European Kingdoms

Campaniform Chalcolithic (Chalcolithic) (Iberia)
c.3500 - 2300 BC

Fifth & Fourth Millennium BC Cultures Early Africa (Intro) Early Americas (Intro) Early Asia (Intro) Early China (Intro) Early Europe (Intro) Early Near East (Intro) Early Oceania (Intro)

The system which has evolved to catalogue the various archaeological expressions of human progress is one which involves cultures. The task of cataloguing the vast range of human cultures which emerged from Africa and the Near East right up until human expansion reached the Americas is covered in the related feature (see link, right).

Early Iberia formed the south-western peninsula of Europe and comprises the modern countries of Portugal and Spain, plus the principality of Andorra and the British crown colony of Gibraltar. The peninsula's role in human development played a notable role in the first millennium BC, even before the coming of imperial ambitions which reached its southern and eastern shores.

The three thousand year-old Iberian Neolithic experienced some difficulties towards the end of the fourth millennium BC, seemingly as part of a wider climate-related transition which also affected Sumer. The early Chalcolithic (Copper Age) became dominant, leading directly into the Iberian Bronze Age around 2800 BC.

The Campaniform Chalcolithic (or Copper Age) in Iberia is a generalised regional definition for the transitionary phase between the Iberian Neolithic and the Iberian Bronze Age. It is characterised by pastoralism within a specific habitat.

Based on ceramic styles the Levantine Bronze could be dated as early as about 2600 BC, succeeding a late Neolithic ceramic style. This early phase also forms part of the Campaniform Chalcolithic, which itself was the main transitionary phase in Iberia between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Levantine dating in connection with this is still being discussed, potentially with an even-earlier start date being possible (plausible, given that the Bronze Age Bell Beaker culture arrived around 2800-2600 BC).

Bell-shaped ceramics now began to flourish, at the end of the Campaniform, thanks to those Bell Beaker influences. Early pots employed corded dressings, using nailing ropes or fabrics, or dotted dressings in the form of geometric alignments. Later pots used incision ceramics, being formed with sharp tools. Copper weapons began to appear, usually in the form of reed daggers and palmela points.

Archaeological finds are constantly being made, and archaeological cultures are frequently being updated with new information. Get in touch here if this page also requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World, David W Anthony, from The Archaeology of Bronze Age Iberia, Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez, Sandra Montón-Subías, & Margarita Sánchez Romero (Routledge, 2019), from Bronze Age Iberia, Vicente Lull, Rafael Mico, Cristina Rihuete Herrada, & Roberto Risch, and from External Link: The archaeological site of La Serna in Arganda del Rey (Comunidad de Madrid).)

c.3500 BC

The Campaniform Chalcolithic emerges around now, in an Iberian peninsula which has at least partially been dominated by Neolithic Farmers for a little over two millennia, as part of the Iberian Neolithic.

The La Serna deposit of the Campaniform Chalcolithic in Iberia is located in the municipality of Arganda del Rey, close to the border with the municipality of Velilla de San Antonio

c.3200 BC

The Los Millares Chalcolithic civilisation emerges in Iberia around this time, although its primary site at Los Millares is little more than a funerary complex until around 3000 BC. Although rainfall levels in south-eastern Iberia are much the same as they are today, soils are deeper and richer, and vegetation is far more lush.

c.3000 BC

The Iberian Neolithic definitively terminates around this point in time, coinciding with the end of the Pottery Neolithic in the Near East. Chalcolithic (Copper Age) culture is in full swing across the peninsula.

The Los Millares civilisation enters its prime around the same time, with its funerary complex being complimented by the building of a large town. This is large enough to allow about a thousand people to live there and to create an advanced community.

The town of Los Millares is made up of four concentric lines of walls, as well as a citadel in the innermost space which was protected by a surrounding wall

c.2600 BC

The Chalcolithic Vila Nova de Sao Pedro culture emerges in southern Portugal. Its people have been building fortifications for the previous century as a lead-up to the full emergence of this lengthy cultural period.

The Bell Beaker horizon has already first appeared in eastern and south-eastern Iberia to signal a clear change from late Iberian Neolithic and early Chalcolithic cultural expressions. This has reached the northern Alpine region to meet migrating West Indo-Europeans, where it has formed a true Bell Beaker culture.

This is now feeding back into Iberia to herald the beginnings of an Iberian Bronze Age, but the 'VNSP I' period maintains its Chalcolithic expressions for far longer than most other parts of Iberia.

The Chalcolithic settlement site of Vila Nova de Séo Pedro has been the subject of renewed fieldwork since 2017 which has seen the removal of six tons of shrubs to reveal a complex of stone features which have not previously been documented