Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez’s research while affiliated with University of Granada and other places

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Publications (56)


Author Correction: Female sex bias in Iberian megalithic societies through bioarchaeology, aDNA and proteomics
  • Article
  • Full-text available

April 2025

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54 Reads

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Gonzalo Aranda Jiménez

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Lara Milesi García
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Exploitation of Mining Resources in El Argar Culture: Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Hinterland of the Western Betic Cordillera (Southeastern Iberian Peninsula)

November 2024

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98 Reads

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2 Citations

Geoarchaeology

This research addresses the territorial organisation of metallurgical production during the El Argar Bronze Age (2200–1550 cal bc ) in the inner areas of El Argar territory through lead‐isotope and trace element analyses of geological copper ores, archaeometallurgical remains and copper‐based artefacts. Results from 31 mineral and 35 archaeological samples suggest that the exploitation of copper resources in the studied region was significant and had a similar impact than other mining districts of El Argar territory. This, therefore, leads the hierarchical and centralised production model to be questioned. It also appears that the copper ore deposits in the coastal regions that were intensively exploited during the Copper Age were used less intensively in the El Argar period. At that time, copper was mostly procured from ore deposits in the inland areas of El Argar territory: that is, ore deposits within the Alpine orogeny hinterland (inland areas of the Betic Cordillera, from Granada to Baza). Other artefacts were sourced from outside the Alpine geological domain, but still on the fringe of El Argar territory (the foothills of the Sierra Morena‐Linares mining district) or even from ore deposits definitely outside El Argar territory itself (the Los Pedroches Variscan region and elsewhere).


Sequencing the Southern Iberian Late Neolithic hypogeum cemetery of La Beleña through radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modeling

October 2024

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146 Reads

Radiocarbon

This study aims to determine the chronological sequence of the collective burials in the hypogea of the prehistoric cemetery of La Beleña (Cabra, Córdoba) through Bayesian analyses of 14 C dates obtained from human remains. The data from this site are not only key to grasping the phenomenon of the introduction and spread of hypogea throughout the western Mediterranean, but to gain insight into multi-stage funerary practices during the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic. The dataset comprises 14 C dates of 71 of the 79 individuals placed in five of La Beleña's six hypogea. The findings suggest: (i) La Beleña is one of the oldest assemblages of hypogea in Iberia, (ii) that this type of collective burial spread rapidly throughout the western Mediterranean area, (iii) that La Beleña is marked by two main phases of funerary activity interspersed by brief burial surges, (iv) funerary intensity at La Beleña increased between cal BC 3400-2900 (2σ), and (v) the cemetery saw a very brief surge of burials potentially related to a catastrophic event. The results of this analysis thus shed light on the little-known chronological sequence of prehistoric hypogea or rock-cut tombs in Iberia, their spread, and their relation to other Late Neolithic collective burials in western Europe.


Orthophotography with the location of the 9 excavated tombs at Panoría cemetery. Up row, from left to right: graves 15, 3, 11, 10, 8, 7 and 6. Bottom row, from left to right: graves 17 and 18. This orthophotography was created by G.A.J. using a drone equipment (DJI Inspire-1) and processed with a SfM-based technology Agisoft-photoscan pro® 2.0.
Human bone remains from Tomb 10.
Human bone remains from Phase A from Tomb 11 with an articulated individual.
KDE-modelled distribution of all radiocarbon dates from Panoría cemetery (blue line). Radiocarbon measurements appear in red, the IntCal20 calibration curve in blue and the summed distribution in grey. Calibrated and modelled ages appear as grey and black crosses respectively.
Molecular sex determination based on RY estimates for the Panoría individuals. RY estimate values are shown for each sample, including the 95% confidence intervals. Red lines indicate the CI upper bound for female assignation (0.016) and the CI lower bound for male assignation (0.077). Dot colours correspond to the amount of total endogenous reads used for RY estimation.

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Female sex bias in Iberian megalithic societies through bioarchaeology, aDNA and proteomics

September 2024

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395 Reads

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5 Citations

Uncertainties regarding traditional osteological methods in biological sex estimation can often be overcome with genomic and proteomic analyses. The combination of the three methodologies has been used for a better understanding of the gender-related funerary rituals at the Iberian megalithic cemetery of Panoría. As a result, 44 individuals have been sexed including, for the first time, non-adults. Contrary to the male bias found in many Iberian and European megalithic monuments, the Panoría population shows a clear sex ratio imbalance in favour of females, with twice as many females as males. Furthermore, this imbalance is found regardless of the criterion considered: sex ratio by tomb, chronological period, method of sex estimation, or age group. Biological relatedness was considered as possible sociocultural explanations for this female-related bias. However, the current results obtained for Panoría are indicative of a female-centred social structure potentially influencing rites and cultural traditions.


What role did really tin bronze play in the Argaric society?

September 2024

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73 Reads

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1 Citation

Archeometriai Műhely

The transition from arsenic copper to tin-bronze in ancient metallurgy has long been attributed to the superior physical and mechanical properties of tin-bronze. However, recent archaeometallurgical studies have cast doubt on this theory, suggesting that the functional and productive advantages of tin-bronze over arsenical copper may not be as clear-cut as traditionally thought. In this paper we present the results of metallographic and microhardness tests conducted on the metallic assemblages from several Bronze Age Argaric sites (Southeast Iberia). Compositional analyses of more than 700 copper-based objects revealed a distinct correlation between the use of tin-bronze for ornaments and arsenical copper for functional objects. This fact suggests that the choice of tin-bronze was influenced by factors beyond mere productivity. The results presented in this paper show that both arsenic copper and tin-bronze could exhibit similar mechanical properties. According to them, their microhardness levels depend on the final processes of their manufacture and the intensity of these processes, rather than on the alloy's composition. This challenges the notion that bronze was adopted solely for its functional efficiency. Therefore, alternative interpretations must be considered to explain the adoption of this new alloy.






Citations (39)


... Recent studies estimate that 20% of analyzed metal in El Argar areas originated from Sierra Morena, a similar proportion to that of other mineralisations in the El Argar territory (the interior of the Betic mountain ranges or the mineralisations of the coastal areas of Almería and Murcia) and even from outside the El Argar territory itself. The arrival of metal from other mining areas such as Los Pedroches, the SW or the NE of the Iberian peninsula has also been identified (Murillo-Barroso et al. 2015, 2025. These studies reveal the variability and diversity of resources in exploitation, their wide distribution and circulation, and the extensive exchange networks that were operating during the El Argar period. ...

Reference:

Metallurgical technology and resources mobility in the El Argar culture: An archaeometallurgical study at Laderas del Castillo (Callosa de Segura, Alicante)
Exploitation of Mining Resources in El Argar Culture: Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Hinterland of the Western Betic Cordillera (Southeastern Iberian Peninsula)
  • Citing Article
  • November 2024

Geoarchaeology

... Biological and/or social kinship, residential patterns, social and gender inequality are now central to research, and interesting debates are taking place as new data accumulate (cf. Kristiansen et al. 2017;Furholt 2018;Frieman and Hofmann 2019;Brück 2021;Ensor 2021;Villalba-Mouco et al. 2022;Cintas-Peña et al. 2023;Morell-Rovira et al. 2024;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al. 2024). ...

Female sex bias in Iberian megalithic societies through bioarchaeology, aDNA and proteomics

... The transition from the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age -the end of the 3 rd and beginning of the 2 nd millennium BC (approx. 2200-1800 BC) -is a key theme to better understand a set of simultaneous sociocultural adaptations and declines throughout Europe (Chapman 2008;Valera 2015;2021;Lillios et al. 2016;Blanco-González et al. 2018;Hinz et al. 2019;Almeida, Valera 2021;Díaz-del-Rio et al. 2021;Weinelt et al. 2021;Aranda Jiménez 2023;Schirrmacher et al. 2024). In this subject's intermittent and cyclic research history, Iberia has always stood out. ...

¿Relaciones fluidas o conflictividad estructural? Las dinámicas sociales del Bronce Antiguo en el centro y este peninsular. Comentario a Peres y Risch

Trabajos de Prehistoria

... The megasite of Valencina itself bears witness to this trend: from a meagre 10 dates published in 2011, the number has increased to over 300 at the time of writing these lines (February 2024). Several other papers have contributed with fresh dates for individual megalithic monuments and burial complexes located in both western and eastern Andalusia, including La Orden-Seminario (Huelva) (Linares Catela and Vera-Rodríguez, 2021), El Barranquete (Níjar, Almería), Churuletas, Llano del Jautón and La Atalaya (the three of them located in Purchena, Almería) (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2017;Aranda Jiménez and Lozano Medina, 2018), Mojácar (Almería) , Panoría (Darro, Granada) (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2022) and Los Eriales (Morelábor, Granada) (Milesi et al., 2023). ...

Funerary practices in megalithic tombs during the Argaric Bronze Age in South-Eastern Iberia: The cemetery of Los Eriales

Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

... The Panoría megalithic cemetery offers an excellent opportunity for exploring gender-related aspects of funerary rituals. Meticulous recording techniques involving trained bioarchaeologists have produced a large bone assemblage that has been analysed from an osteoarchaeological point of view 11,29,30 . The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of gender-related funerary practices through fine-grained sex estimation. ...

Burial taphonomy and megalithic ritual practices in Iberia: the Panoría cemetery

... This practice was especially common during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods on the European continent (Laporte and Scarre 2015;Laporte et al. 2022;Müller et al. 2019;Schulz Paulsson 2019). Recent discussions have taken place regarding the origin and duration of this architectural tradition in the Iberian Peninsula based on extensive radiocarbon series and their statistical estimates (Lozano Medina and Aranda Jiménez 2018; Pardo-Gordó and Carvalho 2020; Fernández-Crespo et al. 2021;Aranda Jiménez et al. 2022; García-Sanjuán et al. 2022;Linares-Catela 2022). Archaeological evidence shows that the first megaliths appeared on the Atlantic coast in the 5th millennium BC and gradually spread over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula. ...

The tempo of the Iberian megalithic rituals in the European context: The cemetery of Panoría
  • Citing Article
  • April 2022

Journal of Archaeological Science

... Throughout the 5th and 4th millennia BC, a wide variety of structures were constructed for different purposes and traditions, including collective burials and individual graves. For instance, a comprehensive study on tholos megalithic tombs has analyzed their appearance and evolution in the southern region of the peninsula (Aranda Jiménez et al. , 2021. This work has shown that this type of structure was in use during the Chalcolithic, although many of them were intensively reused during the Bronze Age and even in historic times, as previously proposed (Lorrio Alvarado 2008;Barroso Bermejo et al. 2012;Aranda Jiménez et al. 2017). ...

The radiocarbon chronology of tholos-type megalithic tombs in Iberia: exploring diverse social trajectories

Trabajos de Prehistoria

... There is an analogous dearth of evidence concerning the exploitation, transformation and circulation of abiotic resources in the Bronze Age in the Lands of Antequera, with the only exception of copper and silver metallurgy (for a discussion see Rodríguez Vinceiro et al. 1992;Aranda Jiménez et al. 2021). The inventory of metal objects recorded in the sites described above amounts to 40 objects, including 32 copper-base items (a sword, seven daggers, six points, nine punches, two chisels, a sickle, three spirals and two small plaques) and eight silver-base ones (one diadem, six spirals and a ring) (table 5). 4 The only site for which in situ evidence of copper smelting has been found is La Capellanía, where a combustion structure for smelting was identifi ed in connection with an arrowhead, a fragment of a smelting pot and a large amount of slag. ...

Las prácticas funerarias de la Edad del Bronce en la provincia de Málaga (España)

SPAL Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla

... The megasite of Valencina itself bears witness to this trend: from a meagre 10 dates published in 2011, the number has increased to over 300 at the time of writing these lines (February 2024). Several other papers have contributed with fresh dates for individual megalithic monuments and burial complexes located in both western and eastern Andalusia, including La Orden-Seminario (Huelva) (Linares Catela and Vera-Rodríguez, 2021), El Barranquete (Níjar, Almería), Churuletas, Llano del Jautón and La Atalaya (the three of them located in Purchena, Almería) (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2017;Aranda Jiménez and Lozano Medina, 2018), Mojácar (Almería) , Panoría (Darro, Granada) (Aranda Jiménez et al., 2022) and Los Eriales (Morelábor, Granada) (Milesi et al., 2023). ...

Long-lasting sacred landscapes: The numerical chronology of the megalithic phenomenon in south-eastern Iberia
  • Citing Article
  • June 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

... Typically, Chalcolithic funerary practices were carried out in collective tombs (orthostatic, tholoi, natural caves, and hypogea) used for centuries by groups whose members were connected through biological ties or unknown social affinities, whereas the Bronze Age was characterised by single or double burials in small structures (pits, cists, artificial caves, and jars). Thanks to extensive dating programmes, new radiocarbon dates from human bone samples related to either Copper Age communal burial (Lomba et al., 2009;Díaz-Navarro et al., 2023;Aranda et al., 2017Aranda et al., , 2018Aranda et al., , 2020Aranda et al., , 2021aAranda et al., , 2022Molina et al, 2020a) or single and double tombs typical of the Early Bronze Age are available. This provides the opportunity for a more detailed chronological analysis than in previous attempts. ...

New Insights into the Radiocarbon Chronology of Iberian Megalithic Societies: The tholos -type Tombs of Mojácar (Almería, Spain)
  • Citing Article
  • September 2020

European Journal of Archaeology