Chalcolithic fortification systems in the Lower Almanzora river basin: Almizaraque, Zájara, Campos and Puente de Santa Bárbara (Almería, Southeast Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

The settlements of Campos (1881) and Almizaraque (1905-06) in the Lower Almanzora and Los Millares (1892) in the Lower Andarax allowed Luis Siret to systematise the Chalcolithic of the South-East of the Iberian Peninsula. In the seventies and eighties of the 20th century, excavations were resumed in Campos (1976-77, 1985-86) by the University of La Laguna and in Almizaraque (1979-83) by Complutense and Valladolid University, which contributed to clarifying significant aspects about the excavations of Siret. However, due to the intensity of Siret's excavations in Almizaraque and the partial destruction of Campos, they made difficult to properly understand the fortification systems in both settlements, even generating doubts about the presence or not of fortification systems. During those years, the University of La Laguna's research was extended to two new fortified settlements in the Lower Almanzora, Zájara (1987, 1990), also excavated by Siret in 1904, and Puente de Santa Bárbara (1991). Based on the study of the Siret documentation in the National Archaeological Museum, partially unpublished, on Almizaraque and Zájara, the documentation published by Siret about his excavations in Campos and Almizaraque (1890 and 1908) and the most recent campaigns, a re-evaluation of the Chalcolithic fortification systems in the Lower Almanzora. Almizaraque and Campos must have had concentric enclosures, of which we know of two in Almizaraque and the innermost one with a double wall in Campos, while the smaller settlements, Zájara and Puente de Santa Bárbara, have perimeter walls, at least in the most accessible sectors. Regarding the actual dimensions of its two largest settlements, Almizaraque and Campos, they could have been between 6 and 12 hectares, dimensions comparable to Las Pilas and Los Millares, or even larger. In contrast, Zájara, with 1.88 hectares, and Puente de Santa Bárbara, with 1.50 hectares, had support functions: the former providing visual control of the mouth of the Almanzora River for Campos, and the latter monitoring the Almanzora River ford to access the Cerro Minado copper mine.