Los Millares

Los Millares
Jose Mª Yuste, de la fotografía (Tuor123). Miguel Salvatierra Cuenca, autor de l · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Los Millares
Location	Almería, Andalusia, Spain
Region	Iberian Peninsula
Discovered	1891
Built	Chalcolithic
Abandoned	Bronze Age
Cultures	Bell Beaker culture; El Argar
Excavations	1880s–20th century

Los Millares Los Millares is a late Neolithic to Chalcolithic fortified settlement in Andalusia on the Iberian Peninsula near Santa Fe de Mondújar, close to Almería and the Bajo Almanzora. The complex is noted for concentric stone walls, tholos burial structures, and evidence linking it to wider networks including the Bell Beaker culture, contacts with Tartessos and antecedents of El Argar. Its material assemblage and fortifications have been central to debates involving prehistoric societies such as those represented at Zambujal, Cabrera de Mar, and Los Millares (site)-related studies.

Geography and Site Layout

The site sits on a rocky promontory overlooking the Andarax River drainage and the Mediterranean Sea, occupying terrain comparable to other Iberian sites like Cerro de la Virgen and La Bastida de Totana. Its landscape context includes proximity to the Sierra Nevada, coastal plain near Mojácar, and communications toward the Guadalquivir basin, linking to routes used by contemporaneous communities at Antequera, Málaga, and Seville. The settlement plan comprises concentric defensive circuits, an internal acropolis area reminiscent of fortified hilltops such as Castro culture locations, and satellite farming zones analogous to hinterlands of Los Millares (site)-era polities.

History of Excavation

Initial recognition occurred during campaigns influenced by antiquarians from Madrid and collectors collaborating with institutions like the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid) and the Sociedad Arqueológica in the late 19th century, with systematic excavations led by figures associated with Luis Siret and later researchers tied to the Consejería de Cultura de Andalucía and universities such as the University of Granada and University of Barcelona. Twentieth-century fieldwork involved archaeologists from Émile Cartailhac-inspired schools and projects connected to the Instituto de Historia, followed by renewed surveys using methods from teams at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and collaborations with international scholars from British Museum, University of Cambridge, and UCL.

Chronology and Cultural Phases

Radiocarbon sequencing and typological studies anchor occupation to phases that correlate with the wider European sequences including the Bell Beaker culture horizon and transitions toward the Early Bronze Age associated with El Argar. Stratigraphic work parallels sequences identified at Los Millares (site)-related contexts and aligns with chronologies used at Zambujal, Marroquíes Bajos, and Cova d’en Daina, situating the peak between the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Ceramic typologies reference parallels with productions from Sevilla, Cádiz, and exchange items traceable to contacts as far as Mycenae-era networks hypothesized by comparative studies.

Architecture and Fortifications

Fortifications include multiple concentric stone ramparts with bastions and gateways comparable to designs at Castro de Coaña and later hillforts such as Los Millares (site)-inspired examples. Internal architecture features dwellings, workshops, and a citadel-like core akin to the acropoleis at Tartessos-region sites; construction techniques show skilled stone masonry paralleling practices reported in Sardinia and Sicily contemporaneous contexts. Defensive elements have been compared with fortresses mentioned in studies of La Hoya (Burgos) and extrapolated to models invoked by researchers associated with V. G. Childe and José Lezama-style syntheses.

Material Culture and Economy

Artifact suites include pottery, flint tools, copper metallurgy evidence, and personal ornaments similar to ensembles from Bell Beaker culture contexts and funerary goods documented at Cueva de los Murciélagos and Dolmen de Soto. Metallurgical debris indicates smelting and alloying practices akin to those in Tartessos and early El Argar workshops; agricultural remains show cultivation of hulled wheats paralleling archaeobotanical records from La Draga and animal husbandry patterns found at Sima del Elefante and sites around Valencia. Trade and exchange networks are inferred from exotic raw materials matching supplies from Sierra Morena, the Atlas Mountains, and Mediterranean contacts like Mallorca.

Social Structure and Burial Practices

Mortuary architecture includes tholos chamber tombs and shaft graves that connect with burial types found in the broader Bell Beaker culture horizon and later El Argar cemeteries at La Almoloya and El Argar (settlement). The distribution of grave goods, hierarchical house sizes, and fortification investment have led scholars to propose emergent social stratification similar to patterns argued for by proponents of models used at Mycenae, Uruk, and fortified sites in Britain such as Danebury. Iconography and material differentiation resonate with comparative interpretations drawn from work at Los Millares (site)-adjacent necropoleis.

Significance and Legacy

The site is pivotal in understanding Chalcolithic transformations on the Iberian Peninsula and serves as a reference point in syntheses by scholars associated with V. Gordon Childe, Colin Renfrew, and modern teams at Universidad de Granada, Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Almería, and Instituto Arqueológico Alemán. Its influence extends to public heritage managed by Junta de Andalucía and to interpretive frameworks used in European prehistoric studies alongside sites like Stonehenge, Knossos, and Çatalhöyük for comparative discussions of fortification, metallurgy, and social complexity.

Category:Archaeological sites in Andalusia