Small Houses of the Dead: A Model of Collective Funerary Activity in the Chalcolithic Tombs of Southwestern Iberia. La Orden-Seminario Site (Huelva, Spain)

4.1 Tomb 1336

Tomb 1336 was a hypogeum with a maximum length of 6.50 m and height of 1.15 m in the chamber (Figure 4a). It was built according to a central axis oriented 80° E. It was composed of atrium, passage, and chamber. The atrium was an open space with a sub-rectangular morphology and a stepped frontal profile cut into the substrate, paved with stones and clay. The access to the tomb had a closing/opening device in the form of a rectangular slab slate sealed with mud mortar. The elongated rectangular passage (3.25 m long) had a trapezoidal cross-section and two door jambs cut into the substrate flanking an entrance. The circular chamber, asymmetrically offset with respect to the passage, measured 2.20 m at the base on the north-south axis and 2 m on the east–west axis, forming a burial space of 3.46 m². It had a domed section with smooth curved walls and a low ceiling. At the base, a continuous bench was cut into the wall, 45–50 cm wide and up to 10 cm off the ground, which was slightly sunken in the central space, probably the area used for the handling of the bodies, skeletal remains and grave goods.

Figure 4

Hypogeum 1336 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) architecture; (b) stratigraphy; (c) photo of the tomb and funerary deposits; and (d) Bayesian model of radiocarbon dating.

The stratigraphy is characterised by the existence of a funerary floor level spreading over the solid ground of the passage and the chamber (Figure 4b). In the funerary level, a collective deposit was recorded with juxtaposed skeletal remains from an MNI of 9 and several groups of grave goods (Figure 4c; Tables 3 and 4; Table A1). In this grave, it has been possible to identify and correlate the bone assemblages with the associated grave goods. The funerary deposit was formed in four stages or episodes (Figures 5a and 6a). The chronological sequence has been establish by eight radiocarbon dates, one for each individual, with the exception of individual 9 that did not yield sufficient collagen, thus establishing the chronological sequence and the temporal limits of the beginning and end of each episode (Figure 4d) (Linares-Catela & Vera-Rodríguez, 2021).

Figure 5

Hypogeum 1336 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) funerary level; and (b) episodes and funerary deposits.

Figure 6

Hypogeum 1336 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) cenital view of the commingled deposit and grave goods; (b) deposits of Episode 1; (c) deposits of Episode 2; (d) deposits of Episode 3; and (e) deposits of Episode 4.

First, Episode 1 (Figures 5b and 6b) contains three secondary packages repositioned in the northern half of the chamber and under the bone deposits 6, 7, and 9. These packages contained the skeletal remains of an MNI of 3, one for each deposit (individuals 2, 1, and 4), with which particular grave goods were associated. Package 2, consisting of the remains of an adult male individual, with three long bones (left femur, tibia, and fibula) and two highly fragmentary indeterminate bone remains, alongside which were placed a broken pottery cooking dish and a rhyolite blade. Radiocarbon dating has given a result of 4155 ± 45 BP: 2890–2580 cal BC (CNA-334). Package 1 contained the remains of an adult male individual, comprising two fragments of long bones (left and right tibia) and an indeterminate fragment, associated with a small pottery vessel with a thin almagra red slip, an upside down cooking dish and a flint blade. The date obtained was 4130 ± 50 BP: 2880–2570 cal BC (CNA-333). Package 4, consisting of the remains of an adult female individual, was placed next to the former remains. It consisted of fragmentary long bones (left tibia, right tibia, femur, humerus, ulna, radius, and an indeterminate long bone of the forearm) and a hip fragment. The artefacts were distributed around the bones, including a proximal fragment of a rhyolite blade and a fragmented pottery bowl, placed upside down and crushed by subsequent trampling and preparation of the burial space. The radiocarbon dating yielded a result of 4100 ± 50 BP: 2880–2490 cal BC (CNA-336).

The Bayesian model suggests that the burials of Episode 1 took place in a chronology ca. 2860–2530 cal BC, at 95% probability, or ca. 2740–2570 cal BC, at 68% probability. This episode could, therefore, have lasted 40 or 110 years, and contained the remains of a minimum of three individuals from four or five different generations. These deposits took place within a short time interval, and may have been grouped as packages at the time of the reorganisation of the burial space prior to the new depositions made in Episode 2.

The three deposits from Episode 2 (Figures 5b and 6c) were arranged successively to the south of the central axis: individual 8 (primary burial) in the passage and individuals 6 (primary burial) and 5 (funerary package) in the chamber. The first deposit may have been individual 8, buried in the passage, identified as an adult male of indeterminate age. His skeleton was anatomically connected and articulated, with the head close to the south door jamb, having been placed in a right lateral flexed position with flexed arms and legs, displaying pronation from the waist to the legs, the face oriented to the south, towards the wall, the sagittal orientation to the south (190° S) and on a southwest-northeast axis. The body rested directly on the solid ground of the passage and decomposed in an empty aerobic environment, as indicated by the pronation of the hips and lower limbs, which rotated after the completion of putrefaction and the loss of the articular tissues of the body. The skeleton was in relatively good condition, with most of the bones of different parts of the cranial and post-cranial skeleton and, particularly, the skull and upper and lower limbs being preserved. A small number of objects were placed to the west of the head, including a volcanic rock concave-base arrowhead, two hyaline quartz bladelets, and a triangular slab of purple slate. To the north, a small thermo-altered stain was recorded containing particles of charcoal, possibly the remains of a vegetal torch or the residue of a lamp. Dating has provided a chronology of 4010 ± 50 BP: 2850–2340 cal BC (CNA-332).

Subsequently, individual 6 (an adult male) was buried in the central space of the chamber, his remains resting over deposit 4 and partially under some bones belonging to individual 7. This is a primary burial that preserved a partial anatomical connection, arranged in a right lateral flexed position with flexed arms and legs, with the skull towards the west wall of the chamber and face towards the south. Some of the bones were fractured, fragmented, and displaced from their original position. The lower extremities rested partially on the bone remains of deposits 3 and 4. Part of the skull was preserved in several fragments, along with the long bones of the upper extremities (the two humeri, two ulnae, and two radii, and even some phalanges of the hands), ribs of the thoracic cage, and long bones of the lower extremities (the two femurs, two tibiae, and one fibula). This individual was accompanied by a group of grave goods placed by his head on the bench against the west wall, consisting of two pottery vessels, one open (hemispherical bowl) and the other closed (a cooking pot), and a flint blade placed inside the pot. A stain of red pigment (iron oxide or ochre) was also found associated with the long bones of the arms of the deceased, which may constitute the remains of powdered pigment applied to the body, a common mortuary ritual in Chalcolithic burials in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Dating has yielded a result of 3990 ± 45 BP: 2630–2340 cal BC (CNA-338).

The remains of deposit 5 (adult male) were regrouped as a funerary package in the southern sector of the chamber and next to the wall. It may have been the last deposition of Episode 2, having been manipulated prior to the burials of Episode 3, which required space in the chamber. The osteological deposit consisted of fragments of part of the skull (frontal, occipital, and parietal) and mandible, fragments of long bones from the upper limbs (two humeri and two ulnae) and lower limbs (two femurs, a tibia, and a fibula), a rib and an indeterminate bone fragment. The lower jaw showed the loss of teeth and a pathology of a receding alveolar ridge. The grave goods belonging to this individual had been placed at the centre of the package: a globular pot with a thin almagra red slip, three blades (two of flint, one of them inside the pot, and one of rhyolite), a flint barbed arrowhead, a hyaline quartz blade, a triangular tool made out of siliceous slate with lateral retouch and a cutting edge placed next to the skull, and several amorphous pottery fragments. This is the largest and most varied group of artefacts from the tomb. The dated sample yielded a result of 3970 ± 45 BP: 2620–2300 cal BC (CNA-623).

According to the Bayesian model, this episode could have taken place in a chronological span ca. 2630–2440 cal BC, at 95% probability, or ca. 2600–2470 cal BC, at 68% probability, thus over a maximum duration of 30–80 years, with the burials of a minimum of three individuals from three or four different generations, at the most. Indeed, the chronometric results show a great temporal proximity and/or some contemporaneity between the three burials.

Episode 3 (Figures 5b and 6d) comprised two secondary deposits located to the north (deposit of individual 9) and south (package of individual 3) of the axis of two individuals. The skeletal remains from deposit 3 were repositioned and redeposited as a funerary package in the centre of the chamber after the decomposition of the skeleton. The bones and pottery were highly fragmented and crushed. The package consisted of five long bones (two tibiae, a radius, an ulna, and an indeterminate fragment of the forearm) belonging to an adult male, and a grave good assemblage arranged to the south, grouping two pottery vessels (a cooking dish and a cooking pot broken in half), a rhyolite blade and a concave-base arrowhead made of volcanic rock. Radiocarbon dating has provided a chronology of 3950 ± 60 BP: 2630–2200 cal BC (CNA-335). The remains from deposit 9, belonging to an indeterminate adult individual, were very scarce, fragmented, dispersed, and deteriorated, and were limited to two parts of the skull, two fragments of tibia, a piece of the left clavicle, the upper maxilla, and an indeterminate bone. This individual may have been associated with three objects deposited on the bench: a hemispherical bowl placed upside down, a globular pot with a narrow, straight neck, also upside down, and a rhyolite blade placed underneath the pot.

The last deposit, individual 7 (primary burial of adult female) of Episode 4 (Figures 5b and 6e), was arranged in the northern half of the chamber. Her body was placed back-to-back with individual 6, with the lower extremities resting partially on the bones of deposit 4 and partially on some remains of individual 6. Her skeleton was in a left lateral flexed position with the skull towards the west wall of the chamber, face to the north, arms and legs flexed. The body decomposed in an empty aerobic space, consistent with the lateral displacement of the bones following the loss of joint tissue. The skeletal remains were recovered in relatively good condition, with most of the fragmentary bones of the different parts of the cranial and post-cranial skeleton preserved, mainly parts of the skull and the bones of the upper and lower extremities. This individual was accompanied by a grave good assemblage, placed next to her head on the bench against the west wall of the chamber, consisting of two pottery vessels, one open (a large diameter cooking dish) and the other closed (a globular cooking pot with a narrow mouth and a marked neck) and a flint blade placed underneath the pot. Radiocarbon dating yielded a result of 3910 ± 60 BP: 2570–2200 cal BC (CNA-624).

Episodes 3 and 4 correspond to short and close chronological events, within less than a century, thus limiting the burials to a minimum of one or two individuals per level. The Bayesian models indicate that the two episodes must have taken place between the twenty-fifth and twenty-fourth centuries cal BC. The funerary activity of the hypogeum must have ceased prior to the structural collapse and interior filling with sediments, which occurred due to the collapse of the roof, implying its disuse as a collective burial place. The upper part of the last level of fill was prepared as a workbench associated with a domestic space, in which a millstone and several scattered pottery fragments were documented. The upper section of the chamber was reused as a burial place during the Early Bronze Age, in the form of a pit sealed with stones, in which an adult male was buried without any grave goods (Linares-Catela, 2020).

4.2 Tomb 7016

Tomb 7016 displays a complex stratigraphic sequence, characterised by a succession and superimposition of different funerary contexts (Figure 7a and b). Two funerary cycles have been identified according to the different architectural models and burial levels: (a) collective (hypogeum and mixed hypogeum) and (b) individual (underground cave and “cist” with a mound). The tomb shows a long-term funerary activity, ca. 3130–1800 cal BC, at 68% probability, structured by discontinuous phases with hiatuses, as attested by the architectural transformations, the remodelling of the spaces, and the Bayesian model of the radiocarbon dating (Tables 1 and 2). The Bayesian model (Figure 7d) indicates that the collective funerary activity of the tomb could have developed during a time interval ca. 3130–2320 cal BC, at 68% probability, with a probable use as a collective space between fourth and seventh centuries. As the first hypogeum, it may have been in use ca. 3130–2430 cal BC, at 68% probability, probably functioning as a subterranean construction for up to five centuries. As a mixed hypogeum, it evidences a punctual activity in an imprecise time interval, ca. 2580–2320 cal BC, at 68% probability (Linares-Catela & Vera-Rodríguez, 2021).

Figure 7

Tomb 7016 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) architecture; (b) stratigraphy; and (c) Bayesian model of radiocarbon dating.

Phase 1 of the tomb correlates with the original construction of the hypogeum. It was a subterranean architecture cut and excavated in the substrate with a symmetrical axis oriented 65° NE, reaching a length of 6.20 m and a height of 1.20 m in the chamber (Phase 1A) (Figure 8a). It had atrium, passage, and chamber. The atrium, of sub-rectangular morphology, had an access system composed of an upper step, two steps paved with calcarenite blocks and quartzite cobbles bound in clay and a threshold cut into the substrate. The access to the tomb was closed by a removable device formed by a masonry wall. The passage, 2.50 m long, had an elongated trapezoidal shape in plan and section, with slightly curved walls and ceiling. At both ends it was flanked and segmented by symmetrical door jambs cut into the substrate, which protruded up from the walls. At the end connected with the chamber, there was a raised threshold, delimiting a narrow quadrangular access. The chamber was irregularly circular, measuring 3 m by 2 m (6.16 m²), with a curved profile and a sunken floor in the centre of the chamber, where it reached a height of up to 1.20 m. The internal space was vaulted.

Figure 8

Hypogeum 7016 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) funerary level 1; (b) funerary level 2; (c) offerings in the passage; and (d) stele-polisher/sharpener.

During its funerary use, several spatial remodelling works were undertaken in the hypogeum (Phase 1B): a stele was placed in the entrance, and the atrium and passage were paved with a compact beaten earth (Figure 8b and c). The greywacke stele was placed vertically at an oblique angle against the north-western wall, fixed with mud or clay mortar. Its morphology is elongated, lenticular, with pointed ends, measuring 66 cm in height (Figure 8d). This reused stele shows traces of various technical treatments superimposed. The original element was an axe sharpener/polisher. Its recycling implied its transformation, reducing its height by working the edges by direct percussion and polishing the upper extremity. On both sides, there are traces of combined polishing, abrasion techniques, as well as pecking, that form engraved motifs, and possible zigzag traces of black pigments. The pecking was made using two techniques: (a) discontinuous thick pecking by direct percussion; (b) hammer and chisel pecking of small cups arranged in a line on the right side. On the visible face there is an abraded and recessed area within a semi-circular line, and three vertical stripes or grooves. These elements are suggestive of those belonging to an anthropomorphic representation with a face and talar clothing (Bueno Ramírez, Balbín Berhmann, & Barroso Bermejo, 2015, p. 448). This element reinforced the monumentalisation of the entrance to the hypogeum, displaying an outstanding morphology, chromatic contrast of the dark stone against the light materials, and symbolic and ritual significance.

The tomb had a closing/opening system between the door jambs of the entrance, formed by a masonry wall built upon a large greywacke millstone reused as construction material for the threshold. The wall, 0.40 m wide, was made of irregular masonry of calcarenite and quartzite, bonded with clay. This efficient seal may have been used recurrently, since it was easy to dismantle and quick to reposition in the event of successive burials and/or the consummation of offerings.

In the hypogeum, two superimposed funerary levels separated by a levelling layer of soil have been documented with reorganised collective secondary deposits, containing partial, fragmented, and dispersed remains (Tables 3 and 4; Table A2). A high number of skeletal remains were unidentifiable, most of them being plausibly attributable to fragments of long bones from the lower and upper extremities. In the first level, 122 remains recovered were attributed to an MNI of 4 adults of indeterminate age (two males and two females). The bones were preserved in a fragmentary state, identifying parts of the head (fragments of skulls, mandibles, and loose teeth), of the central trunk and spinal column (scapula, ribs, cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, coccyx), of the upper extremities: arms (humeri and ulnae) and hands (metacarpal phalanges), and of the lower extremities: legs (femurs, tibiae, and fibulae) and feet (calcaneus and metatarsals). The grave goods consisted of around 20 pottery fragments from two large hemispherical open dishes. The radiocarbon date of the level is 4330 ± 60 BP: 3320–2770 cal BC (CNA-325).

In burial level 2, 75 skeletal remains attributable to the skeletal remains of an MNI of 3 adults (2 males and 1 female) of indeterminate age were recovered. Fragments of bones from the head (pieces of skulls), central trunk and spine (lumbar vertebrae, coccyx, and ischium), upper extremities (humeri and ulnae), and lower extremities (femurs, tibiae, and fibulae) and feet (calcaneus, tarsi, and metatarsi) have been identified. The deposit had a meagre material assemblage, limited to around 30 fragments of three pottery vessels (a hemispherical bowl, a cooking pot with a straight neck, and a large storage jar), a flint concave-based arrowhead and part of a deer antler. The dating of the sample from this level has yielded a date of 3960 ± 50 BP: 2620–2290 cal BC (CNA-326).

On the floor of the access and passage, several grouped deposits of materials (seven polished microgabbro axes, an igneous rock hammer stone, and fragmented pottery) were documented, arranged at the points marking the transitions between the entrance and the underground spaces: an axe behind the stele with its cutting edge also facing north; an axe was placed on the greywacke grindstone, arranged as a threshold; a deposit of three axes with intentionally fractured and broken cutting edges; a sub-cylindrical hammer, behind the northwest door jamb; three pottery fragments from a flat dish in the elbow corner of the wall of the passage just before the chamber; an axe on the threshold of access to the chamber; an axe, on the opposite side to the previous one (Figure 8c).

The structural collapse of the hypogeum caused the fall down of the north-western half of the chamber and the passage ceiling. Its maintenance as a collective burial site required its rebuilding into a mixed hypogeum (Phase 2). The main work was the architectural reconstruction of the chamber by means of a dry stone wall bound with mud up to the point where it met the preserved structure (Figure 9c). This required the execution of four basic operations: (a) clearing and levelling the excavated subterranean section; (b) spreading the material from the collapse over the floor of the tomb; (c) the construction of a masonry wall of slate slabs and quartzite cobbles, as a base for the false dome; (d) the construction of a low hemispherical vault by the concentric approximation of courses of slate slabs fixed with clay mortar, as evidenced by the collapsed block of overlapping and superimposed elements with a marked bevel from the centre towards the edge. As a result, this hybrid chamber had a circular floor plan with a diameter of 2.50 m and an estimated height of 1 m in the centre, with a burial space of 4.91 m². Its access would have been a quadrangular opening on each side, with a closing mechanism. The atrium and the passage, partially filled in, functioned as open spaces, with the greywacke stele remaining as a symbolic landmark of the tomb.

Figure 9

Mixed hypogeum 7016 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) architecture and funerary level; (b) collapse level of the chamber; (c) cross-section of the chamber; (d) view of the collapsed false dome; and (e) funerary level.

On the floor of the mixed hypogeum, a burial deposit was documented with the skeletal remains of an MNI of two adults of indeterminate age, one male and one female (Figure 9a and d; Tables 3 and 4; Table A2). The 67 skeletal remains recovered are attributed to specific skeletal parts, being scattered mainly in the south-eastern half of the chamber and in the central area, with no evident anatomical connections. They correspond to bones from the head (fragments of the skull, mandible, and teeth), central trunk (ribs and cervical vertebrae), upper extremities (humeri and metacarpal phalanges of the hands), lower extremities (hip, femurs, tibiae, and fibulae), and indeterminate bones. The grave goods were preserved in a fragmentary state, the pottery being fragmented and scattered in the centre and eastern quadrant of the chamber as a result of the collapse of the roof. Three hemispherical bowls (one of them complete), a pot, a cooking dish, a volcanic rock concave-base arrowhead with marked barbs, and a polished greywacke stone were recovered. Radiocarbon dating of this level has provided a chronology of 3975 ± 45 BP: 2630–2300 cal BC (CNA-324).

Subsequently, after the collapse and partial filling of the mixed hypogeum (Figure 9b and e) and after a time span of two centuries, the chamber was reused for two individual tombs in the Early Bronze Age (Table 1): (a) a subterranean cave (Phase 3), which contained the primary burial of an adult male provided with a grave good assemblage in the “Bell Beaker tradition”: two ceramic vessels (a hemispherical bowl and a truncated cone-shaped beaker placed inside it) and a copper point of arrow “Palmela type”; (b) a “cist” with a mound covering (Phase 4), which contained a secondary deposit of a mature adult male individual accompanied by scarce materials, two ceramic bowls, one hemispherical and the other with a mamelon near the rim, and two flint arrowheads, one with a concave base and the other with a peduncle (Linares-Catela, 2020).

4.3 Tomb 7055

Tomb 7055 was a small semi-subterranean tholos with a mound (Figure 10), built along a symmetrical axis running northeast to southwest and oriented 65° NE (Figure 11a). Its construction required an excavation of the substrate up to 90 cm deep, articulated in three levels of excavation: (a) the first delimited the outline of the tumular structure; (b) the second marked the levels of the foundation structures of the false-domed ceiling of the chamber and the lintelled cover of the passage; (c) the third shaped the negative space of the walls and the solid ground of the floor of the chamber, passage, and atrium.

Figure 10

Tholos 7055 of La Orden-Seminario. View from the southeast.

Figure 11

Tholos 7055 of La Orden-Seminario: (a) architecture; (b) elevations; (c) stratigraphy; and (d) Bayesian model of the radiocarbon dating.

The tholos had a stone lining made of blue slate slabs, 5 m long in total, in which two spaces can be distinguished, one open and external (atrium) and the other covered and internal (passage and chamber), which were transformed in the Early Bronze Age by the construction of a subterranean cave (Figure 11b).

The atrium had a stepped profile on three levels to facilitate access to the tomb. It was rectangular in shape with a curved front. Its steps were made of slate slabs and quartzite pebbles, bound together with clay mortar. Its base was made of beaten earth. It had a quadrangular slate slab attached to the two door jambs that flanked the access to the tomb. This closing/opening device fitted into a groove cut into the substrate. The passage, 2.20 m long, was narrow and slightly tapering from the access (0.40 m) to the connection with the chamber (0.35 m), with a progressive downward slope. At its extremities, it was segmented by symmetrical slabs arranged transversally. Two slate slabs flanked the access, while the transition to the chamber was delimited by two thin, carefully worked ornamental slabs of blue and purple slate. The walls of the passage were lined by five slabs on each side of unequal width, placed vertically in linear running trenches, protruding in elevation up to an average of 0.75–0.80 m. The lintelled ceiling was supported by side walls of slate masonry, bound with mud mortar. The chamber was circular in plan, with a variable diameter at the base of 1.70 m on the northeast-southwest axis and 1.55 m on the northwest-southeast axis, and a probable height of 1.55 m in the centre. It had two distinct structural elements in elevation with symmetrical heights: (a) a circular lining, forming a succession of neatly overlapping vertical cladding slabs arranged on a vertical axis with consecutive overlaps, and supported in running trenches and reinforced by means of packing slabs and earth fillings; (b) a dry-stone false dome, formed by a concentric approximation of rows of thin slate slabs, bound with mud mortar, describing a hemispherical vault, which rested on a solid base surrounding the chamber, made up of medium and large slabs placed on a level of clay. The first floor of the tomb, cut into the substrate, displayed a slight dip from the perimeter edges towards the centre, reaching a surface area of 2.11 m².

This construction would have been covered by an oval-shaped mound, composed of various layers of earth, clay, and light-coloured quartzite pebbles, in accordance with the levels of filling documented in the final stratigraphy of the tomb.

Three superimposed collective funerary levels were documented in the chamber (Figure 11c). The floors were separated by stratigraphic discontinuities defined by thin fills of soil created for the purpose of levelling and reconditioning the chamber, as part of the necessary maintenance for the continued use of the monument. A total MNI of 18 of different sexes and ages were identified in the tomb (Tables 3 and 4; Table A3), 17 of which were located in the collective floors and 1 in the underground cave. From the Bayesian phase model of the dates, it is inferred that the collective funerary activity of the tholos developed in a sequence ca. 2780–2430 cal BC, at 68% probability, with a maximum duration of two or three centuries, between the twenty-eighth and twenty-sixth centuries cal BC (Tables 1 and 2; Figure 11d). The levels could have developed in short periods of time, containing the remains of an MNI of 17, belonging to up to ten different generations throughout its use as a collective burial (Linares-Catela & Vera-Rodríguez, 2021). After a hiatus, following the collapse and filling of the tomb, the monument was reused in the Early Bronze Age for the creation of an subterranean cave with a tumular cover, which contained the burial of a 7–8-year-old child with grave goods belonging to the Bell Beaker tradition (Linares-Catela, 2020).

Funerary level 1 (Figure 12a) was developed on the floor of the chamber, taking the form of a secondary deposit composed of partial and fragmented skeletal remains, with an MNI of 4. The hundred or so recorded skeletal remains were very fragmented, fractured, and dispersed. The bones did not show any anatomical connections, preserving only skeletal parts concentrated in some areas and with a certain tendency of positioning, orientation, and tilt from the edges of the chamber towards the centre. About 30 remains corresponded to individual 1 (a non-male adult of indeterminate age), including bones from the head (skull and teeth), upper limbs (humeri, ulnae, and phalanges of the hands), and lower limbs (tibiae, femurs, and phalanges of the feet), as well as other anatomical parts (coccyx, vertebrae, and indeterminate remains). The ten remains belonging to individual 2 (infant I, aged 2–3 years) were grouped in an east–west direction next to the south-west wall, where the child may have been buried, preserving fragments of the skull, teeth, long bones (left humerus and femur), right clavicle and phalanges of the hands. The remains of individual 3 (infant II, aged 7–8 years), located next to the middle section of the northwest wall and with a northwest-southeast orientation, amounted to just over a dozen long bone fragments (left humerus and fibula), parts of the skull, ribs, and several teeth. Individual 4 (infant II, 10 years old) concentrated its remains in the central space of the chamber, including two skull fragments, several long bone fragments, a humerus, two indeterminate remains, and part of the upper maxilla and mandible with premolar, molar, and lower and upper canine teeth.

Figure 12

Tholos 7055 of La Orden-Seminario. Collective funerary levels, bone remains, and grave goods: (a) Level 1; (b) Level 2; (c) Level 3.

The artefacts documented were a rim of a pottery jar, the wall of a hemispherical pottery bowl, a fragment of a volcanic rock blade, a fragment of a flint bladelet, a volcanic rock blade, five concave-base arrowheads with all-over retouch (three of volcanic rock and two of flint, one of them located behind the cladding slabs); located in the vicinity of the walls, as well as two singular products offered at the entrance behind the door jambs: a flint blade and a flat copper axe fragmented at its heel. The dated sample from this level has provided a date of 4060 ± 50 BP: 2870–2460 cal BC (CNA-331).

Funerary level 2 (Figure 12b) yielded the remains of an MNI of 6 (2 adults and 4 infants), contained in a secondary deposit. As in the previous level, the 100 or so documented remains of bones were scattered and highly fractured, with no anatomical connections, yet preserving specific skeletal parts: head (skull and teeth), trunk (clavicle, ribs, and coccyx), and upper (humerus, radius, and metacarpal phalanges) and lower extremities (femurs, tibia, and metatarsal phalanges), with a large predominance of the long bones of the lower and upper extremities. The two adult individuals of indeterminate age corresponded to a male (individual 1) and a female (individual 2). The four infant individuals were: individual 3 (infant I, aged 2–3 years), individual 4 (infant I, aged 3–4 years), individual 5 (infant II, aged 6–8 years), and individual 6 (infant II aged 7–8 years). The grave goods consisted of several fragments of pottery vessels (a cooking pot, a hemispherical bowl, and a small carinated form), three fragments of blades (two from the same flint tool and another in volcanic rock) and two arrowheads, one in volcanic rock with a concave base and the other in flint with a straight base manufactured on a fragment of blade. Radiocarbon dating of a sample from this level has provided a date of 4010 ± 60 BP: 2860–2340 cal BC (CNA-329).

Funerary level 3 (Figure 12c) was developed on a 2–4 cm, flat, beaten earth floor. Five funerary packages preserved in situ were documented, in the locations in which they were originally placed, while some bones and materials were found slightly displaced or altered as a consequence of the gradual formation of the successive deposits, the collapse of the false dome and the subsequent creation of the underground cave in the Early Bronze Age. The packages may have been formed and arranged in two distinct episodes, as evidenced by the stratigraphic sequence: episode 1 (UE 82), made up of the first four packages; and episode 2 (UE 81), which corresponds to package 5, developed and superimposed on the previous funerary floor level (Figure 12).

Four of the packages (UE 82) were placed against the walls of the chamber, displaying a radial distribution and symmetrical spatial organisation, with an equidistant separation of 50–60 cm. Two deposits were placed at the back of the chamber (packages 1 and 3), and two others were in the access section of the chamber (packages 2 and 4). Package 1 (individual 1) consisted of the skeletal remains of an infant of 7–8 years of age, preserving four fractured long bones (right ulna, right femur, right tibia, and an indeterminate fragment), a skull fragment and several teeth, associated with a piece of a pottery cooking pot, broken in two parts. These remains were arranged on several slate slabs placed horizontally as a tray. The long bones, less than 12 cm in length, and the other bone fragments may have been piled up in the concave internal space of a 15 cm pottery fragment placed upside down. Package 2 was composed of bones of two adult individuals, one male (individual 2) and one female (individual 3), concentrated in a small area with a north-south orientation. The deposit consisted of six fractured bone remains: four 10–12 cm fragments of long bones (right ulna of a male, femur of a female, tibia fragment, and indeterminate fragment of an adult) distributed in groups of pairs and two adult dental remains, which may have been collected inside a 10 cm fragment of pottery bowl, placed on a bed of four small slate slabs (less than 10 cm) placed horizontally on the clay floor. Deposits 3 and 4 were heavily disturbed and practically destroyed by the later reuse of the tomb in the Early Bronze Age. Package 3 (individual 4, indeterminate adult) was restricted to two fragments of long bones, two molars, a fragment of rib, and an indeterminate bone fragment. The skeletal remains were scattered around a slate slab placed horizontally on the ground and around a body fragment of a pottery vessel, displaced towards the southeast. It must originally have been a deposit similar to those described above. Package 4 was in very poor condition, with only a few fragmentary remains of different parts of the skeleton of an adult male individual (individual 5): scapula, a piece of skull, mandible, rib, a metacarpal phalanx, a metatarsal phalanx, and several indeterminate remains.

The last deposition corresponds to package 5, composed of the skeletal remains of two individuals of different sexes and ages: the long bones of an adult male and a skull of an infant, aged 7–8 years. The deposit was placed next to the northwest wall of the chamber, in its central section, between deposits 1 and 2, and was delimited by small slate slabs overlapping and set vertically into the floor pavement that included the base of a fragmented pottery cooking dish. Bones from selected skeletal parts of the two individuals were placed on top of this pottery receptacle: three fragmented long bones (right humerus, left tibia, and indeterminate remains) and several indeterminate remains of an adult individual and the left femur of the infant individual at the base, and the upside-down skull of the child, with the face towards the entrance to the chamber, in an easterly direction, on top of the previous remains. The radiocarbon dating carried out on one of the adult long bones from the last package has provided a chronology for this funerary package of 4130 ± 60 BP: 2890–2500 cal BC (CNA-328).

After a hiatus, following the collapse and filling of the tomb, the monument was reused in the Early Bronze Age (Table 1) for the construction of an subterranean cave with a tumular cover. This individual tomb contained the burial of a 7–8-year-old child with grave goods belonging to the “Bell Beaker tradition”: two stacked pottery vessels (a bowl with a half-flange containing a truncated cone-shaped beaker in its interior), a rhomboid copper dagger, and a sandstone wrist-guard. This “warrior child” was buried with objects of high social prestige in the twenty-second to twenty-first centuries cal BC (Linares-Catela, 2020).

5.1 Chronology

Despite the limited burial area and the low MNI identified, these tombs are characterised by a funerary activity articulated in two phases that enables us to investigate the dynamics of their use as collective and individual houses of the dead (Table 5; Figure 13).

Figure 13

Phasing Bayesian model of the funerary activity at the La Orden-Seminario necropolis (OxCal v.4.4.2 Bronk Ramsey, 2020; r:5 IntCal20 atmospheric data from Reimer et al., 2020).

The first phase, ca. 3000–2400/2300 cal BC, corresponds to the period of use of the collective tombs, with a probable duration of three to seven centuries, with the greatest intensity between the twenty-seventh and twenty-fifth centuries cal BC, probably coinciding with the phase of greatest demographic density and assiduity in the occupation of the settlement. The chronological study shows that the three analysed tombs had a synchronous funerary activity, coexisting as collective burial places during much of their use-life. The Bayesian statistical models of hypogeum 1336 and tholos 7055 suggest that the funerary deposits were formed in limited temporal spans, with the episodes, levels, or collective floors lasting less than a century. Therefore, the funerary activity of each tomb could have been concentrated in a short period of time, and may have received the burials of people belonging to specific generations. In hypogeum 1336, it is likely that the episodes would have taken place over a short period of time: (a) Episode 1, with a maximum duration of 40 years (68% probability), or 110 years (95% probability), which contained at least three individuals from two to five different generations; (b) Episode 2, with an estimated maximum duration of 30 years (68% probability), or 80 years (95% probability), with the burials of at least three individuals from two to four generations, at most. In tholos 7055, the three collective levels developed over a period of 110 years (68% probability) or 270 years (95% probability), containing the remains of an MNI of 17, belong to five to ten different generations (Linares-Catela & Vera-Rodríguez, 2021).

The end of the collective burial activity is marked by the funerary disuse of the spaces and/or the structural collapse of the tombs, causing a hiatus of up to two centuries, of unequal temporality in the two necropolis: (a) in the southeast grouping, spanning the twenty-fifth and twenty-fourth centuries cal BC; (b) in the northwest grouping, during a specific interval in the twenty-fourth century BC.

This temporal range is similar to the chronological sequences of the hypogea of the necropolises of Valencina de la Concepción (García Sanjuán et al., 2018), Paraje de Monte Bajo (Lazarich et al., 2010, 2015), Los Algarbes (Castañeda Fernández, Costela Muñoz, & García Jiménez, 2022a; Castañeda Fernández, Costela Muñoz, Fernández de la Gala, García Jiménez, & López Sáez, 2022b), or Monte de Carrascal 2 (Neves & Silva, 2018a,b), as well as to tholos-tombs from the first half of the third millennium cal BC (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2021; Lozano Medina & Aranda Jiménez, 2017), such as the tholoi of Montelirio (Bayliss et al., 2016) and 10042-1049 of the PP4-Montelirio necropolis (García Sanjuán et al., 2018), the Perdigões tombs 1 and 2 (Valera et al., 2014a, p. 15), and the monument of Olival da Pega 2 (Gonçalves, 2016).

The second phase, ca. 2300–1900 cal BC, with a probable duration of one to four centuries, corresponds to individual tombs placed within the collapsed chambers of the hypogea and tholoi, testifying to the existence of a peculiar form of funerary monumentality based on the reuse of ancestral spaces for the construction of different models of tombs (underground caves, pits, burials under mound, and “cists” with tumular covers) in which certain patterns of the megalithic tradition were perpetuated and coexisted with the new funerary practices of the inegalitarian societies of the Early Bronze Age. These burials were created for persons of different ages who were buried according to four mortuary rituals, perhaps corresponding to the different social statuses of the individuals. Moreover, the appropriation of the old necropolises, the link with the ancestral funerary spaces, and the restricted use of the old tombs by certain individuals may have been mechanisms aimed at creating a genealogical discourse for the legitimisation and privileged social positioning of certain groups within the community (Linares-Catela, 2020). These behaviours and the social meaning of the reuse of burial spaces have been observed in other tombs in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in which individual tombs were integrated from the end of the third millennium BC, such as Las Canteras (Hurtado & Amores, 1984), Monte Velha I (Monge Soares, 2008; Silva, Ferreira, & Cunha, 2008), Centirã 2 (Robles et al., 2013), Cardim 6 (Valera et al., 2019), Perdigões 4 (Valera, 2020), among others. All of this supports the permanence of megalithism as a form of architectural monumentality after the 4.2 ky BP event, despite the social transformations and the cultural collapse of the Chalcolithic societies (Blanco-González, Lillios, López-Sáez, & Drake, 2018; Lull, Micó, Rihuete, & Risch, 2015; Valera, 2015).

5.2 Architectures

The necropolis of La Orden-Seminario has two models of funerary monument: the hypogeum and the tholos. These tombs share similar architectural features and constructive elements: slightly asymmetrical floor plans, orientation, layout, dimensions and volumes, spatial composition, function of the sectors, materials, intentions, symbolism, etc. In the case of the southeast necropolis, it is noteworthy that four of the five collective tombs were oriented 65° NE. This orientation may reflect a ritual relationship between the tombs and the summer solstice and possibly the moment at which they were built and/or the seasonal periods of occupation of the settlement.

The hypogea are subterranean structures with a circular vaulted chamber and a longitudinal passage built at the same level, with access by means of an open atrium. The size of these tombs is relatively small, ranging between 4.5 and 6.5 m in total length, with three spatial sectors with different functions: (a) the atrium with an access equipped with a closing/opening mechanism; (b) a longitudinal passage for transit and the arrangement of offerings or burials; and (c) a burial chamber, where the main funerary activities and deposits were carried out.

Hypogeum 7016 displays two relevant elements that confirm the architectural and technical variability of the Chalcolithic tombs of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. On the one hand, the presence of the greywacke stele at the entrance reveals the application of spatial, formal, and symbolic patterns analogous to those of the megalithic tombs (dolmens and tholoi), in which the arrangement of vertical stone elements at the entrances is frequent (Bueno Ramírez et al., 2015), as has been documented in the tholoi of Palacio III (Bueno Ramírez, Balbín Berhmann, & Barroso Bermejo, 2013; García Sanjuán et al., 2019b) and Cardim 6 (Valera et al., 2019, p. 16) or the dolmens of Soto (Bueno Ramírez, Linares-Catela, Balbín Behrmann, & Barroso Bermejo, 2018), and El Pozuelo 4 (Linares-Catela, 2016, 2022). These stelae may have had multiple functions: signalling and monumentalising the entrance, creating an apotropaic reference and playing a role as guardian of the access, a mnemonic resource for the promotion of a collective memory, and representation of the ancestors. On the other hand, the reconstruction of the tomb after the structural collapse of the roof could be one of the possible ways of forming the architectural model of the mixed constructions. Its conversion into a mixed hypogeum confirms that subterranean, mixed (semi-artificial or semi-hypogean) and semi-subterranean (false-domed) constructions share similar architectural and spatial principles in this necropolis.

The hypogea of La Orden-Seminario show formal similarities with necropolis in several regions of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, such as São Pedro do Estoril, Alapraia, Carenque and Quinta do Anjo in the Tagus Estuary (Gonçalves, 2003a; Leisner, 1965; Leisner & Leisner, 1956; Soares, 2003), Paraje de Monte Bajo in the Sierra of Cadiz (Lazarich et al., 2010, 2015), PP4-Montelirio in the Guadalquivir Valley (García Sanjuán et al., 2019a; Mora Molina et al., 2013), and La Pijotilla in the Guadiana Basin (Hurtado, 1986, 1991; Hurtado et al., 2002).

Tholoi 7055 are characterised as semi-subterranean architecture of small dimension. They are slightly asymmetrical in plan, with the chambers misaligned with respect to the passage. The walls are lined with slate slabs. The lintelled passages are narrow, relatively short, and slightly trapezoidal. The circular chamber was covered by hemispherical dry-stone vaults made of slate with clay mortar. On the outside, they would have been covered by quartzite pebbles and clay. Small false-domed tombs of this same construction model, with chambers less than 2.50 m in diameter, are widely represented in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, with evidence of their presence not only in the area around the estuary of the Tinto-Odiel rivers, such as the tombs of El Moro (Garrido Roiz & Orta García, 1967) and El Tejar (Belén Deamos & Amo de la Hera, 1985); in the necropolises of the Guadalquivir Valley, mainly in the mega-site of Valencia de la Concepción: Los Cabezuelo funerary area (Arteaga & Cruz Auñón, 1999a, pp. 594–595; 1999b), PP4-Montelirio (Mora Molina et al., 2013, p. 266), and two tombs from Señorío de Guzmán (López Aldana, Pajuelo, Mejías García, & Cruz Auñón, 2015), but also in the tholos of Las Canteras of the El Gandul group (Hurtado & Amores, 1984); in the western Sierra Morena, in the case of the tholos of Palacio III (García Sanjuán et al., 2019b); and in the Portuguese Alentejo (Sousa, 2016), with the noteworthy mention of the tholos of Centirã 2 (Robles et al., 2013).

The durability and the funerary activities in the collective burials over a period of several centuries conditioned a number of aspects of the La Orden-Seminario necropolis:

1. The periodic assembly and disassembly of the closing/opening devices of the tombs, in accordance with their use as collective burials. Two types of mechanisms have been documented: (a) slate slabs, either embedded in clay (hypogeum 1336) or in a groove (tholos 7055) and (b) a masonry wall (hypogeum 7016).

2. The operations of reorganisation and maintenance of the funerary spaces. In this particular case, in tombs 7016 and 7055, superimposed floor levels were created in the chambers, separating and sealing the successive burial levels. In the same way, these earth levels mark probable hiatuses in the funerary activities.

3. The remodelling of spaces and sectors of the tombs. Of particular note are the works carried out in the hypogeum 7016 (Phase 1B), consisting of a new beaten earth floor in the atrium and the passage and the placing of the greywacke stele as a monumental element at the entrance.

4. The architectural reformulation of the tombs after the structural collapse of the roofs. Tomb 7016 was converted into a mixed hypogeum in order to continue the collective funerary activity. This probably involved the complete dismantling and reuse of the stone slabs of the tholos 7049. This tomb, 4.30 m long, with the passage and chamber (2 m in diameter) built at different levels, was intentionally destroyed. Some fragments of the broken slabs in the foundation trenches and the quartzite pebble pavement of the passage are the only preserved parts of the excavated hollow in the substratum.

5. The end of the collective funerary activity following the collapse of the roofs of tombs.

6. The transformation and alteration of the internal spaces as a consequence of the creation of Early Bronze Age tombs in the chambers, creating structures with a tumular cover.

5.3 Funerary Deposits and Gestures

The osteological deposits as well as part of the grave goods are characterised by high fragmentation, incompleteness, and low representativeness of the parts, as is often common in collective burials. This is due to the combination of taphonomic processes and funerary management practices, which together determine the conditions of formation, preservation, and organisation.

On the one hand, it has been observed that in all the tombs, the decomposition of the bodies took place entirely in aerobic environments or empty spaces. This led to the development of natural and anthropic processes of alteration that contributed to the poor state of preservation of the anthropological remains and, in some cases, to the partial destruction and/or disappearance of a large part of the small and fragile bones. The unfavourable physical-chemical conditions of the substrate, characterised by sandy clays, caused the disintegration and even the destruction of part of the bones. Thus, most of the remains have a white-beige colour, and a fragile and brittle condition, with little preservation of the spongy tissue and evidence of a range of natural alterations in the external cortex (whitening, longitudinal and transversal cracks, and striations), which explain the low collagen content. This poor preservation of the osteological remains was aggravated by the anthropic actions of trampling and repeated passage through these spaces during subsequent funerary activities, leading to the fracturing and fragmentation of the bones.

On the other hand, it has been found that the repeated use of the tombs conditioned the alteration, remobilisation, and manipulation of the funerary deposits. Manoeuvrability and mobility must have been limited inside the internal funerary spaces, given the reduced surface area and the low height of the passages and chambers for the burials and maintenance of the sepulchral space, forcing to squatting and crouching inside these narrow and dark structures. The internal transit and the multiple operations in these reduced spaces must have entailed several alterations to the deposits: lateral displacements, fragmentation, fracturation, etc.

In the funerary levels of the three analysed tombs (the two hypogea and the tholos), three types of deposits have been recorded that coexisted spatially and temporally:

1. Primary burials, preserving skeletal elements with anatomical connections and partial skeletal remains, some of them manipulated and remobilised.

2. Rearranged secondary deposits in the form of remobilised bone assemblages of several individuals with no evidence of connections or articulations between the skeletal elements. The remains appear scattered in an apparently chaotic manner over the depositional floors. Their formation is due to the combination of diverse natural taphonomic processes and, fundamentally, to the anthropic operations of manipulation and cleaning of the deposits.

3. Funerary packages in the form of secondary deposits generated by an intentional concatenated process of several treatments of the skeletal remains: reduction, selection, and grouped repositioning of bones. The packages form discrete piles of selected skeletal remains, consisting of long bones from the lower and/or upper limbs and parts of the skull, generally of one individual, although they are also composed of the remains of two individuals of different sexes and/or ages. These deposits are placed directly on the floor or on fragmented pottery receptacles with trays of slate slabs, occupying small areas, no more than 50 cm on each side, around which the objects that made up the funerary offerings were sometimes placed, as has been described in hypogeum 1336.

The funerary deposits were formed by a succession of burials, while the funerary activities were governed by practices of organisation and conditioning necessary for the maintenance and use of the tombs as collective burial spaces. Thus, the succession of deposits involved two recurrent funerary gestures:

1. The body reduction in situ, which involved the cleaning, removal, and partial emptying of skeletons (Duday, 2005). It is also likely that the reduction of skeletons was carried out in the external spaces of the tombs, given the greater presence of selected bones and the absence of some teeth in a high proportion of the individuals.

2. The selection, displacement, remobilisation, and relocation of part of the skeletal remains within the same burial space, including their grouping as packages.

The conspicuous absence of bones in many tombs does not only seem to be due to natural taphonomic conditions of preservation, but rather to the joint development of two management operations, such are: (a) the practice of cleaning, removal, and emptying of the deposits, including the possible removal of skeletons and bones to the outside or their reintegration in the same or other funerary contexts/deposits; and (b) the intentional grouping of selected bones from previous deposits, made inside and/or outside the burial space.

These funerary practices of removing and reintroducing bones into the tomb would imply the formation of new secondary deposits (packages and rearranged) with selected and intentionally represented human remains. This would explain the lack of some skeletal parts and dental pieces in the commingled deposits, unlike the pattern documented in the Panoría necropolis, where the teeth were preserved in the funerary assemblage (Aranda Jiménez, Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, Hamilton, Milesi, & Sánchez Romero, 2020).

In the analysed tombs, there is a greater predominance of levels with reorganised secondary deposits and funerary packages, with limited grave goods and offerings, as in the case of tombs 7016 and 7055. This allows us to suggest that the practice of reduction of the remains, manipulation of the skeletal elements and piling up of selected bones was recurrent, and constituted a common place behaviour in accordance with the continuous reconditioning of the burial spaces. Only in hypogeum 1336 were there three preserved primary burials, which have also been partially manipulated. These gestures are characteristic of the funerary collectivism developed at the site since the Late Neolithic, with communal tombs being found from the mid of fourth millennium BC onwards, although the greatest diversity and multiplicity of funerary practices took place in the Copper Age burials.

5.4 Mortuary Practices and Grave Goods

Each collective tomb at La Orden-Seminario had its own funerary activity. In hypogeum 1336, the architectural parameters of dual symmetry may have conditioned the organisation, formation, and placement of the funerary deposits. Indeed, the probable sequence of the burials of the four funerary episodes shows that the deposits were arranged in an alternating order with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tomb. Two types of funerary deposits and mortuary practices have been documented in these tombs: primary and packages. On the one hand, the individuals in the primary burials (8, 6, and 7) were buried according to the standardised funerary practices, as shown by the regular positioning of the bodies, the presence of the same grave goods, and the chronological proximity between episodes 2, 3, and 4, limited to the twenty-sixth and twenty-fifth centuries cal BC (Linares-Catela & Vera-Rodríguez, 2021). It is possible to identify two different mortuary practices. The individual 8 (adult male, episode 2) was buried in the passage, accompanied by a small assemblage of grave goods. The individuals 6 (adult male, episode 2) and 7 (adult female, episode 4) were buried in the central space in the chamber, their bodies placed back-to-back in a southwest-northeast direction with their heads close to the continuous bench against the wall, accompanied by similar grave goods placed on the bench: two pottery vessels, one open (bowl or cooking dish) and one closed (cooking pot), and a flint blade. On the other hand, the funerary packages (individuals 1–5) were made up of selected skeletal remains and artefacts, forming piles of less than 50 cm on each side. The formation of the packages is due to the practices of reduction in skeletons from previous primary burials and the selection of long bones from the lower (femurs and tibiae) and upper (humeri and radii) extremities, which were collected and possibly tied together in bundles with fibres or cord.

In this tomb, it is worth noting the uniformity of the composition of the grave goods of individuals 5, 6, 7, and 9 from episodes 2–4. These individuals were buried with similar artefacts: two pottery vessels, one open (dish, bowl) and the other closed (cooking pot, jar) and one or more lithic elements: flint blades, from the Baetic mountain ranges of Malaga or Granada, and/or rhyolite, from quarries in the Andévalo region of Huelva, placed next to and/or inside the pottery; flint or volcanic rock arrowheads; and rock crystal bladelets associated with individuals 5 and 8 from episode 2. This cultural pattern in the sphere of death may respond to a marked socio-cultural identity and to the social cohesion of the members buried in this hypogeum.

The chamber of tomb 7016 was the object of continuous reorganisation and conditioning practices in accordance with its long use-life, involving the periodic manipulation, selection, and cleaning of the funerary deposits. In this case, the grave goods cannot be correlated to the individual burials. The deposits in the entrance and passage are noteworthy in this tomb, consisting of seven polished microgabbro axes and a broken pottery dish, located in the areas of segmentation and transition between the internal spaces: access, behind the door jambs, and on the thresholds. These offerings probably reflect various rituals of commemoration, worship or veneration of the ancestors buried in the first two levels of the hypogeum. Likewise, the axe hidden behind the atrium’s greywacke stele may be interpreted as a symbolic element, considering its contextual association and that the axe is one of the elements recurrently represented in the stelae of the south of the Iberian Peninsula (Bueno Ramírez, Balbín Berhmann, & Barroso Bermejo, 2013; Bueno Ramírez et al., 2015). It is very likely that the placement of the stele and the arrangement of these materials were carried out simultaneously during an episode of enclosing or closure of the tomb. In this sense, the spatial, technological, and symbolic relationship between the ancient sharpener/polisher and the axes stands out, as it may have been the support where these macrolithic objects were sharpened and polished before being deposited as ritual offerings of the dead (Martínez-Sevilla & Linares-Catela, 2023).

The presence of grouped deposits is common in collective burials, with two types of offerings: (a) associations of polished axes and pottery (Guilaine, 2012), as found in tomb 7016 and the dolmen 4 of the Los Gabrieles complex (Linares-Catela, 2010); (b) complex structured assemblages of grave goods, anthropomorphic figurines, and votive artefacts on floors, altars, or niches, documented in the dolmens of Trincones 1 or La Lagunita (Bueno Ramírez, Barroso Bermejo, & Balbín Berhmann, 2010), tholos of Montelirio (Bueno Ramírez, Balbín Berhmann, Barroso Bermejo, Carrera Ramírez, & Hunt Ortíz, 2016, pp. 380–381; Fernández Flores & García Sanjuán, 2016, pp. 98–100), tholos of Paimogo and Correio Mor cave (Gonçalves, 2003a, pp. 163, 172, 194), among other sites.

In the tholos 7055, two types of secondary deposits have been documented. Levels 1 and 2 are reorganised secondary deposits, characterised by the high dispersion of the partial skeletal remains throughout the small chamber and by the high fragmentation of the grave goods, which together prevent the identification of associations between individuals and objects. The presence of a flat copper axe in the entrance of the chamber is truly unique, and corresponds to a product of notable social prestige in a collective funerary context dated to the central centuries of the third millennium, ca. 2870–2460 cal BC. This object stands out as an exceptional grave good, since there are few known collective burials in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula in which copper axes have been found, namely, the tholos of Cabezo del Tesoro (Cerdán Márquez et al., 1952, pp. 110–112), tomb 1 of El Roquetito at Valencina mega-site (Murillo Díaz, Cruz-Auñón Briones, & Hurtado Pérez, 1990), hypogeum 14 of Los Algarbes (Castañeda et al., 2022a, pp. 79–80; 2022b, p. 54), and tholos of Alcalar 3, where an extraordinary deposit of copper objects consisting of five daggers, two awls, two chisels, and a adze (Veiga, 1889, pp. 157–183) was recovered. Level 3 contained five funerary packages, composed of the skeletal remains of one individual (deposits 1, 3, and 4) or two individuals of different sex and/or age (deposits 2 and 5). The first four were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the central axis, and were probably staggered over time, thus compartmentalising the burial space. These packages consisted of selected and fractured long bones, collected inside fragmented pottery receptacles resting on trays of slate slabs or even delimited by small upright slabs creating receptacles. Package 5 from level 3 was composed of bones from two individuals of different ages (right humerus, left tibia, indeterminate long bone of an adult male; left femur and skull of a 7–8-year-old child) and, probably, of different chronology. The adult male may plausibly have been a common ancestor, yielding the oldest date of the three levels of the tomb. This bone assemblage is evidence of an intentional practice of incorporating the remains of an ancestor in a funerary package, in which these bones or relics may be attributed a special symbolic value and significance as the remains of a family member or even a progenitor.

Patterns analogous to the packages of tholos 7055 have been observed in monument 9 of the necropolis of Alcalar, documenting in the passage a secondary deposit consisting of the skull and several long bones of an adult male individual contained inside two pottery vessels accompanied by a cylindrical “idol” of the Moncarapacho type, several “callais” necklace beads, and one phalanx of Equus hydruntinus (Morán & Parreira, 2007, p. 70; Morán, 2015, p. 537).

Another characteristic is the presence of fragmentary objects from the funerary chambers and offerings in the passages of the tombs. Thus, in hypogeum 7016 and in tholos 7055, the pottery and lithic objects were mostly fragmented, and incomplete. This is not only explained as a consequence of the cleaning operations of the burial spaces, but this recurrent pattern may also be due to intentional behaviours of fragmentation and representation of the materials. Thus, the pottery, the blades, the polished axes, and even the copper axe must have been fractured prior to or at the time of placing the votive deposits, with parts of them entering the house of the dead and other portions, plausibly, remaining in the world of the living, possibly belonging to individuals with family affiliations or kinship ties with the deceased. These behaviours could respond to a ritual practice aiming to nurture social cohesion within the community of the living and as a social levelling mechanism in the sphere of death, favouring the sharing of “prestige goods” and material inheritance among the buried individuals. The fragmentation of objects in collective tombs was a common practice in the Neolithic and Copper Age societies of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Valera, 2019), possibly serving to regulate conflicts or social tensions between individuals in relation to the possession and accumulation of certain objects (Chapman, 2000; Chapman & Gaydarska, 2007). Consequently, this ritual practice of sharing fragmented objects could promote balanced relationships in terms of the ownership, possession, and identity of certain products among the individuals of the groups or family units of the La Orden-Seminario community.

5.5 Bioanthropology and Social Inferences

The MNI of the three collective burials studied at La Orden-Seminario is low, having identified the skeletal remains attributable to only 35 individuals (Table 6). There is no proportional relationship between the surface area of the chambers and the number of individuals.

Remains belonging to two age groups have been documented: 26 adults (74%) and 9 non-adults (26%). With regard to the sex distribution in the adult population, there was a greater predominance of male, with 16 individuals (45%), compared to 8 female (23%). In addition, the remains of two adults of indeterminate sex (6%) have been identified (Figure 14). The adult individuals displayed a normalised height and had a gracile build in accordance with the metric patterns of the Copper Age populations of the southern Iberian Peninsula. The male individuals were taller than the females. Individual 8 from hypogeum 1336, an adult male, was approximately 1.67 m ± 6.96 cm in height. The stature of the adult female deposited in level 3 of the mixed hypogeum 7016 was approximately 1.44 m ± 7.70 cm.

Figure 14

Distribution by sex and age of the individuals in the collective tombs of La Orden-Seminario.

The non-adult individuals of indeterminate sex are documented exclusively in tholos 7055. Two age groups are present: three infant I individuals (17.65%) from 2 to 4 years old, and six infant II individuals (35.29%) from 6 to 10 years old.

The diversity of the distribution patterns by sex and age may be a response to the dynamics of use and, particularly, to the conditions of access to these funerary spaces by the deceased. The observation for each tomb of the specific behaviours by sex and age, the grave goods accompanying each individual and the pathologies suffered, enables a number of inferences of a social nature, as reflected in the sphere of death.

In tomb 1336, an MNI of 9 was established, with six adult males, two adult females, and an adult individual of indeterminate sex. The predominance of adult males in this tomb is not correlated with a greater possession or accumulation of objects, as both sexes uniformly shared the same grave goods, whether in the primary burials or in the funerary packages. Thus, in episodes 2, 3, and 4, a regular pattern of grave goods belonging to each individual is evident: two pottery vessels (one open and one closed) together with one or two blades made of Sub-Baetic flint and/or rhyolite from the Andévalo. Two individuals displayed dental pathologies as a result of poor dietary and hygienic habits, such as the ante mortem loss of teeth and wear of the teeth preserved in individual 8 (adult male) and individual 9 (indeterminate adult), or the receding alveolar ridge of individual 5 (adult male).

In tomb 7016, the skeletal remains of a MNI of 9 adults were recorded, despite being the tomb with the largest chamber surface area and longest use-life. The sex distribution is equitable, with the remains of five males and four females. The individuals buried in the hypogeum during its initial phase may have had a relevant social role within the community, as appears to be indicated by the deposition of offerings of polished microgabbro axes and the presence of the greywacke stele in the atrium. However, these individuals were not exempted from carrying out daily tasks of continuous effort and/or repeated postural habits, as is attested by the pathologies observed in the skeletal remains of both sexes. Thus, from level 2, several bones from a male and a female showed traces of squatting facets in the tibiae, and another male individual suffered from a traumatic pathology to the calcaneal-astragalar facet caused by the fracture of the calcaneus (Azra, Prabhu, & Balachandra, 2018; Boulle, 2001). The squatting facet is formed by prolonged activity in particular postures (cooking, milling, pottery making, weaving, etc.) and/or by periodic efforts of the lower limbs, in the case of agricultural work, livestock herding, harvesting, or hunting, and other tasks that would involve movement with a high level of biomechanical stress (Dewar & Pfeiffer, 2004). Arthritis was another common osteoarticular pathology, suffered by one of the male individuals from the funerary level of the mixed hypogeum.

In tholos 7055, remains attributed to an MNI of 17 were documented, with a greater predominance of non-adult (n: 9) over adults (n: 8; 5 males, 2 females, and 1 indeterminate). The nine children were of different ages: three infant I and six infant II individuals. The greater representation of children in this tomb may signify three issues: (a) the probable high mortality of infants, concentrated in ages 2–4 years and 6–10 years; (b) the right of these non-adult members to be buried together with the adults, receiving identical mortuary treatments; and (c) the high social status of these individuals by birthright, despite not possessing outstanding personal belongings. The predominance of children over adults in this tomb is noteworthy for two further reasons. On the one hand, it was the most technically sophisticated funerary structure and required the greatest investment of labour in the necropolis, as it was built with slate slabs from a distance of over 10 km from the site. On the other hand, the uniqueness of the copper axe in funerary level 1 stands out as a rare product of great social prestige. Although this object offered at the entrance to the chamber cannot be attributed to any individual in particular, it may testify to the high social status of the individuals deposited in this tomb. Indeed, it is the only metal element documented in all the collective burials in the necropolis prior to the Early Bronze Age, a period in which copper products (Palmela type points and rhomboidal daggers) were commonly included in the individual tombs (underground caves) in connection with the emergence of inegalitarian societies.

Another aspect to consider is that the individuals buried in tholos 7055 may have belonged to the same family units. The possible kinship relations between the members of this tomb are attested by two observations. On the one hand, the hereditary dental morphological features of the children buried in levels 1 and 2, with upper left lateral incisors with a hyperplastic cingulum on the palatal face or bifid roots of the premolars, as has been discussed in other studies (Alt & Vach, 1995; Martín-González et al., 2012). On the other hand, the formation of funerary packages with bones of two people in level 3, in the case of deposits 2 (adult male and female) and 5 (child of 7–8 years of age and an adult male). Funerary package 5 is very significant, as the remains of the male individual have yielded the earliest date for this tomb. The association of the infant with a possible ancestor would carry great symbolic significance, and could be the material expression of a genetic affiliation and the legitimisation of the child’s social status in the sphere of death.

The low MNI identified in the three analysed tombs of the necropolis of La Orden-Seminario may suggest a possible restricted use of these collective funerary structures, and that the right to be buried may have been reserved or limited to certain people for different social and/or identity reasons. Bone remains of individuals belonging to two age groups have been found: 26 adults and 9 children.

On the one hand, among the adult population, there were 16 males, 8 females, and 2 individuals whose sex could not be identified. These figures reflect a certain prevalence and greater representation of male individuals in terms of their access to the houses of the dead. However, the greater presence of adult male in proportion to adult female and children does not seem to respond to a pattern of gender inequality, since both sexes share the same burial spaces, identical funerary practices, and similar grave goods. In this sense, the uniformity of funerary gestures and the equitable tendency in the possession and degree of accumulation of grave goods among the individuals of different sexes buried in hypogeum 1336 are noteworthy, probably reflecting group cohesion or equality. This egalitarian pattern in the sphere of death is common in Late Neolithic and Copper Age societies of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Cintas Peña, 2020; Cintas Peña & García Sanjuán, 2019; Cintas Peña, García Sanjuán, Díaz-Zorita, Herrero Corral, & Robles Carrasco, 2018; Díaz-Zorita, 2017; García Sanjuán et al., 2019a). Indeed, marked sex differences in the sphere of death do not appear until the end of the third millennium BC, when inegalitarian societies with dissymmetrical funerary behaviours emerged, as we have corroborated at the same site (Martínez Fernández & Vera Rodríguez, 2014; Linares-Catela, 2020).

On the other hand, the number of non-adult individuals in tholos 7055 must be highlighted. The notable presence of nine children under 10 years of age and the predominance of children over adults may testify to the prominent position of the children buried in this tomb. Similar patterns have been identified in several sites in the Portuguese Extremadura during the Late Neolithic (Waterman & Thomas, 2011), in the interior of the peninsula, some of them of Bell Beaker chronology (Herrero-Corral, 2015; Herrero-Corral, Garrido Pena, & Flores Fernández, 2019; Soriano, Herrero-Corral, Garrido-Pena, & Majó, 2021), in Marroquíes Bajos (Beck, 2016), and in the necropolis of Valencina de la Concepción (Cintas Peña et al., 2018), where the presence of children in the collective tombs has suggested their high social status despite the absence of prestigious grave goods or metallic objects. In La Orden-Seminario, a probable high social status must have been acquired by birth, given the young age at death of these individuals, sophisticated architecture, and presence of a copper axe in the tholos 7055. It is, therefore, likely that the individuals buried in the collective tombs at La Orden-Seminario belonged to specific family units or groups with kinship affiliations, as evidenced by the existence of certain hereditary traits in the skeletal remains of tholos 7055. In this respect, it is more than likely that the children and adults buried in tholos 7055 were linked by family ties, and that all the individuals buried must have shared kinship relationships. The prolonged activity in this tomb and the finding of three collective levels with a majority presence of children over adults may reflect the funerary dynamics of a specific family lineage in the community over two or three centuries. Thus, children may have been buried in this tomb together with their parents and/or other ancestors. Future genetic studies will allow us to test this hypothesis. It would also be necessary to verify whether the “warrior child” buried in the Early Bronze Age could be a descendant of the deceased buried there. If so, access to this ancient burial space would be the result of a practice of social legitimisation of this non-adult individual, who would have had a high social status from birth.

Each tomb may have been reserved for a small number of members of specific family groups or lineages. This would partly explain the low number of individuals buried, their differential distribution by sex and age, and the apparent lack of social dissymmetries reflected in the sphere of death.

The funerary activity of the La Orden-Seminario necropolis shares similar features with other Chalcolithic tombs in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, both among those with a high number of remains, case of Monte Carrascal 2 (Neves, 2019; Neves & Silva, 2018a,b), and those with a lower MNI (Figure 15). In tombs with a small number of individuals, it is worth mentioning the hypogea of the Valencina de la Concepción mega-site, at which these small subterranean architectures with a chamber and passage are frequent, sometimes with accesses flanked by paired slate door jambs, as in the case of La Huera, with an MNI of 22 (Méndez, 2013), the hypogea of C/Trabajadores with an MNI of 12, or structure 10.080 of PP4-Montelirio which contained the remains of only two individuals (Cintas Peña et al., 2018). In tomb E-4 of the Paraje de Monte Bajo necropolis, the skeletal remains of eight individuals were deposited during two phases. In the first phase (ca. 2900–2670 cal BC), secondary deposits corresponding to seven individuals were found together with several sets of grave goods. The second phase corresponds to the reuse of the tomb ca. 2000–1800 BC, with the construction of a secondary chamber for the secondary deposition of an adult male individual (Lazarich et al., 2010, 2015). The hypogeum 14 of the Los Algarbes necropolis has two chambers with a total MNI of 13 deposited in a planned two-phase sequencing: the first in the main chamber (MNI: 8), ca. 2870–2500 cal BC; the second in the secondary chamber (MNI: 5), ca. 2580–2340 cal BC (Castañeda et al., 2022a,b). In the Algarve, there are also hypogea from the last third of the IV millennium BC with a limited number of burials, in the case of Monte Canelas III, with an MNI of 13 (Neves, 2019; Neves & Silva, 2018a), or Barradas, with an MNI of 4 (Barradas, Silvério, Silva, & Santos, 2013; Odriozola, García-Cordero, Santos, Barradas, & Sousa, 2020). In Lower Alentejo, we find a similar situation during the first half of the third millennium cal BC, as evidenced by tomb 5 of the Sobreira da Cima necropolis, with an MNI of 16 in the collective deposit, where two burials were documented with anatomical connections, five reductions, and several packages of elongated bones (Valera, 2013, p. 35).

Figure 15

MNI in small collective tombs in the Iberian southwest: hypogea and tholoi.

In the paleoestuary of the Tinto-Odiel rivers, tholos-tombs similar to those of La Orden-Seminario have been excavated. In the tholos of El Moro, secondary funerary deposits were documented, piled up against the walls of the chamber, with a diameter of 2.20 m. Partial skeletal remains of four individuals and several objects were identified: pottery (plates, dishes, cooking dishes, bowls, jars, and tri-lobed receptacle), lithics (14 knives, 4 arrowheads, and 2 halberds), three polished stone axes, and a spherical granite element (Garrido Roiz & Orta García, 1967). In the tholos of El Tejar, the skeletal remains of four individuals were recorded, remobilised and placed against the walls of the chamber, with each individual possessing an assemblage consisting of two pottery vessels and one or two flint blades placed inside the pots (Belén Deamos & Amo de la Hera, 1985). The strong similarity between the funerary patterns of these tombs located in the nearby territory and those of the La Orden-Seminario tombs is noteworthy, especially with tomb 1336, which is probably a reflection of a widespread and generalised collective ritual in this area in the central centuries of the third millennium BC, which developed synchronously in hypogea and tholoi.

The identification of a low MNI is also frequent in other similar tholoi in the Alentejo region, with several cases showing a sequence of funerary activity structured in several phases of use and reuse during the second half of the third millennium BC and/or during the “Ferradeira Horizon” or Early Bronze Age. The tholos of Centirã 2 contained the remains of 12 individuals. Of these, the remains of seven individuals were located in the collective levels of the second half of the third millennium BC, and constituted four primary burials and three secondary deposits. The remains of five individuals were identified as secondary deposits made in the funerary level developed over the level of collapse of the dome and filling of the passage in the third to second millennia BC (Robles et al., 2013, pp. 347–352). These tombs have also been found within ditched enclosures, as in the case of Porto Torrão or Perdigões, where tombs of greater architectural monumentality have been documented, built using different construction techniques. From Porto Torrão, the tombs of Monte do Pombal 5, with nine identified individuals (Shaw Evangelista & Godinho, 2020, p. 596), and Cardim 6, containing the remains of eight individuals, are of interest. In the latter, seven individuals were deposited in the collective levels and one was placed above the collapse of the structure, dated to the last quarter of the third millennium cal BC (Valera et al., 2019). In tomb 4 of Perdigões, 12 individuals were recorded, 11 of them were documented in two collective levels developed during the second half of the third millennium cal BC. The remains of a secondary deposit of an individual were recovered inside a small clay crypt built within the chamber and covered by an earth mound, dated to the last two centuries of the third millennium BC (Shaw Evangelista & Godinho, 2020; Valera, 2020).

Small tholoi and funerary deposits with limited MNI are also present in the mega-site of Valencina de la Concepción, in tombs such as Las Cabezuelas, with the remains of 14 individuals (Arteaga & Cruz Auñón, 1999a, p. 596), Divina Pastora/Señorío de Guzmán, with 19 identified individuals (Lacalle Rodríguez, Guijo Mauri, & Cruz-Auñón Briones, 2000), or 10.034 from PP4-Montelirio, containing seven individuals (Robles Carrasco & Díaz-Zorita, 2013, p. 371). At this same site, and on a monumental constructive scale and with burials of individuals in tombs that display a very different pattern of possession and accumulation of exotic objects, the structural complex 10.042–10.049 of the funerary group of PP4-Montelirio is a singular example in which only five individuals were buried during the third millennium BC, deposited in a primary position and accompanied by exclusive and exceptional grave goods in accordance with a high social status (García Sanjuán et al., 2019a).

Even the funerary activity of tholoi and hypogea is similar to small dolmens during the Chalcolithic, as has been demonstrated in the megalithic necropolis of Panoría. In these tombs, the small number of buried individuals and the combination of three rituals have been observed: primary inhumations, selective extraction of bones, and the manipulation and rearrangement of specific bones (Vílchez Suárez et al., 2023). In Tomb 10, the dating of a group of teeth has revealed the existence of a phase of funerary activity prior to the skeletal remains assemblage, testifying that the practice of removal of the remains was greater than anatomical parts representation preserved in the commingled deposit (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2020).

In summary, the Chalcolithic tombs with limited MNI present a funerary activity with a variable number of individuals of different sexes and ages. In the same burial spaces, collective and individual funerary deposits coexist, in which different treatments of the bodies, mortuary practices, and grave goods can be observed. However, these collective funerary contexts should not be interpreted as an exclusive sign of communalism or of a lack of individualism in the realm of death in Iberian Chalcolithic communities. First, because there is frequent identification and differentiation of individual burials in the collective tombs, some of them with significant grave goods. Second, because the funerary practices represent a ritualised dimension of social organisation, and it is very complex and controversial to identify reliable patterns that reflect egalitarian or unequal social behaviour in the sphere of death in these tombs.