed fundamentally through the differentiated, stratified, planned and even segregated treatment that occurs around death; and that this "Pristine State", defined by that social formation and its political, social and ultimately economic expressions, "does not triumph", does not transcend beyond the III millennium BCE and is rejected and / or resisted by the same society that was provoking it.

La hipótesis que supone nuestro nuevo punto de partida, la cual vamos a elevar al nivel de tesis con este trabajo, es que Valencina es un asentamiento con fosos del III milenio A.N.E. que se configura como un hábitat estable, en donde la desigualdad social existente entre sus habitantes muestra un tipo de formación social clasista, expresada fundamentalmente a través del tratamiento diferenciado, estratificado, planificado e incluso segregado que se da alrededor de la muerte; y que ese “Estado Prístino”, definido por dicha formación social y sus expresiones políticas, sociales y en última instancia económicas, “no triunfa”, no trasciende más allá del III milenio A.N.E. y es rechazado y/o resistido por la misma sociedad que lo estaba provocando.

estela de arcilla modelada y cuatro betilos también en arcilla modelada, además de una serie de figurillas zoomorfas y fitomorfas talladas en marfil. En segundo lugar, los elementos encontrados en este magnífico monumento y sus atributos principales son discutidos en el contexto del fenómeno megalítico en Europa occidental. Todo este conjunto artístico . Abstract: In this paper we present the results of the preliminary study of the megalithic and plastic art assemblage found in the Montelirio tholos. Because of its unusually good state of preservation as well as the original elements that form it, this assemblage represents an exceptional collection. Firstly, we describe those elements, that include a clay stela and four clay baetyls, as well as a series of zoomorphic and phitomorphic figurines carved in ivory. Secondly, the elements found in this magnificient monument and their main attributes are discussed comparatively within the context of the megalithic phenomenon in western Europe. This artistic and plastic assemblage opens new avenues of interpretation of the megalithic funerary space as a stage devoted to the cult of ancestors and supernatural beings, a topic we haven investigating for the past three decades.

English abstract: Since the discovery in 1860 of La Pastora, one of the most beautiful and outstanding megalithic constructions of Iberia, the Copper Age and Bronze Age site of Valencina de la Concepción – Castilleja de Guzmán has provided an unceasing series of archaeological finds of the utmost significance. Today, a hundred and fifty years after the earliest discoveries, this volume offers an up-to-date and comprehensive review of the research carried out at this site, which underlines, first and foremost, its importance as a scientific and cultural resource. Among the contributions to this volume the reader will find some of the keys to the human occupation of the lower Guadalquivir basin 5000 years ago, the process of social aggregation that gave way to the formation of the city of Seville itself. In addition, this book reflects some of the current discussions that dominate today’s scientific agenda on Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200-2200 cal BC), a period of fascinating social and cultural dynamism that laid the basis for the consolidation of social ranking, long-distance contact and exchange, as well as metallurgy and productive specialization.

Spanish abstract: Desde que en 1860 se produjera el descubrimiento de La Pastora, una de las construcciones megalíticas más bellas y singulares de España, el yacimiento de la Edad del Cobre y de la Edad del Bronce de Valencina de la Concepción – Castilleja de Guzmán no ha cesado de deparar hallazgos arqueológicos de la mayor significación. Hoy, 150 años después de los primeros descubrimientos, este volumen ofrece una puesta al día de las investigaciones que están revelando la extraordinaria importancia de este yacimiento como recurso científico y patrimonial. Entre las colaboraciones de esta obra el lector encontrará algunas de las claves de la ocupación de la desembocadura del río Guadalquivir hace 5000 años: el proceso de agregación humana que representa el origen de la misma ciudad de Sevilla. Igualmente, en las páginas de este libro encuentra reflejo el debate que en la actualidad preside el estudio de la Edad del Cobre (c. 3200-2200 antes de nuestra era), un periodo de apasionante dinamismo social y cultural en el que se consolidaron las bases de la jerarquización social, las relaciones comerciales a larga distancia, la metalurgia y la especialización productiva.

The settlements with ditches of the III millennium BCE have become in recent times a battlefield in which different theoretical and ideological proposals try to gain control of the explanation of recent prehistory, especially in the SW of the Iberian Peninsula. Really, the new proposals try to combat the explanation that Marxism was doing previously, imposing the dictatorship of the archaeological record as a justifier and promoter of thought, and advocating ideological asepsis.

The hypothesis that assumes our new starting point, which we are going to raise to the thesis level with this work, is that Valencina is a settlement with ditches of the III millennium BCE that is configured as a stable habitat, where the social inequality existing among its inhabitants shows a type of social class formation, expressed fundamentally through the differentiated, stratified, planned and even segregated treatment that occurs around death; and that this "Pristine State", defined by that social formation and its political, social and ultimately economic expressions, "does not triumph", does not transcend beyond the III millennium BCE and is rejected and / or resisted by the same society that was provoking it.

La hipótesis que supone nuestro nuevo punto de partida, la cual vamos a elevar al nivel de tesis con este trabajo, es que Valencina es un asentamiento con fosos del III milenio A.N.E. que se configura como un hábitat estable, en donde la desigualdad social existente entre sus habitantes muestra un tipo de formación social clasista, expresada fundamentalmente a través del tratamiento diferenciado, estratificado, planificado e incluso segregado que se da alrededor de la muerte; y que ese “Estado Prístino”, definido por dicha formación social y sus expresiones políticas, sociales y en última instancia económicas, “no triunfa”, no trasciende más allá del III milenio A.N.E. y es rechazado y/o resistido por la misma sociedad que lo estaba provocando.

"The megalithic tomb at Montelirio is off the scale in more ways than one. As well as being the largest example of its type known in Spain, the burial goods secreted in its subterranean chambers are unsurpassed in both quantity and quality. Leonardo García Sanjuán reveals what the dead of Montelirio can tell us about Copper Age society."

"Kinship societies cope with conflicts and contradictions either through fission or by displacing them onto the supernatural realm. Though we are barely scratching the surface of an incredibly complex site, the exceptional evidence displayed in this monograph strongly suggests that—at the peak period of collective action—the inhabitants of Valencina de la Concepción were exploring elaborate ritual pathways to mediate these contradictions." Abstract by Pedro Díaz-del-Río

Collective burials are one of the most common funerary practices during Late Prehistory and show a diversity of structural solutions. Nearly all contemporaneous morphological types are known to exist at the 3rd Millennium BC archaeological site Valencina de la Concepción (Seville). In typological terms, these structures discussed here fit well into the types known as ‘artificial caves’. From a morphological point of view, there is significant variability concerning not only architectural aspects but grave goods and anthropological elements as well.
Concerning the treatment of the bodies, the most widespread ritual is the hyperflexion of both lower and upper limbs, probably indicating the use of shrouds or bandages. Some individuals seem to share morphological features that might link them to certain family groups; DNA studies were carried out to test this observation. This type of funerary structure is definitely a novelty in the Copper Age site Valencina de la Concepción.