Early Neolithic Ritual Funerary Behaviours in the Westernmost Regions of the Mediterranean

• Autor(a) principal: García Rivero, Daniel
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Taylor, Ruth, Umbelino, Cláudia, Cubas, Miriam, Barrera Cruz, María, Díaz Rodríguez, Manuel J.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/100806; https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.48.8
• topic: Neolithic; ritual; human skull; pottery jar; residue analysis

An intact archaeological context named Locus 1 has recently been discovered at Dehesilla Cave (southern Spain). The ritual funerary deposition consists of a complete pottery jar with part of a human calvarium over the mouth, and was occulted by large stone blocks. This paper offers a presentation of the new data provided mainly by the stratigraphic, osteological, pottery, lithic and radiocarbon analyses. A systematic review of the relevant evidence in the Iberian Peninsula during the Early Neolithic (c. 5600-4800 cal BC) provides a context for this finding and supports its interpretation with reference to several possible anthropological scenarios.