The Age of the Gods

X. Spain and the Later Development of the Megalithic Culture in Western Europe

154 x Spain and the Later Development of the Megalithic Culture in Western Europe i. the culture of the iberian peninsula at the dawn of the age of metal With the beginning of the age of Metal the Megalithic Culture of the West enters on a new phase. Its great development, not only in spain and sardinia, but also in france, and above all in Brittany, undoubtedly falls within this period, which we may date approximately to the second half of the third millennium.1 The starting-point of the movement and its centre of highest development is to be found in spain, but it was largely due to new influences which did not originate within the domain of the earlier Megalithic Culture. for the latter was far from being characteristic of the Iberian Peninsula as a whole in neolithic times; it was confined to Portugal, or rather to certain districts of Portugal. The greater part of spain, including the south and the whole of the central plateau, still belonged to the old indigenous culture, which had its roots far back in palæolithic times, as is shown by the continuity of artistic tradition which links the neolithic population of Central spain with their predecessors of the later Capsian period. Like the latter, the neolithic population still lived, and buried their dead, in caves. The only sign of progress is to be found in their pottery which is decorated with incised patterns or with ornament in relief. on 1. dr. h.schmidt dates it considerably higher, while Mr. V. gordon Childe prefers a later date, 2200–1700 b.c. Spain and the West 155 the other hand, the tradition of stone work was decadent, and even flint is rare. This Cave Culture, as it is called, undoubtedly represents the native tradition of Iberian culture, and the megalith builders appear only on its western borders, as one might expect if they were an intrusive element which reached spain from without. similarly in the south-east we find another culture of a much more advanced type established on the Mediterranean coast in almeria. The people were agriculturalists who lived in fortified villages, and buried their dead not in megalithic tombs, but in stone-lined trenches or cists, or, like the people of the centre, in caves and rock shelters. The geographical range of this culture is very restricted, it is in fact little more than a coastal colony. But in spite of this, it had an enormous influence on the development of spanish culture, for it was the link that connected spain with the higher culture of the Mediterranean world, and the channel through which the knowledge of metal first reached the peninsula. The source of this movement is probably to be found in the great expansion of the maritime and trading culture of the Ægean, which has been described in a previous chapter, and which also affected sicily and sardinia at about the same time; for not only is gold plentiful, but there are numerous ornaments of ivory, beads of ostrich egg-shell, and a carved hippopotamus tusk, which point to trading relations with the east. The progress of culture in almeria at this period is seen in the settlement of Los Millares, on the River andarax, with its elaborate system of fortification, its stone-built houses, and its rough aqueduct which supplied the settlement with water. The tombs are now quite different from those of neolithic times and consist of rock-hewn chambers, of a similar type to those of sicily, and above all of megalithic tombs with a corridor and a circular chamber of beehive shape with corbel vaulting. This advance of civilisation led to a rapid expansion of the almerian culture. It extended northwards to Catalonia and the eastern Pyrenees, and southward to grenada and andalucia. at the same time there was a great development of the Megalithic Culture of Portugal. It probably derived its knowledge of metal from almeria, but there are also a few signs of contact with the eastern Mediterranean, such as the bone knob found at Nora which resembles those of Troy, and the segmented beads of early Minoan type discovered at Palmella. The native tradi- 156 The Age of the Gods tion of art is represented by curious schist plaques or idols, elaborately decorated with geometrical patterns, and the so-called “croziers.” The latter resemble in form the curved staff or...