Rötel im El Argar-zeitlichen Bestattungsritual von Fuente Álamo

Abstract

The use of red pigments in funeral rituals is documented in many prehistoric graves, as previously noted by E. & L. Siret for the tombs of El Argar, El Oficio and Fuente Álamo. During the excavations carried out by the German Archaeological Institute of Madrid, it was possible to confirm the use of these pigments in at least seven tombs for Fuente Álamo. The analyzed samples have detected the use of two minerals, red ocher or ruddle and cinnabar (HgS) for different burial practices: from its application on the funerary bed, walls or ceiling of the chamber or artificial caves to others that point to the use of dyed garments – shroud, skirts or headdresses – that once decomposed, have impregnated different skeletal portions. Special attention is also paid to the coloring of parts of the head, which may have been impregnated with these pigments in a symbolic allusion to the return to life for transit to the ›other world‹ beside from probably other cultural purposes with the use of headdresses in the form of headbands. These tombs correspond chronologically to the initial and middle Bronze Age phases, being absent in the Late El Argar Bronze Age. Noteworthy is the testimonial presence of red pigments in only ca. 7 % of the total documented tombs of this site. It is also remarkable that the inhumations in whose funeral practices some garment or treatments with these red pigments have been included, reflect a special treatment of these individuals, as the monumental architectural characteristics of their tombs and their rich grave goods reveal. Therefore it belongs to a funerary treatment exclusive to a small group personalities with a relevant social status and was mainly applied to female graves.