Las Cogotas ( es, Las Cogotas) is an archaeological site in Spain in
Cardenosa municipality, province of
Avila. The site was researched by the Galician archaeologist
Juan Cabré in 1920s. It is namesake for two different archaeological cultures known from this site: Cogotas I (pre-Celtic) of the
Late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
and Cogotas II (most probably Celtic) of the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...
. The latter is known from the upper layer of Las Cogotas, which represents a classical settlement of
Vettones
The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity.
Origins
Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued i ...
, which inhabited the territory of modern provinces of
Avila and
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
, as well as parts of
Toledo,
Zamora,
Caseres
Caseres is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of la Terra Alta in Catalonia, Spain.
This town is located in picturesque surroundings, but many wind turbines are being constructed in the Serra dels Pesells hills nearby. The name of the village ap ...
and
Tras-os-Montes in Portugal.
Protocogotas culture
This stage of the Meseta history is the least known, although a series of archeological sites, such as ''Los Tolmos de Caracena'' in
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...
,
Cogeces del Monte in
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
,
Abia de la Obispalia in
Cuenca, and some others, allow to describe Protocogotas culture as a formation stage of Cogotas I culture. This culture, which existed around 1700—1550 BC, is also known as Cogeces horizon, and is based on the
Bell Beaker
The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from ar ...
substrate influenced by either
El Argar
El Argar is an Early Bronze Age culture that was based in Antas, Almería, within modern Spain. It is believed to have been active from about 2200 B.C. to 1500 B.C.Lull et al."Emblems and spaces of power during the Argaric Bronze Age at La Almol ...
or
Atlantic Bronze.
Although Protocogotas culture was not represented by finds in La Cogotas, it did have characteristic traits later displayed in Cogotas I.
Cogotas I
Characteristic for this culture is black pottery with incised geometric motives incrusted by white paste (
:es:Cerámica de Boquique). Vessels were relatively small, flat-based, conic, rough, supposedly used as kitchen ware.
Chronology of Cogotas I:
* Formation stage, 1700 BC (Protocogotas)
* incised and Boquique ceramics, 1550 BC.
* trade networks, 1350 BC.
* expansion of the culture, 1100 BC.
* disappearance, 1000 BC.
Cogotas II
In the early 1st millennium BC the Iberic peninsula was invaded by the Celts and other Indo-European tribes, which occupied the central and western parts of the peninsula and created new cultures on the ruins of the older ones. One of them were
Vettones
The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity.
Origins
Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued i ...
, most probably of Celtic origin. Characteristic for Cogotas II cultures are
verraco statues. These are stone bovine statues situated on pasture lands, whose exact usage is still unclear.
Among other material culture objects there were daggers, flat axes, copper alloy axes, sickles, granite grindstones, spindle whorls etc.
Like other similar settlements, Cogotas of that time was divided into several functional districts, including several cattle enclosures and a
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
. Cattle husbandry played an important role in the life of
Vettones
The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity.
Origins
Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued i ...
, which was probably reflected in their zoomorphic
verraco statues.
Literature
* Historia de Castilla y León. 1. La prehistoria del Valle del Duero, Valladolid, 1985. G. Delibes.
* La Cultura de las Cogotas I, Actas del Homenaje a
Luis Siret
Luis Siret y Cels (26 August 1860, in Sint-Niklaas – 7 June 1934, in Herrerías) was a Belgian- Spanish archaeologist and illustrator.
He was born in Belgium, but when he was 21 he went to Cuevas del Almanzora (Almería) when he was contra ...
, Sevilla, 1986. Mª. D. Fernández Posse.
Gallery
File:Cerámica de boquique Cogotas-I.jpg, Cogotas I. Ceramics with incrustation
File:Cerámica excisa Cogotas-I.jpg, Cogotas I. Incised ceramics
File:Cerámica decorada tipo Cogotas I. Bronce Final - M.A.N. 02.jpg, Ceramics
File:Fibula de Codo-Bronce final.jpg, Cogotas I. A bent fibula
File:Las Cogotas, Ávila, España, 2020 07.jpg, Cogotas II. Castro del Cogotas. Reconstruction of the main entrance
File:Castro de Las Cogotas 07 by-dpc.jpg, Cogotas II. Castro del Cogotas. Stone walls
File:mingorria0520.jpg, Cogotas II. A granite verraco near Mingorria
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Archaeological sites in Castile and León
Prehistoric sites in Spain
Bronze Age sites in Europe
Iron Age sites in Spain
Cogotas
Las Cogotas ( es, Las Cogotas) is an archaeological site in Spain in Cardenosa municipality, province of Avila. The site was researched by the Galician archaeologist Juan Cabré in 1920s. It is namesake for two different archaeological culture ...
Cogotas
Las Cogotas ( es, Las Cogotas) is an archaeological site in Spain in Cardenosa municipality, province of Avila. The site was researched by the Galician archaeologist Juan Cabré in 1920s. It is namesake for two different archaeological culture ...
Celtic archaeological cultures
Bronze Age Spain
Iron Age cultures of Europe
Iron Age Spain