A Good Place to Live? The Management of Livestock Resources in the Lower Guadalquivir Basin in Southern Iberia during the 3rd Millenium BC

Abstract

The main objectives of this work are the determination of the temporality and period of use of Valencina-Castilleja, the assessment of the importance of livestock as part of the primary resource complex for the social-economical development of the human group settled in the Lower Guadalquivir Valley during the 3rd mill. BC and the understanding through conventional zooarchaeological protocols and novel techniques the herd management strategies, including mobility patterns of each domestic stock at an intra- and inter-site level. Three research questions were posed: 1) Was there a relationship of dependence between the small settlements located in the Lower Gualdalquivir valley and the larger settlements? 2) Was the economic and social system of the Lower Guadalquivir settlements based on livestock management? and 3) Is the Centre-Periphery model applicable to the groups that inhabited the Lower Guadalquivir during the 3rd mill. BC? The study is based on zooarchaeological and isotopic analyses recovered from two different areas. The estuary of the Lower Guadalquivir river, where Valencina-Castilleja is the main site of study and the Corbones river valley, with Carmona and La Loma del Real Tesoro sites as the secondary focus of study. Other sites, such as Parque Miraflores, Poblado Calcolítico, and El Amarguillo II, which are located in different environments in south-western Iberia, were also incorporated into the comparative analysis to investigate similarities and differences in the exploitation of biotic resources.