Las Cogotas
Encyclopedia
Las Cogotas, is an archaeological site in Spain in Cardenosa
Cardeñosa
Cardeñosa is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 530 inhabitants....

 municipality, province of Avila
Ávila
-History:In pre-Roman times , it was inhabited by the Vettones, who called it Obila and had here one of their strongest fortresses....

. 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 and Cogotas II (most probably Celtic) of the Iron Age. The latter is known from the upper layer of Las Cogotas, which represents a classical settlement of Vettones
Vettones
The Vettones were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula .- Origins :...

, which inhabited the territory of modern provinces of Avila
Ávila
-History:In pre-Roman times , it was inhabited by the Vettones, who called it Obila and had here one of their strongest fortresses....

 and Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...

, as well as parts of Toledo
Toledo
- Places :Belize:*Toledo District*Toledo SettlementBrazil:*Pedro de Toledo, São Paulo*Toledo, ParanáColombia:*Toledo, Norte de SantanderPhilippines:*Toledo City, CebuSpain:*Toledo, Spain *Kingdom of Toledo...

, Zamora
Zamora
-Geography:Ecuador* Zamora, Ecuador* Zamora-Chinchipe Province** Zamora RiverMexico* Zamora, Michoacán* Zamora Municipality, Michoacán* Gutiérrez Zamora, VeracruzSpain* Zamora, Spain* Zamora United States...

, Caseres
Caseres
Caseres is a municipality in the comarca of la Terra Alta inCatalonia, Spain.This town is located in picturesque surroundings, but many wind turbines are being constructed in the Serra dels Pesells hills nearby...

 and Tras-os-Montes in Protugal.

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
Soria is a city in north-central Spain, the capital of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and León. , the municipality has a population of c. 39,500 inhabitants, nearly 40% of the population of the province...

, Cogeces del Monte
Cogeces del Monte
Cogeces del Monte is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 863 inhabitants....

 in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

, Abia de la Obispalia
Abia de la Obispalía
Abia de la Obispalía is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 85....

 in Cuenca
Cuenca
Cuenca may refer to:In Ecuador:* Cuenca, Ecuador, capital of the Azuay Province and named in honor to the spanish city.** Cuenca basin , the drainage basin** Cuenca basin , a geologic structural basinIn the Philippines:...

, 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 substrate influenced by either El Argar
El Argar
El Argar is the type site of an Early Bronze Age culture called the Argaric culture, which flourished from the town of Antas, in what is now the province of Almería, south-east of Spain, between c. 1800 BC and 1300 BC....

 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 early I 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
Vettones
The Vettones were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula .- Origins :...

, most probably of Celtic origin.
Characteristic for Cogotas II cultures are verraco
Verraco
The verracos are granite megalithic monuments, sculptures of animals that are to be found in the west of the Iberian meseta - the high central plain of the Iberian peninsula - in the Spanish provinces of Ávila, Salamanca, Zamora, and Cáceres, but also in the north of Portugal and Galicia...

 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
Necropolis
A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, literally meaning "city of the dead"...

. Cattle husbandry played an important role in the life of Vettones
Vettones
The Vettones were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula .- Origins :...

, which was probably reflected in their zoomorphic verraco
Verraco
The verracos are granite megalithic monuments, sculptures of animals that are to be found in the west of the Iberian meseta - the high central plain of the Iberian peninsula - in the Spanish provinces of Ávila, Salamanca, Zamora, and Cáceres, but also in the north of Portugal and Galicia...

 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
    Luis Siret y Cels was a Belgian-Spanish archaeologist and illustrator.He was born in Belgium, but when he was 21 he went to Cuevas del Almanzora when he was contracted by the mining company Almagrera as a Mining Engineer.Though 50 years, Luis Siret and his brother Henri Siret investigated...

    , Sevilla, 1986. Mª. D. Fernández Posse.
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