PREHISTORY IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

María Jesús Campos

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HISTORICAL PERIODS

Historians have divided

the past in different

periods or stages to help

people understand past

events:

Prehistory

Ancient Age

Middle Ages

Early Modern Age

Contemporary History

Prehistory: is the

historical period that

began with the

appearance of the first

human beings on Earth

and ended with the

invention of writting

(3500 B.C.)

STAGES:

Prehistory is divided in

different stages or ages

usually connected to the

material of the tools used at

the time:

The Stone Age: dividided into

Palaeolithic and Neolithic.

The Metal Age: dividided into

the Copper Age, the Bronze

Age and the Iron Age.

THE STONE AGE

Palaeolithic: 2 million

years ago to 5500 B.C.

Neolithic: 5500 – 2500

B.C.

THE PALAEOLITHIC IN THE IBERIAN

PENINSULA2 million years ago to 5500B.C.

HOMINIDS

Homo Antecessor:

800.000-5000 B.C.

Oldest hominid in

Europe.

Discovered in

Atapuerca (Burgos).

Followed by the Homo

Neanderthal and the

Homo Sapiens

HOMO ANTECESSOR

Chronology: 800 000 years

ago

Geographical location:

Europe (found in

Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

Height: 1,60 m

Characteristics:

Mixed physical features: old

ones as protruding

eyebrows, new ones as fine

jaw.

Made more evolved tools to

cut, break…

LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE

Humans lived in small

groups (20-30 members)

Nomadic hordes or tribes:

caves and huts. When

resources ran out in a place,

they moved to another one.

Hierarchy within each group:

the strongest warrior, the

wisest old man, the witch

doctor or sorcerer…were the

most important members.

EXAMPLES

Cave of Morín

(Cantabria): burial sites

Jarama site: tools and

bones.

Cave of Cova Negra

(Jativa): tools and

paintings

Cave of Altamira:

realistic paintings

Cave of Cogull:

schematic paintings.

ART IN THE PALAEOLITHIC

Realistic style (tried to copy

nature) or schematic style

(basic features)

Magical purposes

Cave paintings

Mobile art

Cave paintings:

Cantabrian paintings:

Colours obtained from natural

elements (blood, coal, minerals…)

mixed with grease.

Isolated animal figures (bison, deer,

horse…) and their own hands.

Realistic: Used the parts of the rock

and the cave ceilings to give an

impression of relief

Purposes:

Magical

Personal expression of what they

saw

Examples:

Altamira cave (Santillana del Mar,

Cantabria, Spain)

Cave paintings:

Mediterranean or Levantine

paintings:

Colours obtained from natural elements

(blood, coal, minerals…) mixed with grease.

Group scenes of everyday life, such as

hunting.

Schematic: The forms of the humans and

animals are simplified.

Usually only one colour.

Purposes:

Magical

Personal expression of what they saw

Examples:

Caves in Valltorta (Castellón de la

Plana)

Mobile art:

Portable artistic objects.

Animals, amulets, Venus.

Venus statues: female

figurines made of stone, ivory

or bone.

Large pregnant bellies and

breasts symbolising fertility.

Materials: stone, bone, ivory

or horn.

Purposes:

Magical

Ornamental

Examples:

Baston Cueva del Castillo

Estela de Logrosán

THE NEOLITHIC IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

5500 – 2500 B.C.

NEOLITHIC MAN

The Neolithic man reached the Iberian

Peninsula from the Middle East through:

The Mediterranean route

The North African route

LIFE IN THE NEOLITHIC AGE

Sedentary as they

produced their own

food.

Houses made of clay

and wood. Later also of

stone

Population

increased:more food

meant more safety.

Social division according

to their activity (division

of labour)

AREAS

North-east:

Lived in caves. Cult of death.

Cave of Montserrat

(Barcelona)

East:

Lived in caves.

Ceramic pots: Cardial pots

(imprinted with shells). Cave

of La Sarsa (Bocairent,

Valencia)

Andalucía:

Dyed pots in red and Cardial

pots

ART IN THE NEOLITHIC

Realistic style and abstract

style

Idols

Ceramic pots

Cave paintings in Levante. Cave

of Cogull, Valltorta. Dancing and

hunting scenes with schematic

drawings of animals and warriors

painted red and black.

THE METAL AGE

3000 B.C. to 100 B.C

Copper Age: 3100 BC-

2200 BC

Bronze Age: 2200 BC-

700 BC

Iron Age: 700 BC-100

BC

ECONOMY IN THE METAL AGE

Metal tools:

Cooper Age (from 3000 B.C)

Bronze Age (from 1800 B.C.)

Iron Age (from 750 B.C. to the Roman Empire)

Metalwork imported by people from the eastern

Mediterranean region who arrived on the southern and

eastern coasts.

THE COPPER AGE

Different cultures.

Los Millares (Almería):

Walled-in villages and

circular or oval dwellings.

Cereals and livestock

Cooper tools (axes,

daggers) and jewelry

(necklaces, bracelets,

amulets)

Necropolis close to the

village: collective tombs

with an access corridor and

a circular chamber

Different cultures.

Bell Beaker:

Bell-shaped

ceramics decorated

with geometric

designs.

Centre and periphery

of the peninsula

Expanded through

Europe. A theory

says that it would

have been a fashion

instead of a culture.

THE BRONZE AGE

Different cultures:

El Argar:

Settlements in areas that

could be easily defended

People buried in the floors

of dwellings or individual

burial sites, in large

vessels that may also

contain their possesions.

Bronze objects (knives,

swords…)

Dark ceramics with no

decoration

Different cultures.

Talaiotic:

On the Balearic Islands.

Typical constructions:

Taulas: 2 flat stones in the shape of a table.

Navetas: the shape of an upturned boat

Taliot: circular or elliptical stone tower.

Different cultures:

Tartessos:

Kingdom and culture.

South-west of the

Iberian Peninsula.

Jewellery

Traded with other

cultures

THE IRON AGE

Different cultures:

Iberians:

Levante and Andalucía

Celts:

North of the peninsula.

They came from

Europe and mixed with

the inhabitants of the

peninsula.

CELTS Farmers. Poor agriculture.

Greater specialisation of

labour wich brought

greater social differences.

Metal became a symbol of

wealth.

Conflict and war

expanded. Possesing

weapons made some

settlements gain power

over others.

No writting

Iberians

Agriculture and

metalworking

Coinage

Writting

Important art pieces

RELIGION IN THE METAL AGE

Worshipped the forces of

nature such as the stars and

the sun as their crops

depended on them.

Believed in spirits.

Ceremonies in caves and

sacred places where they

offered metal objects to their

gods.

Cult of the dead: constructions

with funerary function. The

dead were buried with their

personal possesions (pots,

jewels, tools, weapons,etc.)

ART IN THE METAL AGES

Megalithic constructions

Schematic paintings on

rocks and caves

Metalwork: decoration,

social position and political

power

MEGALITHIC CONSTRUCTIONS

Mega =big; lithos=stone

Funerary function and

sanctuaries

Not very good at

supporting structures: not

able to construct domes.

Cueva de Menga

Cueva de El Romeral

Developed by María Jesús CamposChusteacher

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