Before the plates. Approach to the Late Neolithic in the Upper Guadalquivir Valley through Grañena Baja II and Arroyo Regordillo sites (Jaén, Andalusia)

Abstract

In this paper we present an approach to the archaeological sites of Grañena Baja (Phase II) and Arroyo Regordillo, both located very close to each other along the middle course of the Guadalbullón river (Jaén municipality). We address the Late Neolithic occupation of both sites, established in radiocarbon chronologies in the middle of the 4^th millennium cal BC, considering that aspects related to phases I and III of Grañena Baja have already been published. Both Grañena Baja II and Arroyo Regordillo are characterised by the presence of silo-shaped structures, highlighting a material culture with techno-typological characteristics that are markedly different from those known for the last third of the 4th millennium cal BC in the region. Among these, the dominance of globular pottery forms, the abundant use of red slip and washes, as well as some examples of painted decoration, uncommon in the Late Prehistory in southern Iberia, stand out. Lithic technology is focussed on a standardised pressure blade production, with characteristic facetted or plain butts, morphologically different from sharp dihedral ones, typical of the blade products that characterised the Copper Age in this territory.