“Campos de hoyos” en la desembocadura del río Almanzora (Almería): las palas y la era

Abstract

“Pit fields” neolithic in the Almanzora river mouth (Almeria): Las Palas and La Era. In this paper we study the structures and materials from the sites of Las Palas and La Era (Cuevas de Almanzora, Almería) analysing the field notes, graphic documentation and a considerable number of items of the “Siret Collection” at the National Archaeological Museum (Madrid). We consider that both sites are among the most ancient open sites in the South East of the Peninsula that practised food storage. We estimate its relative chronology between the end of the V and beginning of the IV millennia BC, in what the traditional historic periodisation calls the Middle Neolithic. After this period an increasing number of sites can be observed in the area, and a series of elements suggesting that this was a time of important socio-economic transformations.