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Chronology of Megalithic Funerary Practices in Southeastern Iberia: The Necropolis of Panoria (Granada, Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2017

Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez ,
Águeda Lozano Medina ,
Margarita Sánchez Romero ,
Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla  and
Hervé Bocherens
Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez*
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Campus Cartuja s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
Águeda Lozano Medina
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Campus Cartuja s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
Margarita Sánchez Romero
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Campus Cartuja s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
Marta Díaz-Zorita Bonilla
Affiliation:
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
Hervé Bocherens
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, and Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP), University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Email: garanda@ugr.es.
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Abstract

An excavation carried out at the megalithic necropolis of Panoria in 2015 offered an excellent opportunity for dating a widespread variety of polygonal, rectangular, and trapezoidal-shaped tombs with short passages for which, surprisingly, there were previously no known radiocarbon (14C) measurements available. Based on the anthropological remains, a series of 19 14C dates was obtained and modeled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The results stress a long period of use that began in the Late Neolithic (3525–3195 cal BC), reaching the most intensive ritual activity during the Copper Age and ending in the Early Bronze Age (2125–1980 cal BC). Throughout this period, tombs were built at different times and used at different temporal scales and intensities, ranging from a few decades to centuries.

Keywords

Bayesian modelingfunerary ritualIberian PeninsulaLate Prehistorymegalithic phenomenonradiocarbon dating
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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