El fenómeno megalítico del Sudeste de la Península Ibérica a partir de su dimensión espacialEl caso del paisaje megalítico del valle del Río Gor

Abstract

The research here presented aims to identify the spatial logics that influenced the construction of the megaliths and their relationship with the landscape in order to identify the forms of use of the territory, possible territorial boundaries between societies and to define the characteristics of the communities that built the tombs. Secondly, based on a relatively large set chosen as a sample, the aim is to establish a method of analysis that can be extrapolated to other necropolises, especially in the Iberian Southeast, in order to identify differences or similarities between them. At the methodological level, the pillars of this work are three: surface archaeological prospection, spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems and statistical comparison techniques. Firstly, a survey was carried out in the summer of 2019 with the aim of documenting the megaliths preserved in the area around the Gor River, which has allowed the exact georeferencing by UTM coordinates of 151 graves, as well as obtaining a series of variables relating to the constructive characteristics of the megaliths and the characteristics of the terrain in which they are located. The second step was the creation of a geographical database in which both the variables documented in the field and those subsequently calculated using GIS algorithms and those that could be obtained from previous publications were collected, which has allowed us to work above 70 variables. Once this amount of data had been collected, spatial analysis using GIS algorithms and multivariate statistical techniques were applied. The analyses carried out have focused on three complementary areas: the study of the megaliths at an individual level and with respect to their own necropolis, the study of the relationships and differences between the necropolises and the study of the megaliths and necropolises with respect to the territory in which they are located. These analyses have included the rational reclassification of the megaliths into necropolises based on spatial statistics, the review of the terrain using Digital Terrain Models created from LiDAR data, the analysis of the construction patterns of the tombs based on the dimensions documented in the survey and different visibility analyses taking into account both the megaliths (individually and as an aggrupation) and the settlements and the environment in which they are located. The results of the review of the terrain using DTMs created from LiDAR data have opened up a very interesting field of research as up to 230 locations that could be dolmens have been found and, moreover, they coincide in their approximate position with some old maps of the area. This digital revision has been followed by a pedestrian survey in 3 sampling areas with the aim of revising a total of 25 possible locations situated in these areas. The result is that at least 9 of these 25 candidates could be considered as megaliths that are practically destroyed but still present orthostats or orthostatic structures, with clear traces appearing even in recently investigated and daily visited areas such as Llano de Olivares. These results, if extrapolated to the rest of the megalithic complex, would bring the number of 234 tombs, which coincides with the first investigations carried out in the area.