STORAGE AND PRODUCTION

[·9·]

TIRA DEL LIENZO

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A

COMPOUND FOR STORAGE

AND PRODUCTION

Alley between the central building (right) and the storage rooms (left).

BUILDING A COMPOUND TO STORE AND PRODUCE

One hundred years after its foundation and after suffering a fire, around 1900 BCE the settlement was remodelled. Seven rooms were built on the northern and eastern slopes, attached to the central building H1. This arrangement is somewhat similar to that of the constructions of the previous phase but has a slight change of orientation towards the north.

We can still go through the alley that separated the large central building from the radial units, walking from the old entrance on the southwest flank to a small square located in front of the door. Most of the rooms were accessed from this alley. In several sections, there are narrow openings and steps to the ground level, which is paved with a very compact clay.

The usable space of the rooms varies from 14 to 27 m2 . In total there would be a minimum of 147 m2 available if we consider only the areas covered by the sections of preserved walls. Inside we have found relatively few objects of stone and bone, which happen to be very common in the workshops of La Bastida or La Almoloya. Room H9 had a hearth, while H7 may have had an oven. Therefore, we assume that most of the rooms were used to store perishable goods such as food. The north orientation of all rooms supports this interpretation, as it provides a cool environment.

Room H7 is quite interesting, as it yielded an amazing deposit of mastic seeds (Pistacia lentiscus). The traditional uses of these wild fruits are more related to their medicinal than their nutritious properties. They are known to work as an anaesthetic for toothache, insect bites, wounds and lung conditions. Moreover, due to the presence of tannin, these fruits have astringent, tonic and stomach effects,

Plan of the second phase of Tira del Lienzo, between c. 1900 and 1775 BCE.

“Idol” of stone found next to the deposit of mastic seeds. TIRA DEL LIENZO - CIMA FASE II Totana [Murcia]

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thus being very suitable for the treatment of diarrhoea. The disorders of the digestive system were a matter of concern for the Argaric populations. Scientific analysis detected intestinal parasites in the individual known as “the Galera mummy”, discovered in the settlement of Castellón Alto in Granada. As expected in the societies before the invention of antibiotics, part of the infections that were the main cause of death had their origin in the stomach and intestines.

In short, the deposit of mastic tree seeds may indicate that we have found a prehistoric “pharmacy”, the place where highly sought medicinal remedies were prepared.

An elongated plaque of reddish schist, about 34 cm long and 7 cm wide, was also found near the mastic seeds. It has a notch that looks like a neck in its upper part, which seems to separate a “body” from the “head”. We know of similar objects from the old excavations at the sites of Fuente Vermeja, El Argar and Fuente Álamo (Almería), and also at La Bastida. While the absence of use wear raises some uncertainty to its function as a tool, the suggestion of an anthropomorphic figure hints that it may be a small stele or “idol.” Unfortunately, the part where the facial features might have been recorded has not been preserved. It would not be surprising to find an idol in this “pharmacy” since the necessary knowledge to heal is so hazardous and sophisticated that in many societies the border between magic and medicine becomes ambiguous. In addition to medication and treatments, trusting in the supernatural abilities of healers is often indispensable.

Mastic seeds found in room H7. This fruit has positive effects in curing digestive system problems.

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View of the north wall with bastion and radial rooms in the foreground.

View of the wall of room H10, in front of the central building. The displacement between both sections has allowed us to determine the seismic activity of the Alhama fault (one of the most active in the Iberian Peninsula) during recent millennia.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND EARTHQUAKES

By observing the walls of the warehouses from the small square, we will notice that the two jambs of the last door are not aligned. The displacement of about 20 cm would make it impossible to close the door. This enigma acquired unsuspected importance when the team of geologists from the universities of Barcelona and Salamanca investigating the Alhama fault presented the conclusions of their study.

Tira del Lienzo is crossed by the Alhama fault, which was responsible for the tragic and devastating earthquake of Lorca in 2011. One of its branches passes precisely through the door of one of the rooms and reaches the wall of the central building. The displacement measured between the walls, combined with the age of the building, allows an estimate of the average lateral speed of this branch at about 0.03 mm per year. Moreover, the fractures observed in different parts of the site suggest

that there was an important earthquake (of a magnitude between 6.3 and 6.5) towards the end of, or shortly after the Argaric. In this way, archaeology provided unexpected help in understanding some of the natural hazards that threaten us.

THE LARGE CENTRAL BUILDING H1

The large building on the hilltop was used from sometime around the twentieth century BCE and went through changes such as the construction of low benches and platforms next to the base of some walls. H1 is quite different from the radial rooms. There we found many stone artefacts, ceramics and other materials that have been decisive in understanding the economic and political role of Tira del Lienzo.

The most prominent find is a set of seven stone artefacts used for metalworking. Four are anvils and forging hammers, while the remaining three are polishers and sharpeners. Five of these objects were concentrated in a sector of just over one-metre square. Nearby we found three large grinding stones, two of them suitable for grinding cereals, due to their excellent mechanical properties. They were made of lamproite, a volcanic rock from the Barqueros area more than 20 km away from Tira del Lienzo. After reassembling the most complete grinding stone, it weighed 80 kg and was almost 80 cm long. This gives an idea of the great effort invested in the equipment of the H1 building.

Near the entrance we found flint blades and flakes that can be related to the production of sickles. To the left of the entrance, there were three carefully crafted loom weights in an area illuminated by natural light. Among the pottery, the remains of three small pots and several

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Plan of the central building (H1) of Tira del Lienzo. fragments of cups stand out, all of them being of great quality due to their intensely burnished, thin walls. This set of pots was completed with a carinated bowl and a larger pot.

All these findings testify to the implementation of different work processes related to the preparation and consumption of food, clothing and metallurgy. The quality of the tools indicates that the working conditions here were better than normal.

Especially revealing are the metallurgical tools, given the importance of metal in the development of inequalities in the Argaric communities. Thanks to a thorough microscopic examination of all the surfaces, we detected traces of foreign material on some of the tools. At first, we thought this material could be copper because this metal was identified on certain stone artefacts deposited in tombs of the Bronze Age in central Europe. However, the analysis of the Tira del Lienzo samples made at the University of Vienna (Austria) gave us a big surprise: it was silver!

Anvil / Hammer Sharpener Grinding stone Lithic artefact Loom weight Flint Limit of preserved area

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Distribution of the artefacts in the central building.

Forging tool. The square marks the point where silver residues were identified.

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Silver diadem that was found encircling the skull of the woman from tomb 454 of El Argar (Antas, Almería).

Selection of pottery, lithic and clay tools found in the central building (H1) of Tira del Lienzo. The intense fire that destroyed the town around 1775 BC is the cause of the fragmentation of materials, especially grinding stones

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5 m Burnished pottery cup with the mouth and the carination lined with silver sheets. It was part of the grave goods of tomb 38 of La Almoloya (Pliego, Murcia).

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Scene of forging electrum vessels depicted in the tomb of Rejmira, vizier and governor of Thebes during the 18th Egyptian dynasty (15th century BC). We can observe the use of tools that are similar to those found in Tira del Lienzo.

As we saw at La Bastida, silver played a prominent role in the Argaric economy, perhaps for its exchange value or its use as a primitive currency. The raw material came from the eastern foothills of Sierra Morena, about 200 km away, as the crow flies. Additionally, silver was sometimes used for the manufacture of distinctive objects of the ruling classes, in particular, the diadem, which only appears in a small group of female graves.

The size of the anvils and hammers of Tira del Lienzo, as well as the type of use wear traces they show, suggest that they were used to make silver sheets. The most famous objects made from this material are precisely the diadems, an exclusive ornament used by upper-class women since approximately 1750 BCE, during the last centuries of the Argaric period. The chronology of the Tira del Lienzo goldsmith’s workshop seems to be slightly earlier, although we are still waiting to confirm this.

Silver sheets could also have been used to make containers, like the ones used by the ruling classes of the Aegean, the Middle East and Egypt at that time. The famous tomb 38 of La Almoloya (Pliego, Murcia), where we also found a diadem, has confirmed that this exclusive tableware was also used by the Argaric elites, although with a touch of originality: instead of containers made entirely of silver, the Argaric people lined certain areas of the ceramic pots with sheets of this metal.

Although we still have to confirm the chronology of both instruments on stone and ornaments on silver, there is no doubt that this was a precious material that was not available to the majority of the population. In Tira del Lienzo, we have documented the first workshop dedicated to silver-working in western Europe, which undoubtedly underlines the uniqueness of the site. However, there was still more to discover.

Reconstruction of the interior of the central building of Tira del Lienzo.

Aerial view of two semi-subterranean storage structures H21 (top) and H22 (bottom).

H22 enclosure from the west. THE WAREHOUSES IN THE PLAIN

The surprises in Tira del Lienzo extend to the low plain bordering its western slope, next to the Sisquilla watercourse. Here, the natural and archaeological deposits were disturbed by a modern gypsum quarry, but fortunately five contiguous rooms and a large furnace have been preserved. One of the most striking aspects is that these rooms are semi-underground. The natural substrate formed by gypsum and marls was excavated to build them. Next, the side slopes were clad with masonry walls that rose above ground level and then the area was roofed. Finally, the inner face of the walls was coated with a thick and compact insulating layer of mortar.

The apsidal room (H22) is undoubtedly the most interesting. Unlike the adjoining rooms, H22 has a narrow

Storage structures after consolidation.

Warehouses and oven (F1) next to the Rambla Sisquilla.

Furnace cross section (F1). A level of charred seeds rests on a clay floor and is covered by a collapse, possibly from the oven vault. TIRA DEL LIENZO - PIE DE MONTE FASE II Totana [Murcia]

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corridor that gives access to a 3.20 m by 1.90 m chamber with two fairly tall side benches built in stone. It is one of the few Argaric buildings that was carefully paved. As if that were not enough, the roof is also unusual because in the preserved height of 1.40 m we can start to see the beginning of a dry-stone vault. Everything seems to indicate that the goal was to create a dry, fresh and dark environment (the small entrance was oriented to the sunset), similar to that of a traditional cooler. Nothing like this has ever been discovered in any other Argaric site.

The H22 room, like its neighbouring rooms, was completely empty. Since it did not burn down, the plant remains that might have been stored here have not been preserved. However, it should not be ruled out that it was a store for salt, which is an indispensable and valuable resource for prehistoric societies because of its role in food preservation and livestock rearing. The waters of the Sisquilla contain a high concentration of salt that could be extracted by heating in containers, as they did in Villafáfila (Zamora) around the same time. We suspect that the location of Tira del Lienzo facilitated the exploitation of salt.

A hearth or oven with a diameter of two metres, south of the H22 room, provided more clues as to what was stored at the base of the hill. We recovered barley seeds in the burned layer on this hearth. We know that roasting not only favours the preservation of cereals, but it is also a step in the brewing process. In Egypt, for instance, the texts describe roasting’s importance for food. In short, we can imagine that food, beverages and/or salt were stored in the warehouses next to the Sisquilla waterfront.

TOMBS: FEW AND SCATTERED

The two cists (tombs 1 and 2) located a few metres from H22 probably belong to the same phase. Unfortunately, since they were plundered, we know nothing about the buried individuals except the fact that they contained adults. What we do know is that they were not allowed to be buried at the top of the hill, where we only found two graves, under the floors of rooms H8 and H4. The first (grave no.3) contained the remains of a child between 12 and 14 months old and the second (grave no. 4) a 7- or 8-year-old boy or girl. Both bodies were deposited inside containers that were broken at the base and ended up being recycled as funerary urns. Only the oldest child was accompanied by offerings. Even so, these were very modest: a pair of bowls and a leg of a sheep or goat.

The unusual shortage of burials suggests that most of the people who lived in Tira del Lienzo did not have the right to be buried there. The movement of food, water, construction materials and firewood, among other goods, required the work of many people. Perhaps the inhabit-

Tomb nr. 2 is a cist made of gypsum slabs.

General view of one of the plundered cist tombs at the base of Tira del Lienzo (tomb nr. 1).

Inside of the urn of tomb nr. 4 with the remains of the infant deposited on its right side and the pottery vessels. ants of the scattered low-lying villages participated in these tasks, and some of them might have been buried in the robbed cists we mentioned above.

Probably a very small group of people were permanently resident on the hill. We assume that some members were engaged in basic production and maintenance tasks, while others probably carrying weapons, protected the stored goods. Moreover, the quality of many of the tools suggests the presence of craftsmen and/or administrators from the middle and upper classes, none of whom were buried here. That is why we believe that they travelled for periods of time to Tira del Lienzo to perform

certain tasks, and then their bodies ended up resting in places like Cabeza Gorda or even La Bastida.

In short, Tira del Lienzo was not a “normal” city but a place to which a part of the population went only at certain times.

Details of the interior of tomb nr. 4.

Pottery bowls deposited in the children’s tomb nr. 4 excavated on the summit of Tira del Lienzo.

Vessels found in one of the rooms on the summit of Tira del Lienzo.

FIRE, RECONSTRUCTION AND FINAL ABANDONMENT OF TIRA DEL LIENZO

In the eighteenth century BCE, a fire destroyed Tira del Lienzo. We do not know if it was an accident or the consequence of a violent confrontation. In other Argaric settlements such as Gatas and Fuente Álamo (Almería), there were also fire episodes at that time. A javelin tip found in a superficial level of Tira del Lienzo suggests that the site was not exempt from the violence practised by the Argaric and its state society. The great similarity of pottery dishes, metal objects and funerary rituals between settlements indicates shared learning and contacts. But this does not rule out the struggle between centres of power to expand their territories, nor the use of violence to maintain the privileges of the elite. As mentioned before, the defensive architecture and the quality and quantity of the goods stored in Tira del Lienzo suggest the presence of an armed group.

Either way, after the fire the structural complex was rebuilt following the same urban pattern, but some of the rooms were divided into two and the warehouses at the base of the hill were probably abandoned. Although ero-

sion has destroyed the upper strata of the large central building, this was probably still in use at this time.

Considering the few materials found in the most recent levels of the site, the function of the complex as a storage area for food and other goods in transit does not seem to have changed. And the movement of products usually requires instruments for measuring and managing them. It is only a hypothesis, but maybe a small metallic object had something to do with these activities. It is a small flat bar made of copper, a metal that did not occur in the surroundings of the site and was not melted there either. It lacks traces of use or damage, and it is not a small ingot. We can speculate that it is either a weight or an element to measure a certain quantity of products, which is, as we know, the birth of the concept of “currency”.

Copper javelin tip (16.1 g) from Tira del Lienzo.

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Small piece of copper (4.5 g) found in H9. The imprints on its surface suggest that it was possibly wrapped in some type of organic material.

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