Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – About 4, 900 years in the past, people constructed a fortress on a hill in present-day Almendralejo, Spain throughout the Copper Age. The stronghold featured three concentric partitions, 25 towers, and three ditches as much as 4 meters broad and two meters deep.
Aerial view of the Copper Age fortification positioned in Almendralejo. Picture credit score: Tera S.L.
Spanning 13, 000 sq. meters with stone and adobe partitions, it had one slender 70-centimeter entrance for protection. Inside, the tomb of a attainable Roman legionary was found.
The Tera S. L. archaeological staff uncovered this web site in 2021 and continues to excavate it. Its traits intently resemble Los Millares in Almería, the reference mannequin for Chalcolithic settlements in southeast Iberia.
Regardless of its formidable defenses, the fortress was finally destroyed, burned, and razed by adversaries earlier than being deserted 400 years after its development. The id of those that attacked and demolished this fortification, the strategies they employed, and the particular function it served by way of safety stay questions which have but to be answered.
Archaeologists have discovered artifacts like arrowheads, idols, axes, grinding stones, plates, bowls, and loom parts on the web site. These findings supply priceless perception into previous actions contained in the fortification.
The archaeological staff states that the pentagonal fortress, the primary on a hill 314 meters above sea degree, offered a commanding view. Its authentic construction had an adobe wall 1. 3 to 1. 5 meters thick, 5 bastions, and an entrance “formed like crab claws.”
A ‘pugio’ discovered within the Cortijo Lobato archaeological web site. Picture cREDit: Tera S.L.
Two extra concentric partitions had been added, strengthened by three ditches. This created a formidable protection with 25 bastions strategically designed to maximise firing angles and supply safety from a number of factors.
The three ditches had been bodily obstacles and discouraged attackers and forcing invaders to navigate further obstacles earlier than reaching the partitions, explains Pérez. The defensive advanced was uncovered throughout surveys for a photovoltaic photo voltaic park by Acciona Energía on the property of the Marquis of the Encomienda. Close to Cortijo Lobato, researchers discovered Chalcolithic-era supplies concentrated in an olive grove. This discovery led to protocols for web site safety, investigation, and influence prevention financed by the corporate. The fortification included cabins and a water reservoir to maintain residents throughout sieges.
“The advanced system of stone and earth partitions and ditches reveals cautious planning, requiring coordination amongst many individuals. This implies a hierarchy able to overseeing such a mission. The delicate design and want for a big workforce point out a well-organized group,” explains César M. Pérez, director of the excavations.
Copper Age arrowheads present in Cortijo Lobato. Picture credit score: Tera S.L.
Archaeologists discovered proof that Cortijo Lobato suffered an intentional fireplace. Picket doorways embedded in adobe partitions burned, removed from different flammable supplies, suggesting the fireplace was deliberate, presumably throughout an assault breaching defenses and destroying the settlement.
Quite a few arrowheads had been discovered among the many ruins.
Cortijo Lobato was deserted round 2450 BC, primarily based on carbon-14 courting of animal stays within the ashes. Human presence reappeared throughout the Late Roman Empire (2nd–third centuries AD), after a 2, 700-year hole. Archaeologists discovered an uncommon grave close to the second defensive ditch from this later interval.
The shallow grave belonged to a person, aged 25 to 35, face down with a pugio (dagger) on his again.
This implies the person might have had a navy function, because the pugio was the usual dagger for Roman legionaries. The burial was possible hasty since “the pit was barely deep sufficient to comprise the physique,” in keeping with the researcher.
The skeleton was almost full apart from the ft, which appeared reduce off. The dagger was remarkably well-preserved, absolutely intact and nonetheless in its sheath.
The Roman pugio, courting to the late 1st century BC, was impressed by earlier daggers from pre-Roman Hispania. Celtiberians used comparable weapons for the reason that late 4th century BC, whereas different teams favored a curved-edged dagger from the late third century BC. Roman legionaries encountered these throughout battles within the 2nd century BC and prized them as battle trophies. The pugio was ultimately modified and adopted as normal tools for legionaries throughout the empire.
Initially, archaeologists debated if the skeletal stays had been these of a soldier or a civilian with a dagger. The deliberate placement of the pugio suggests he was a military member given a dishonorable burial, hinting at an untold story. If confirmed as a soldier, he possible belonged to Legio VII Gemina, the one Roman legion in Hispania then, established in 74 AD and primarily based in Legio (trendy León).
In contrast to different legions targeted on direct navy campaigns, Legio VII Gemina primarily carried out escort duties, street surveillance, and provincial safety.
Restoration specialist Maicu Ortega from Madrid Complutense College handled the recovered pugio for evaluation, consolidation, and partial stabilization. Researchers are additionally attempting to extract DNA from one of many particular person’s enamel.
The reason for loss of life, face-down burial with severed ft, and pugio placement on the again stay “an actual thriller” to archaeologists.
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Employees Author
