ESSAY ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FUNERARY RITUAL OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE BASED ON THE RESULTS FROM THE NECROPOLIS OF LOS TORCALES 1 AND 6, BEAS (HUELVA)

Abstract

During the earthworks control operations for the execution of the N-435 bypass, Trigueros- Beas (from May to July 2015), the remains of five cist funerary structures were discovered in the archaeological sites known as “Los Torcales 1 and 6”, very close to the area where Mariano Del Amo discovered and published the Beas cist in 1975, one of the few examples where preserved human bones were documented. The five cists were found intact and contained grave goods compatible with other assemblages from both the Guadalquivir area and the sierra de Huelva, dating to the first half of the second millennium BC. Based on the two anthropological analyses conducted, radiocarbon dating, and the similarities with other assemblages such as the necropolis of Cortijo de Chichina (Sanlúcar la Mayor, Seville), La Orden- Seminario (Huelva), and the SE-B and SE-K necropolises from the operations at Cobre Las Cruces, Salteras (Seville), among others, it will be presented an interpretative proposal of the funerary ritual and its sequencing following the individual’s death and burial.