Fuente Álamo (prov. Almería)

Fuente Álamo (prov. Almería)

The project has been supervised by the Madrid Section of the German Archaeological Institute since 1977.

Location

Gesamtansicht aus der Luft

Fuente Álamo is a Bronze Age hilltop settlement in the municipal area of Cuevas del Almanzora, province of Almería, Andalusia, south-eastern Spain. (fig.: overall view from the air)

History of Research

For the first time, the settlement has been made known by the brothers Henri and Louis Siret. In 1977 H. Schubart (first director of the department until 1994) started a new excavation project together with O. Arteaga (now professor at the University of Seville), which was joined by V. Pingel (professor at Bochum University) in 1985.  

Previous Activities

With the 8th excavation campaign in 1999 the excavations were brought to a preliminary end in order to analyse and publish the numerous results. While the first excavation campaigns (1977, 1979, 1982, and 1985) were limited to the hilltop, the investigation of the southern slope became another objective in further campaigns (1988, 1991, 1996, 1999).  

Current Work

At the moment, the analysis of the excavation is done by different scholars and scientists: excavation features: H. Schubart, V. Pingel, O. Arteaga; settlement structures and building types: V. Pingel; burials: H. Schubart; Late Bronze Age evidence: O. Arteaga; pottery: Th. Schuhmacher; stone tools: R. Risch; animal bones: M. Kokabi, A. von den Driesch, C. Liesau, and H. Manhart; palaeobotany: H.-P. Stika; radiocarbon dating: J. Görsdorf; metallurgy: H.-G. Bachmann; anthropology: M. Kunter. 

Results

	Mahlversuche

Fuente Álamo is a hilltop settlement which was occupied from the beginnings of the El Argar culture down to the Late Bronze Age (ca. from 2300 to 1500 B. C.); the dead were buried within the settlement. Social differences can be inferred from differences of pottery quality and grave provisions in different settlement zones: a rich upper class living on the hilltop and the remaining inhabitants who built their small houses on artificial terraces along the slopes. An enormous number of quern stones attest a flour production that possibly served the nutrition of a population far exceeding the settlement itself (fig.: grinding experiments). The water supply was secured by means of a large cistern on the hilltop on which also the solid foundation walls of two buildings were found. These are likely to have had several storeys and might have served public functions. A part of the numerous results has been published in a substantial first monograph in 2001.  

Cooperation

Apart from the persons listed under "contacts" and "current work": Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona: J. J. Treserres (analysis of vessel contents); Universidad Autónoma de Madrid: M. Pozo (petrology). 

Contact

PD Dr. Michael Kunst

Vor- und Frühgeschichte
Telefon: + 34 - 91 - 561 09 04-29
Telefax: +34 - 91 - 564 00 54
Email: kunst@madrid.dainst.org
Further Email Addresses: fotothek@madrid.dainst.org

Further Contact Partners

Prof. Dr. H. Schubart, Gickelhof 7, D-35282 Rauschenberg; Prof. Dr. O. Arteaga, Dpto. de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, C/. María de Padilla s/n, E-41004 Sevilla, tel. +34/95/455 14 12, fax +34/95/455 14 11; Prof. Dr. V. Pingel, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Fakultät für Geschichtswissenschaften, Lehrstuhl für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Gebäude GA 6/56-60, D-44780 Bochum, tel. +49/234/322 85 46; email: volker.pingel@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Bibliography

Henri Siret - Louis Siret, Les Pemiers Ages du Métal dans le Sud-Est de l'Espagne (Brussels 1887); H. Schubart - V. Pingel - O. Arteaga, Fuente Álamo. Las excavaciones arqueológicas 1977-1991 en el poblado de la Edad del Bronce, Arqueología. Monografías 8 (Junta de Andalucia Sevilla 2000); H. Schubart - V. Pingel - O. Arteaga, Fuente Álamo, Teil 1. Die Grabungen von 1977 bis 1991 in einer bronzezeitlichen Höhensiedlung Andalusiens, Madrider Beiträge vol. 25 (Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2001); besides this, there are numerous other articles, e. g. in: Madrider Mitteilungen 39, 1998, 14-34 (+ plates 1-6).