Phönizische Gräber in Ayamonte (Huelva, Spanien). Ein Vorbericht

Abstract

Emergency excavations in Ayamonte (Huelva, Spain) have produced evidence of a Phoenician
settlement and necropolis dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Here we present a
preliminary interdisciplinary report on the necropolis. It contains several graves, five of which
were excavated. They are incineration graves of two adult men, three adult women, and one
child, the latter in a double burial. One grave is a simple pit, the others are shafts with lateral
niches. These contrasts in construction permit us to observe a differentiation between various
graves and individual phases of burial rituals that reflect a complex background of traditions
and manifestations of beliefs comparable to the practices observed in other Phoenician
necropoleis. Of the exclusive use of Phoenician objects in the burial assemblages, imports
point to close connections to the central Mediterranean area. The Ayamonte graves are so far
the most westerly ones found in the area of Phoenician expansion of the 8th/7th century BC.
Their location at the mouth of the Guadiana River on the Atlantic coast, at the gateway to
the mineral-rich hinterland, combines the best conditions for the development of a settlement
and an economic prosperity that grew as the Phoenician and native societies came together
in the first opening of the region to pan-Mediterranean trade networks.