2
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2. The Neolithic period and the Bronze and Iron Ages
Bronze Age (1700-1000 B.C.)
After the Millares culture disappeared, the
El Argar culture
settled in the same area,
in Almería, in the south east of the peninsula. The characteristics of their culture were
their settlements built in high places, the dark, undecorated ceramics they made, and
they buried their dead under the floors of their houses.
In the Balearic Islands, a megalithic culture called the
Talayotic
culture
developed.
This began in the Bronze Age and continued into the Iron Age. Their most important
constructions were taulas, navetas and talayots.
Taula: this consists of two large stones in the
shape of a T.
Naveta: this is a construction in the shape of
an upturned boat.
Expansion of the Bell
Beaker culture
El Argar culture
Tartessians
Megalithic monuments
Millares culture sites
Talayotic culture sites
I
B
E
R
O
S
C
E
L
T
A
S
AT L A N T I C
O C E A N
Mediterranean Sea
Talayot: this is a tower which was used for
defence and funerary purposes.
Iron Age (1st millennium B.C.)
The Celts arrived from the north of Europe and occupied
the north and west of the Iberian Peninsula. They brought
knowledge of iron metallurgy with them and built
f
ortified
settlements called
castros
. These were situated in high
places which were easy to defend.
In Levante and Andalucía, indigenous peoples settled,
called the
Iberians
. In the centre of the peninsula there
was a mixture of Celts and Iberians.
During the first half of the 1st millennium B.C., Phoenician
and Greek traders, who were interested in the metal trade,
settled on the Mediterranean coast. They established
relations with the Iberians and passed on numerous
advances to them. One of them was
writing
, which marks
the end of prehistory.
The most important culture they found was the Tartessian
culture in the Guadalquivir valley. Their wealth came from
trading metal and jewels.
Understand
30.
Describe the similarities and differences between:
a)
Epipaleolithic Age Levante paintings and Neolithic
schematic painting.
b)
The Cardial pottery from the Neolithic Period and the
Bell Beaker pottery from the Bronze and Iron Ages.
31.
Which cultures lived on the Iberian Peninsula in the
Iron Age? Which areas did they settle in?
Analyse
32.
Look at the map. Explain why historians say that
megalithic cultures travelled by sea.
Create
33.
Find out about the Millares archeological site. Make
a fact file about it.
