RT Journal Article
T1 The exceptional finding of Locus 2 at Dehesilla Cave and the Middle Neolithic ritual funerary practices of the Iberian Peninsula
A1 García Rivero, Daniel
A1 Taylor, Ruth
A1 Umbelino, Jorge
A1 Vera Rodríguez, Juan Carlos
AB There is a significant number of funerary contexts for the Early Neolithic in the Iberian Penin-sula, and the body of information is much larger for the Late Neolithic. In contrast, thearchaeological information available for the period in between (ca. 4800-4400/4200 cal BC)is scarce. This period, generally called Middle Neolithic, is the least well-known of the penin-sular Neolithic sequence, and at present there is no specific synthesis on this topic at thepeninsular scale. In 2017, an exceptional funerary context was discovered at DehesillaCave (Sierra de Cádiz, Southern Iberian Peninsula), providing radiocarbon dates whichplace it at the beginning of this little-known Middle Neolithic period, specifically between ca.4800–4550 cal BC. Locus 2 is a deposition constituted by two adult human skulls and theskeleton of a very young sheep/goat, associated with stone structures and a hearth, and anumber of pots, stone and bone tools and charred plant remains. The objectives of thispaper are, firstly, to present the new archaeological context documented at Dehesilla Cave,supported by a wide range of data provided by interdisciplinary methods. The dataset isdiverse in nature: stratigraphic, osteological, isotopic, zoological, artifactual, botanical andradiocarbon results are presented together. Secondly, to place this finding within the generalcontext of the contemporaneous sites known in the Iberian Peninsula through a systematicreview of the available evidence. This enables not only the formulation of explanations ofthe singular new context, but also to infer the possible ritual funerary behaviours and prac-tices in the 5th millennium cal BC in the Iberian Peninsula.
PB Public Library of Science
SN 1932-6203
YR 2020
FD 2020-08
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18789
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/18789
LA eng
NO García Rivero, D., Taylor, R., Umbelino, C. ...Vera Rodríguez, J. C. (2020). The exceptional finding of Locus 2 at Dehesilla Cave and the Middle Neolithic ritual funerary practices of the Iberian Peninsula. PLOS ONE, 15(8), e0236961. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0236961
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 13 jun 2026