The Neolithic substrate in the Vera Basin (Almería)

Abstract

The economic and social evolution in the southeastern region of the Iberian Peninsula during the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age has been a focus for analysis by researchers ever since Siret conducted his studies of the area towards the end of the nineteenth century. In his work, he proposed diffusionist hypotheses linked to the appearance of metallurgy in the area, but in his conclusions, he failed, among other considerations, to include the existence of a Neolithic cultural substratum. The identification in the village of Cuartillas, together with other findings in the Valley of Vera (Almería), of a Neolithic community related to that of other areas in eastern Andalucía, brings new light to bear on the hypotheses considered to date.