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11. THE END OF AN ERA
[·11·]
LA BASTIDA Y TIRA DEL LIENZO
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THE END OF AN ERA
THE END OF AN ERA
The Argaric society disappeared around 1550 BCE. Some important settlements, such as Fuente Álamo and Gatas (Almería) or La Almoloya (Murcia), were burnt down. A few were occupied again by different communities, known to us as the “Late Bronze of the Southeast” and “Villena Horizon” (referring to Cabezo Redondo in Alicante, one of the most important settlements from now on). Other Argaric sites were finally abandoned.
Despite showing no significant signs of destruction by fire, La Bastida was abandoned. It is possible that the population was declining and that the inhabitants had the opportunity to leave with the lightest of their possessions. We still do not have precise dates for the end of Tira del Lienzo’s occupation. In the most recent levels, there are partial signs of destruction and evidence of a less extensive, later occupation. Like La Bastida, Tira del Lienzo never again had a significant human occupation.
The collapse of the Argaric is still a mystery today. It is hard to explain why such an extensive territory occupied by a network of long-lasting settlements collapsed so quickly. We rule out the hypothesis of an invasion of pastoralists from the interior of the peninsula. Current thought suggests a combination of social and environmental factors caused the end of the Argaric. First, the concentration of political power and economic inequalities increased from 1750 BCE, worsening the living conditions of most
of the population. Then the depletion of soils after continued exploitation for centuries, the dependence on barley monoculture and the lack of subsistence alternatives aggravated the situation. The outcome was a revolution that ended the existing system and erased all traces and memories of its existence.
About a thousand years after the end of the Argaric, the state and civilisation were brought back to the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, their territorial organisation avoided most of the places occupied in the Bronze Age. The system that gave meaning to La Bastida and Tira del Lienzo was something unique and unrepeatable.
