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The South-Western Iberian Bronze is a loosely defined
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
culture of Southern
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
and nearby areas of SW
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
( Huelva,
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...
,
Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
). It replaced the earlier urban and
Megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
existing in that same region in the
Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and  ''líthos'', "Rock (geology), stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''wikt:aeneus, aeneus'' "of copper"), is an list of archaeologi ...
age. It is characterized by individual burials in
cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...
, in which the deceased is accompanied by a
knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evid ...
of bronze. Stelae with representations of types of weapons and other warriors' accoutrements are associated with these burials. Much more rare but also more impressive are the 'grabsystem' tombs, made up of three adjacent stone enclosures, of quasi-circular form, each one with an opening. They are covered by tumuli and are possibly the burials of the main leaders of these peoples.


Phases

#Horizon of Ferradeira (c. 1900–1500 BCE): still mostly Chalcolithic but already with individual burials. Influenced by the culture of Vila Nova de São Pedro. #Horizon of Atalaia (c. 1500–1100 BCE): that introduces the ''grabsystem'' tombs, being contemporary of El Argar B but continuing after its end. It is in this phase when the culture extends to Extremadura and Western
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
. From 17th to 13th centuries BC (c. 1600-c. 1300 BC), Middle Bronze Age 'Alentejo' stelae (Alentejanas) with representations of types of weapons and other warriors' accoutrements were erected mainly in south Portugal. The burials associated with these Alentejanas often have a circular or sub-circular pavement at the surface with the burial in a stone cist cut through the middle. #Horizon of Santa Vitória (c. 1100-700 BCE): that reaches the early
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
. Imitations of early Urnfield rilled-ware vessels are found in Late Bronze Age burials in southern Portugal, for example, lovely funerary pottery urns at Santa Vitória in
Beja Municipality Beja () is a city and a municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 35,854, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 21,658 in 2001. The municipality is the capital of the Beja District. The present Mayor i ...
. The nearest parallels to these pottery designs are found in west-central France. In particular, there is evidence of contact exposure to the Bronze D (Bz D) rilled-ware province of the Paris basin and the north-west Alpine foreland, and to a lesser extent also to the Rhine-Swiss-French (RSF) group of
Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...
A (Ha A). Early radiocarbon dates for the first Celts in the southwest of the Iberian peninsula of around 800 BC at Segovia just north of
Elvas Elvas () is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and about west of the Spanish fortress ...
in Portugal to the north-north-east of Beja and of around 700 BC at Faro to the south, but within this cultural area, support this association. Approximately 130 Late Bronze Age (LBA) 'warrior' stelae ranging from c. 1300 to c. 800 BC are found in the South-West of the Iberian peninsula. Early Western Urnfield Group C1 crested helmets are depicted on some of these LBA stelae, for example at Valencia de Alcantara and Santa Ana de Trujillo. There are examples of stones with both images of human figures and elements of the warrior panoply (shields, spears, swords, helmets, chariots, brooches, mirrors, combs, lyres, etc.) together with Southwestern (SW) writing in the
Tartessian language The Tartessian language is the extinct Paleo-Hispanic language of inscriptions in the Southwestern script found in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, mainly in the south of Portugal (Algarve and southern Alentejo), and the southwest of Sp ...
. The warrior stelae of Capote with inscription J.54.1 and Cabeza del Buey IV with inscription Majada Honda, J.110 are examples of stelae with such writing.


Related cultures

*
Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro is a Chalcolithic archaeological site in the civil parish of Vila Nova de São Pedro (Azambuja), Vila Nova de São Pedro, municipality of Azambuja Municipality, Azambuja, in the Portugal, Portuguese Estremadur ...
*
Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...


See also

* Prehistoric Iberia * Neolithic Europe *
Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and  ''líthos'', "Rock (geology), stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''wikt:aeneus, aeneus'' "of copper"), is an list of archaeologi ...
*
Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
* European Megalithic culture *
Beaker People The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from ar ...
* Los Millares * El Argar *
Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...
*
Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...


References

{{Bronze Age footer Archaeological cultures of Southwestern Europe Bronze Age cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures in Portugal Archaeological cultures in Spain Bronze Age Portugal Bronze Age Spain