Open warfare or the odd skirmish? Bell beaker violence in the north-eastern iberian peninsula
Soriano, Eni (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Gibaja, Juan F. (Juan Francisco) (Fundació Milà i Fontanals)
Vila, Lluís (ESTRATS Cultural Heritage Management)

Data:	2015
Resum:	Archaeological examples of violence in prehistory have increased in recent years. The evidence, methodology employed and interpretation of the data have been diverse, but in each case the myth of the 'peaceful past' is questioned. This work provides new data on the issue from the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, associated with the Bell Beaker culture (c. 2800-2350 cal BC). Material from two megalithic tombs, Can Gol I and Can Gol II (Barcelona Province), in particular a set of flint arrowheads, has been revisited. Use-wear analysis on the arrowheads confirmed the presence of impact fractures. This indicates that the arrowheads were not funerary offerings, but that they entered the graves lodged in the bodies of the deceased. The data from the only site with evidence of massive death by violence in the neighbouring region (Costa de Can Martorell) reinforce the hypothesis of episodes of conflict and violence during prehistory. However, the interpretation of the nature of such violence remains open to debate: was it an act of warfare or an occasional skirmish? And is the image of the Bell Beaker warrior identified in other European contexts also applicable to this area?.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Publicat a:	Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 34 Núm. 2 (2015) , p. 157-183, ISSN 1468-0092

DOI: 10.1111/ojoa.12054

Post-print 44 p, 1.4 MB

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