Early Iberian Cultures - Motillas Culture

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 Motillas culture in Iberia is otherwise known as the Manchego Bronze. This is the generic documented name for this spatial and temporal subdivision of prehistory in the Iberian peninsula. Sedentary humans who based their livelihood on livestock and agriculture occupied territory which today is known as La Mancha, involving a large part of the province of Ciudad Real, practically all of Albacete, and part of Toledo and Cuenca.

The culture was mainly characterised by the construction of heavily fortified settlements which have given rise to local place names. The first of these fortification types - motillas, morras, and castillejos - also gives the culture its popular name. The 'motillas' are topographic eminences which stand out over the La Mancha plain.

Excavations have shown that they were made up of dwellings which were squeezed within belts of concentric walls on several staggered levels, giving the settlement the appearance of an artificial hill, but which facilitated its defence against attacks from without and gave it effective control of the surrounding territory. The tells of the Near East provided much the same function.

The occupation of the El Quintanar site in Munera began before 2000 BC and lasted until about 1500 BC, while that of El Acequión in Albacete began before 2200 BC and survived until about 1800 BC. Other La Mancha sites delivered similar dates, especially Motilla del Azuer in Daimiel and Cerro de la Encantada in Granátula de Calatrava. This places the La Mancha area Bronze Age as a contemporary of its neighbours, the Levantine Bronze and the Argaric.

Gaps between settlements amount to about four or five kilometres, usually with them remaining within view of each other. They are usually distributed along river plains, flat and easily-flooded areas, along with depressed former marsh areas. Each of the larger fortified towns is believed to have been the seat of a chiefdom, dominating local agriculture and storing the excess for later distribution.

Precise borders for the Motillas are uncertain as there could easily be a degree of overlap between cultural zones. The River Segura is usually given as the approximate demarcation line between Motillas and Argaric. The Vinalopó valley should form the boundary between the Valencian Bronze and La Mancha to the east, while to the north and the meeting point with the Cogotas I it would extend to the Tagus valley and the Cuenca mountain range. The western boundary is far less easy to specify.

At first it was believed that the broader Manchego Bronze was the result of a expansion by Argaric groups into the peninsula's interior, but successive studies revealed and confirmed that it had its own characteristics. Some opinion classed the morras and motillas as enormous funerary mounds thanks to the fact that they contain intentionally buried human remains. More recently there is a tendency to characterise the Manchego Bronze as a differentiated cultural horizon, a culture in its own right, although with a strong relationship with the Argaric and the Valencian Bronze.

The Motillas has a peculiarly low number of bronze tools, down to zero or as near as with some sites. This is in comparison with tools made from copper alone, or copper and arsenic. Its typology is similar to the Argaric. The ceramics are pretty homogeneous, with few variations throughout its existence. Models are different from the Argaric though, involving globular or carinated vessels, mostly smooth, although they do also present the usual cord, mamelon, and fingering decorations.

Funerary rituals were similar to those of the Argaric, normally with individually burials, either in graves, cists, or pithoi (jars) with relatively simple grave goods and a high number of weapons, usually bows and knives. Burials have recently been discovered in Castillejo del Bonete, a monumental complex which is made up of several astronomically-orientated burial mounds. The presence of ivory indicates the existence of long-distance trade. Pottery was simple, involving vases and vessels which had been made using local clay.

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