Megalithic Art

The presence of cinnabar in collective graves in the interior of the Iberia reveals a symbolic role identifying ritual practices well known in megaliths in the south of the peninsula. The data from the necropolis of Valle de las Higueras at Toledo, in the context of the Chalcolithic of the peninsula interior (from the 4th to the 3rd millennium cal BC), provide a point of reference for discussing "funerary red" in later Prehistory. The exotic source of cinnabar, probably from Almadén, adds an original aspect. While cinnabar was the "specific" funerary red of the south of the Iberia, the evidence found in Catalonia and southeastern France reflects the major role played by the Ebro valley. Combined with the circuits for ivory, amber and gold, it underlines the role of the south in the emergence of funerary models that became particularly important across Europe in the 3rd millennium (at the same time as use of bell beakers reaches its hight). The data from Iberian megaliths from which pigment samples have been taken, shows a clear difference between the red used for the constructional features of the tombs, in stone or earth, and the red used for bones and human figurines. Cinnabar was reserved for the latter, while walls were decorated with iron oxides. The engraved decorations associated with painting on figurines are convincing proof of the importance of dyed clothing, as well as the more than probable presence of ceremonial garments, shrouds, body paint, tatoos or masks. Through the source of their red colour, the deceased possibly display narratives that come from their everyday life, such as the work of miners, or else their social position through clothes, tatoos and funerary body paint. On the basis of the archaeological evidence analysed here, various explanations can be suggested for the use of cinnabar: a rituality in which red plays the role of a sign of life and death with symbols that persist throughout the Iberian Neolithic and Chalcolithic. Résumé : La présence de cinabre dans les sépultures collectives du centre de la péninsule Ibérique, montre un rôle symbolique identifiant des pratiques rituelles bien connues dans les mégalithes du sud de la péninsule. Les données obtenues sur la nécropole de Valle de las Higueras à Toledo, dans le contexte du Chalcolithique de l'intérieur péninsu-laire (dès le IV e jusqu'au III e millénaire cal BC), constituent un point de repère pour réfléchir sur le « rouge funéraire » dans la Préhistoire récente. La source exotique de cinabre, probablement d'Almadén, ajoute un élément unique. Alors que le cinabre était le rouge funéraire « spécifique » du sud de la péninsule Ibérique, les indices trouvés en Catalogne et dans le sud-est de la France témoignent du rôle majeur joué par la vallée de l'Èbre. S'ajoutant aux circuits de l'ivoire, de l'ambre et de l'or, il souligne le rôle du sud dans l'apparition de modèles funéraires qui, au troisième millénaire (en même temps que l'utilisation des gobelets campaniformes est à son apogée), devient particulièrement importante dans toute l'Europe. Les informations provenant des mégalithes ibériques où des pigments ont été prélevés, montrent une nette différence entre le rouge utilisé dans les structures architectoniques des tombes, de pierre ou de terre, et le rouge utilisé pour les os et les figurines humaines. Le cinabre était réservé à ces derniers tandis que les parois sont décorées avec des oxydes du fer. Les décorations gravées associées à la peinture sur les figurines sont une preuve convaincante de la valeur des vêtements teints, ainsi que de la présence plus que probable de vêtements de cérémonie, de linceuls, de peintures cor-porelles, de tatouages ou de masques. Bueno-Ramírez B., Barroso-Bermejo R., Balbín-Behrmann R. de (2019)-Funerary red (cinnabar versus ochre) and megalithic rituals in the central Iberian peninsula. The hypogean necropolis of Valle de las Higueras, Huecas, Toledo, Spain, Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 116, 1, p. 73-93.

El dolmen de Soto es uno de los mayores monumentos megalíticos de Europa. Fue publicado por H. Obermaier en 1924 y casi cien años después, este volumen presenta la primera documentación gráfica sobre sus soportes, incluyendo análisis de pigmentos y dataciones del contexto arqueológico interno y externo del sepulcro. Su arquitectura es el resultado de las transformaciones de un centro ceremonial en un gran monumento megalítico a principios del IV milenio cal BC.. Desde el Neolítico al Bronce Final, generación tras generación, las imágenes de las paredes del dolmen de Soto perpetúan en el sepulcro de los ancestros sus nexos con el pasado.

The presence of painted, carved or sculpted
decorations in European funerary contexts makes
megalithic art a basic reference in order to classify the use of
burial areas. Complex graphic programmes of paintings,
engravings and sculptures constituted an essential part
of funerary rites. The burial models provided by the
Iberian Peninsula are a great contribution to the study of
funerary graphics. Moreover, their concurrent open air
versions open unforeseen expectations for a re-evaluation
of the whole of megalithic art in Europe.

"Because of its design and scale, Menga is an outstanding megalithic monument. As such, it has also had a remarkable biography, dating back to the early part of the 4th millennium BC and spanning all prehistoric and historic periods since then. This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive review of the evidence available to understand Menga’s journey through time. The data presented here help understand issues such as the chronology of the building of the monument, its frequentation and use throughout Late Prehistory or its re-use as burial ground in Roman and Medieval times. To date, no other Iberian megalithic monument has shown such pervasiveness as a place filled with long-term ideological significance for memory and identity."

English: This book, stemming from the Project "Nature, Society and Monumentality: High Resolution Archaeological Investigations of the Antequera Megalithic Landscape (MEGA)" developed by the University of Seville between 2014 and 2017, represents a major leap forward towards a renewed research paradigm of the great prehistoric site of Antequera. A 'high resolution' approach is applied to the archaeological record of the Menga dolmen, through the study of the excavations carried out in the spring of 2005. During the last two years, 25 specialists in numerous fields of scientific research, including morphological analysis of ceramic and lithic materials, traceology, geoarchaeology, sedimentology, archaeometallurgy, numismatics, bioarchaeology (faunal and human remains) and radiocarbon dating, have applied a variety of analytical techniques to study the evidence recorded in said excavation.  As a result, we obtain a first image of the extraordinary biography of Menga, one of the most remarkable megalithic monuments in the world. Built in the first half of the 4th millennium cal BC, used as a temple in the Late Prehistory and as burial ground (and possible also as a ritual space) in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Menga witnessed an intense activity in Modern and Contemporary History as well. Throughout this book, we reveal surprising discoveries and unexpected details of that long biography, a reflection of almost 6000 years of human experience in which Menga has been a first-order social and cultural reference.
Español: Esta obra, derivada del Proyecto “Naturaleza, Sociedad y Monumentalidad:
Investigaciones Arqueológicas de Alta Resolución del Paisaje Megalítico de Antequera (MEGA)” desarrollado por la Universidad de Sevilla dentro del Plan Nacional I+D del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad entre 2014 y 2017, supone un importante salto adelante para dar inicio a una etapa de investigaciones renovadas en el gran sitio prehistórico antequerano. Esta monografía constituye la primera aproximación de ‘alta resolución’ al registro arqueológico del dolmen de Menga, realizada a partir del estudio de las excavaciones llevadas a cabo en la primavera de 2005. A este estudio han contribuido 25 especialistas en muy diversos campos de la investigación científica
que a lo largo de dos años han aplicado técnicas de análisis que van desde los estudios de morfología de materiales cerámicos y líticos o la numismática, hasta la geoarqueología, la sedimentología, la arqueometalurgia, la bioarqueología (en sus dos variantes, faunística y antropológica), la datación radiocarbónica o la traceología. Como resultado de este estudio se obtiene una primera imagen de la extraordinaria biografía del dolmen de Menga, uno de los monumentos megalíticos más singulares del mundo. Construido en la primera mitad del IV milenio Antes de Nuestra Era, y utilizado como templo en la Prehistoria Reciente y espacio funerario en la Antigüedad y el Medievo, Menga conoció también una intensa actividad en las épocas moderna y contemporánea. A lo largo de esta obra se revelan descubrimientos y detalles sorprendentes de esa larga biografía, resumen y reflejo de casi 6000 años de experiencia humana en los que Menga ha sido un referente social y cultural de primer orden.

English: This volume presents the results of the scientific study of the great Copper Age megalithic tomb of Montelirio (Castilleja de Guzmán, Sevilla, Spain), which was excavated between 2007 and 2010. The comprehensive study carried out in the last ten years by 45 specialists from 16 institutions of 5 different countries (Germany, New Zealand,  Spain, United Kingdom and USA) includes the deployment of some of the most cutting edge methods and techniques currently available to modern Archaeology. Altogether, the results reveal one of the most fascinating and yet enigmatic prehistoric monuments of the European continent, in which a predominantly female human contingent, accompanied by a remarkable set of grave goods, was buried. Some of the artefacts found in this tomb are unparallaled, as is the case with the sophisticated garnments made with thousands or perforated beads of stone and shell and decorated with ivory and amber. The countless details revealed by the meticulous research undertaken bring us close, with a detail previously unknown, to the life ways of Iberian Copper Age societies (c. 3200-2300 cal BC),  particularly in what concerns their technology, craftsmanship, patterns of contact and exchange, social organisation and world views. With this study, Montelirio joins the small group of ‘classic” megalithic monuments of Andalusian, Iberian and European Late Prehistory while at the same time confirms the social and cultural eclosion that took place in the lower Guadalquivir valley in the third millennium BC, a true departure point por the genesis of modern-day Sevilla.


Español: En esta obra se presentan los resultados del estudio científico de la gran tumba megalítica de Montelirio (Castilleja de Guzmán, Sevilla), excavada entre 2007 y 2010. La exhaustiva investigación realizada durante casi 10 años, en la que han participado 45 especialistas de 16 universidades y centros de investigación de cinco países distintos (Alemania, España, Estados Unidos de América, Nueva Zelanda y Reino Unido) ha incluido el despliegue de algunos de los métodos y técnicas de investigación más a la vanguardia de la moderna Arqueología. En conjunto, los resultados nos descubren uno de los monumentos prehistóricos más fascinantes y a la vez enigmáticos del continente europeo, en el que se enterró un colectivo mayoritariamente femenino de personas acompañadas de unos ajuares sin parangón que incluyen objetos inéditos a nivel mundial, como las sofisticadas túnicas hechas con decenas de miles de cuentas perforadas y ornamentos de concha, marfil y ámbar. Los innumerables pormenores revelados por la cuidadosa investigación llevada a cabo nos acercan con un detalle previamente desconocido a la forma de vida de las sociedades de la Edad del Cobre (c. 3200-2300 antes de nuestra era), y en particular a su tecnología, artesanía, pautas de contacto e intercambio, organización social y cosmovisión. Con este estudio, Montelirio se une al selecto grupo de monumentos megalíticos ‘clásicos’ de la Prehistoria Reciente andaluza, ibérica y europea, confirmando la eclosión cultural y social que en el tercer milenio antes de nuestra era conoció el bajo valle del Guadalquivir, verdadera génesis del proceso de desarrollo de la ciudad de Sevilla.

Durante  2021,  se  recogió  otra  estela  decorada  en  el  norte  del  Alentejo,  más precisamente en el Monte do Rebolo, que se encuentra en la parroquia de Mosteiros, en el municipio de Arronches. La pieza, de valor patrimonial único, fue encontrada por el propietario de la finca quien, mientras realizaba labores agrícolas en la "hoja" que se encuentra a unos 700 metros al noroeste de las casas del cerro, levantó una pesada "piedra" a poca profundidad, con el arado. Reconociendo de inmediato el valor de su descubrimiento arqueológico y para no perderse en la tierra arada, fue transportado al frente del cerro donde pudimos observarlo y fotografiarlo, y aquí dejamos la primera nota de su identificación.

In the second part of our multivolume work we continue to present materials to give a detailed characteristic  of the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon – the complex of West European megalithic traditions spreaded over the foothills of the Mongol Altai (from the Russian Altai region to Trans-Altai Gobi) in 3rd – early 2nd millenium BC (Ковалев 2011, 2012б; Kovalev 2011). The first volume included reports on excavations carried out by Russian, Mongolian and Kazakh scholars in 1998-2010 (Ковалев и др. 2014; Ковалев, Эрдэнэбаатар 2014а; 2014б ). In the present volume we place the reports on excavations of Chemurchek sites, undertaken by the Altai State University and the Khovd University in the central part of the Mongol Altai. Thirteen Chemurchek barrows with dolmen-shape chambers and circumjacent multi-layer cairns were excavated there in 2007-2014 under the conduction of A.A.Tishkin, S.P.Grushin, Ch. Munkhbayar and D.Erdenebaatar (Тишкин и др 2011; 2012а; 2012б; 2013а; Грушин и др.  2014). During a number of seasons these researches were carried out under orders of the St.-Petersburg State Museum-Institute of Rhoerihs.
In 2015 the Museum-Institute of Roerichs in collaboration with the Altai State University and Khovd University organized an expedition to excavate a unique Chemurchek sanctuary in Khar Chuluut locality in the headstream of the Khovd river. We considered it necessary to include a report on the results of this investigation into the present volume, because a comprehensive publication of the site may possibly take several years. We also tried to gather and recapitulate all the available data on Chemurchek-type sites and finds in Xinjang, even short and deficient publications of Chinese scholars and desultory information from popular books and documentaries.
A true notion of the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon can not be completed without an information concerning it's surrounding. Thereby we undertook a publication of a data on a previously unknown culture of the Early Bronze Age (contemporaneous with Chemurchek) namely the Saensayi culture of the Eastern Tien Shan. People of this culture most probably migrated to the Inner Asia from the North-Western Caspian region, and preserved a rite of burial in “shaped pits” with ritual vehicle. The Saensayi culture had close relations with Chemurchek population of East Kazakhstan, that is corroborated by the discovery of the traces of the same burial rite there, for example in the Kopa 2, Kopa 3 barrows (Ковалев и др. 2014 ).
The results of excavations of Ust’-Kamenka-2 mound in the Zmeinogorsk area of the Altai region of Russia, discovered by S.P.Grushin, gave a clear evidence that people bearing the Chemurchek cultural phenomenon had spread hundreds kilometers to the North, to the region of Yelunino (Elunino) culture distribution. The architecture of this burial construction corresponds with a standard of Chemurchek mounds, that is unique for the Bronze Age of Russian Altai.
Original photographs and drawings of pictures on stone slabs of Chemurchek burial and ritual constructions, represented in this volume, are of special importance for solving the problem of the origin of Chemurchek cultural phenomenon. Geometrical-shape paintings of slab-chambers of barrows Belen Usny Denj, Khuurai Salaany Am 1 in the Khovd aimag, and of those in Toganbay 2 M2 and Kopar in Xinjang supplement a series of analogous evidences from Chemurchek mounds of Bulgan sum (Ковалев, Эрдэнэбаатар  2014a). Now we can state with even more reasons, that the general set of compositions of Chemurchek paintings is a peculiar reproduction of  leading motifs of the decorative art of megalithic cultures of France, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland. Rhombs and chevrons inscribed into each other, parallel              multi-triangle festoons, sloping net, net with cells filled with roundish spots, meander-shaped and volute-shaped curves, flat areas chaotically covered with broken lines – all these in the aggregate are distinguishing characteristic of the art of “Atlantic Megalithism” (Twohig 1981; Robin G. 2009; Ковалев 2012б: 52-53). Small shale plates with geometrical ornament, discovered in Khar Chuluut also find their West-European propotypes (Lilios 2008). Fantastic creatures with parabolic or rectangular bodies and different-shaped antennae, which occupy central place in the pictures of Khar Chuluut sanctuary, meet their analogies only in megalithic monuments of France (Ковалев 2012a: 155-156, fig. 4).

Exploration in district-Nalanda was conducted with
an objective to understand the settlement pattern of
ancient human habitation in the region. The scenario
of archaeological findings of district Nalanda has
been rapidly changed in the last decade 2000-
2010. During this time period various sites with
archaeological potentiality like Rajgir (1999-2000),
Chandimau (2000-2001), Juafardih (2006-2007),
Begampur (2007-2008), Daman-Khanda (2007-
2008) and Ghorakatora (2007-2009) have been
subjected to excavations by the Archaeological Survey
of India. On the basis of the outcome of these
excavations the antiquity of human settlements in
this Nalanda district has been traced back to pre-
Chalcolithic times.
This paper will highlight the results of the recent
explorations undertaken in Nalanda district in last
five successive years, which have brought to light
two dozen archaeological sites

La investigación sobre el fenómeno megalítico en Galicia se remonta a principios del siglo XX y su cultura material ha atraído la atención de los estudiosos desde entonces. Aunque se habían recuperado algunos objetos cultuales en los túmulos gallegos y del Norte portugués, su presencia en las tumbas era notablemente
escasa. Esta situación va a cambiar en el verano de 1980, cuando una excavación arqueológica realizada en la sepultura de corredor de Cova da Moura -A Coruña- produjo un número sorprendentemente alto de artefactos, entre cerámicas, puntas de flecha y hachas pulimentadas. Igualmente inesperado resultó el hallazgo de decenas de guijarros, lisos o apenas decorados, distribuidos por el exterior del túmulo frente a la entrada que da paso a la construcción ortostática. Dotados de una forma más o menos antropomórfica, fueron identificados como ídolos. Como sucede a menudo en Arqueología, este insólito descubrimiento fue seguido por varios otros en rápida sucesión, aunque generalmente están faltos de una publicación adecuada. Tras más de 3 décadas del primer descubrimiento, queremos reflexionar sobre lo que sabemos en torno a estas singulares representaciones en piedra, todavía relativamente escasas.