Las Cogotas () is an archaeological site in Spain in Cardenosa municipality, province of Avila. The site was researched by the Galician archaeologist Juan Cabré in 1920s. It is namesake for two different archaeological cultures known from this site: Cogotas I (pre-Celtic) of the

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and Cogotas II (most probably Celtic) of the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. The latter is known from the upper layer of Las Cogotas, which represents a classical settlement of

Vettones The Vettones (Greek language, Greek: ''Ouettones'') were an Prehistoric Iberia#Iron Age, Iron Age pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly Hispano-Celtic lan ...

, which inhabited the territory of modern provinces of Avila and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, as well as parts of Toledo, Zamora, Cáceres and Tras-os-Montes in Portugal.

Protocogotas culture

This stage of the Meseta history is the least known, although a series of archeological sites, such as ''Los Tolmos de Caracena'' in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

, Cogeces del Monte in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, Abia de la Obispalia in Cuenca, and some others, allow to describe Protocogotas culture as a formation stage of Cogotas I culture. This culture, which existed around 1700—1550 BC, is also known as Cogeces horizon, and is based on the

Bell Beaker 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 (archaeology), beaker drinking vessel used at the beginning of the European Bronze Age, ...

substrate influenced by either El Argar or Atlantic Bronze. Although Protocogotas culture was not represented by finds in La Cogotas, it did have characteristic traits later displayed in Cogotas I.

Cogotas I

Characteristic of this culture is black ceramics with various techniques: incised geometric motifs, incised-printed geometric motifs, - also called "dot and line" or zipper ( :es:Cerámica de Boquique), and excise geometric motifs with or without inlays of white or red paste. Vessels were relatively small, flat-based, conic, rough, supposedly used as kitchen ware. The culture extended roughly over the Spanish Duero basin, the upper half of the Ebro river, and the Spanish Tajo basin. Chronology of Cogotas I: * Formation stage, 1700 BC (Protocogotas) * incised and Boquique ceramics, 1550 BC. * trade networks, 1350 BC. * expansion of the culture, 1100 BC. * disappearance, 1000 BC.

Cogotas II

In the early 1st millennium BC the Iberic peninsula was invaded by the Celts and other Indo-European tribes, which occupied the central and western parts of the peninsula and created new cultures on the ruins of the older ones. One of them were

, most probably of Celtic origin. Characteristic for Cogotas II cultures are verraco statues. These are stone bovine statues situated on pasture lands, whose exact usage is still unclear. Among other material culture objects there were daggers, flat axes, copper alloy axes, sickles, granite grindstones, spindle whorls etc. Like other similar settlements, Cogotas of that time was divided into several functional districts, including several cattle enclosures and a

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

. Cattle husbandry played an important role in the life of

, which was probably reflected in their zoomorphic verraco statues.

Genetic profile

Three individuals linked with Cogotas I remains were tested: an individual from Cueva de los Lagos (Aguilar del Río Alhama, La Rioja province) had the derived Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b-DF27; an individual from the Tordillos site (Aldeaseca de la Frontera, Salamanca province) had Y-DNA haplogroup R1b-M269, were the individual found at La Requejada site (San Román de Hornija, Valladolid province) had the clade R1b-P312. Other individuals found in the area and time of Cogotas I Culture were: a male from the Valdescusa site (Hervías, La Rioja province), whom had also R1b-M269, where two males of the same site had the derived clade R1b-L151, and another the subclade R1b-Z225. Two males found at Humanejos site (Parla, Madrid province) and Virgazal (Tablada de Rudrón, Burgos province), shared the R1b-P312 haplotype.

Gallery

File:Cerámica de boquique Cogotas-I.jpg, Cogotas I. Ceramics with incrustation File:Cerámica excisa Cogotas-I.jpg, Cogotas I. Incised ceramics File:Cerámica decorada tipo Cogotas I. Bronce Final - M.A.N. 02.jpg, Cogotas I. Ceramics File:Hacha y leznas. Bronce Antiguo 01.jpg, Cogotas I. Bronze artefacts File:Fibula de Codo-Bronce final.jpg, Cogotas I. A bent fibula File:Las Cogotas, Ávila, España, 2020 07.jpg, Cogotas II. Castro del Cogotas. Reconstruction of the main entrance File:Las Cogotas, Ávila, España, 2020 08.jpg, Cogotas II File:Castro de Las Cogotas 07 by-dpc.jpg, Cogotas II. Castro del Cogotas. Stone walls File:Mingorria0520.jpg, Cogotas II. A granite verraco near Mingorria File:Avila 60 museo by-dpc.jpg, Cogotas II File:Cogotas-II (dagas)-Segunda Edad del Hierro.jpg, Cogotas II File:Cogotas-II (empuñadura de espada)-Segunda Edad del Hierro.jpg, Cogotas II

References

Literature

* Historia de Castilla y León. 1. La prehistoria del Valle del Duero, Valladolid, 1985. G. Delibes. * La Cultura de las Cogotas I, Actas del Homenaje a Luis Siret, Sevilla, 1986. Mª. D. Fernández Posse. {{coord, 40.7275, N, 4.7011, W, source:wikidata, display=title Archaeological sites in Castile and León Prehistoric sites in Spain Bronze Age sites in Europe Iron Age sites in Spain Cogotas Cogotas Celtic archaeological cultures Bronze Age Spain Iron Age cultures of Europe Iron Age Spain