For centuries, Tartess was one of those mysterious states of antiquity, known to scientists only from written sources. Such authorities as Herodotus, Livy, Strabo and many others reported about a rich and powerful power on the Iberian Peninsula, but archaeologists found the first material traces of Tartessa's existence relatively recently, less than a hundred years ago.
Contrary to expectations, archaeological discoveries have only strengthened Tartessa's enigmatic reputation. If for the ancient authors the Tartessian state was not a myth, they described events that actually took place, from conflicts at sea to successful commercial transactions, then in the 20th century, Tartess, rediscovered, quickly overgrown with myths and legends: in fact, its discoverer, German archaeologist Adolf Schulten, considered Tartess the prototype, or at least a colony of the deceased Atlantis of Plato. And this version is not rejected as unscientific even today, but more on that below.
I must admit that Tartess is perfect for developing the historical imagination. Innumerable riches, centuries of prosperity - and a sudden, difficult to explain end. Own writing as a direct source of information - and the inability to decipher it. Known from the descriptions of ancient historians, the location at the mouth and along the banks of the Guadalquivir River - and the absence of any significant ruins there. All finds of the Tartessa era were made by chance, and the accumulated material evidence is not enough to understand the ancient culture.
A 2015 discovery in western Spain, in the Extremadura region, could improve the situation. In the town of Turunuelo in the province of Badajoz, on the edge of the Las Vegas del Guadiana National Park, in the middle of purely agricultural land with tomato plantations, archaeologists have discovered a large structure of the Tartessian era - more than a hectare in area and 2500 years old. Since then, scientists have been forced to regularly report to the press about their findings - for Spain, everything related to Tartess is of national importance.
Excavation at Turunuelo: an ancient structure in the middle of a tomato plantation. Still from the video reportage of El Pais
This year, the amount of news from Turunuelo has increased dramatically: as the excavations "deepen", discoveries occur one after another. In April this year, El Pais published a report on the discovery of a unique staircase in Turunuelo, an article was published in the Spanish edition of National Geographic in June, and in July El Pais reported details about the gloomy find at the foot of the stairs. The vast majority of materials are published in Spanish, but the penultimate issue of Current World Archeology published a long interview with the leaders of the excavation in Turunuelo in English.
Before the sensational discovery on a tomato plantation, scientists' knowledge of Tartessa boiled down to something like this:
Tartess is one of the most ancient civilizations in Europe, which existed from the 11th to the 5th century BC on the territory of modern Andalusia, in the triangle of the provinces of Huelva, Seville and Cadiz. The peak of Tartessa's prosperity fell on the 8th - 7th centuries BC. due to a combination of two factors: 1) the presence of its own richest reserves of the most demanded metals in that era - silver, copper and tin, and 2) access to sales markets. Tartess is strategically located at the crossroads of Atlantic and Mediterranean trade routes during the era of colonial expansion of the Greeks and Phoenicians: commercial contacts with eastern traders from the Aegean and Levant regions were established no later than the 9th century BC, significantly enriching Tartessa's own culture - from a loose local community tribes, he turned into a structured, hierarchically organized,urbanized state. Traces of the process of "orientalization", the Eastern influence common to the entire Mediterranean of that era, were reflected in the material culture of Tartessa: in his art, everyday and religious architecture, in the artifacts found, elements of local origin are combined with "imported" ones brought by the Phoenicians.
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Own raw materials and developed trade relations made Tartess the most important player in the arena of its world: ancient authors write about Tartess (Tarshish) as a very rich and influential state in the extreme west of the Mediterranean. Modern archaeologists see Tartess as a complex community with strong local roots and, at the same time, open to external relations.
This is the first mystery: why, unlike other contemporary European civilizations - Greek, Etruscan, Roman - Tartessus did not live up to the "classical" period? Recall that classical antiquity is the era of the spread of the civilization of Greece and Rome, IV-II centuries BC.
The ruins found on the tomato plantation in Extremadura are directly related to the decline of the Tartessian state, and this is of particular interest to scientists. The excavation is being led by two archaeologists from the Spanish High Council for Scientific Research, Esther Rodrigez and Sebastián Celestino, director of the Institute of Archeology of the city of Merida. In the two years that have passed since the beginning of work, scientists have made several amazing and not yet fully explainable discoveries. There was a hope that at such a rate archaeologists would quickly reduce the shortage of material remains of the Tartes culture: the ancient settlement turned out to be the largest of those found so far; in two years only 7% of its area was explored.
At this "seven percent" archaeologists have already found many artifacts, striking in their luxury and excellent preservation. All types of jewelry, spearheads, various containers, cauldrons, vessels, seeds, fragments of fabrics, bronze braziers dug out of the ground promise to tell a lot about the life and death of the mysterious pre-Roman civilization.
So far, Turunuelo's biggest mystery has been the central staircase, which once connected the two floors of a large building. As befits a sensational find, this staircase has the most ordinary view - ten steps with a total height of 2.5 meters. The width of each step is 40 cm, the height is 22 cm. The five upper steps are finished with slate slabs, the five lower ones are made of "impossible" material, which puzzled scientists.
General view of the stairs discovered during the excavation of a building in the town of Turunuelo. Photo from the site lacronicabadajoz.com
To create the five lower steps, the ancient builders used a solution of calcium oxide (in other words, lime) and granite chips, which was probably poured into molds and left to harden. The result is a kind of "artificial stone", which is a kind of early type of concrete - "proto-concrete", in the words of Spanish scientists. There is only one "but": the first documented use of a concrete-like mortar, opus caementicium, occurred a full century later and not here, but in the Roman Empire. No sooner had the media told that the secret of ancient Roman concrete was finally revealed, as history threw a new mystery to scientists from another time and from another, pre-Roman civilization. The staircase in Turunuelo was created using technology that "should have" appeared in the western Mediterranean much later.
Another mystery is the staircase itself as an architectural element of the building. “According to our previous ideas, they simply could not create such a structure at that time. Of course, the stairs on the Iberian Peninsula were built, but much later, not in this era. Everything that we have found so far from that time - the 5th century BC and older - is roughly folded steps made of stones and mud bricks, purely utilitarian, made only to make it easier to overcome some kind of rise on the ground , says Esther Rodriguez.
The staircase connects the two floors of the building, and this is also a unique detail, nothing like this has ever been seen by archaeologists. Previously, scholars only assumed that there were two-story buildings in Tartessa, based on descriptions in the biblical texts, but “this is the first building found from the Tartessa era, where both floors are preserved,” said Sebastian Celestino.
What functions did the two-story structure have and why are archaeologists sure that it is precisely Tartesse, if mistakes have already happened - some finds of the Tartesse era, upon careful study, turned out to be Phoenician?
For example, here is the opinion of Jose Escacena, professor of archeology at the University of Seville, who offers his vision of the Tartesian civilization as a dual entity: alien Phoenicians. Some researchers believe that the religion in Tartessa was also mixed, while others believe that the beliefs of local and newcomers existed in parallel, without intersecting. The difficulty is that we understand much better the beliefs of the Phoenician part of the population, their religion was more "urban", requiring the construction of buildings, sanctuaries … While the locals worshiped nature and especially water, arranging sacred ceremonies on sacred river sites."
According to Escacena, the building in Turunuelo could have been Phoenician or used by the Phoenicians for their rituals.
Some of the answers archaeologists have found when excavating the lower floor of the building. The artifacts found are typical of the Tartes culture - for example, such an item as in the photo below.
Bronze artifact with typical Tartess symbols: doves and a bovine hide. Photo: C. Martinez / El Pais
Difficulties have arisen in defining the function of the building: it differs from other Tartes structures found in the region, such as the famous sanctuary of Cancho Roano or the La Mata mound in Campanario. The structure in Turunuelo has the features of a residential palace and, at the same time, a burial complex.
“The upper level definitely had a ritual function - we found several altars there. But there is a feeling that in this building the cult function was combined with some other activity. Several details are suggestive of burials: for example, the earthen floors were uncovered, despite the luxurious finishes of all other elements of the building. However, the fact that the building is two-level suggests something else at all,”says Severino.
In April, skeletons of two horses were found on the upper level of the structure, near the very central staircase. A couple of months later, when scientists reached the lower level, they found a huge number of other remains at the foot of the stairs - a total of 60 animals, including 17 horses, two bulls and a pig. The bones will be studied in the laboratory, but already now it is safe to say that most of the animals are sacrificial and were killed during a special, very important ritual.
Remains of horses and other sacrificial animals at the foot of the stairs to Turunuelo. Photo: IAM / CSIC
This find, perhaps, can be called the main sensation of the excavations in Turunuelo. Everything points to the exceptional status of the sacrifice, especially the remains of seventeen horses: in that era, horses were very expensive, prestigious animals, they could not be killed without a serious reason, especially in such numbers. Judging by the results of the first studies, none of the seventeen horses during life was used either for work in harness or for riding. However, all the animals were sacrificed in full equipment - which to this day stands like a wing from a Boeing (joke), and seventeen such sets - like a whole small plane (not a joke).
The event for which the priests of Tartess made such sacrifices was generally known and was not joyful. Archaeologists believe that the sacrifice was part of the ritual of closing the sanctuary before its destruction.
“The great sacrifice was a parting gift to the gods before the final departure of people from Turunuelo. By the number and cost of sacrificial animals, we can judge the prosperity of this Tartes settlement - horses at that time were an indicator of wealth and high social status. In addition to animal remains, we found many amphorae, baskets of grain and other valuable items that give a clear idea of the deep significance of the final rite before the subsequent destruction of the sacred place,”says Sebastian Celestino.
Part of the farewell ceremony was a sumptuous feast - traces of it were also found this year. In one of the halls, archaeologists have found a complete set of appropriate "kitchen utensils": a huge cauldron, two jugs, a grill, several skewers for meat, a brazier, a sieve, and so on. Everything is made of bronze and everything is of high quality. Ceramic tableware is represented by numerous dishes and cups with red-striped patterns imitating the Greek style. On the floor of the surrounding rooms were heaps of bones and empty seafood shells, leftovers from the last ritual feast in Turunuelo.
Bronze cauldron found during excavations at Turunuelo. Photo: C. Martinez / El Pais
“The closing ceremony of the sanctuary raises many questions. Obviously, at the end of the feast and sacrifice ceremony, the building was set on fire and then “buried” - first under a layer of earth, then - silt and clay from the bottom of the Guadiana River. Bronze artifacts found inside the building lay in their places, but they were all broken or shattered, as if they wanted to make them useless. We believe that the ceremony of farewell and 'burial' of the building was associated with the approaching war, this is the most likely explanation,”says Celestino. Archaeologists have already seen traces of a similar ritual in another Tartes sanctuary, Kancho Roano.
It is curious that the tragic rite of destruction of the building by fire and earth turned out to be a blessing for modern researchers: everything is very well preserved. “The fire only strengthened the powerful, in some places up to three meters thick, walls of the sanctuary, built of adobe bricks, and the quick“burial”under layers of earth and clay contributed to the preservation of metal objects,” noted Sebastian Celestino.
For the second time in their history, the people of Tartessa were forced to leave their homes and sanctuaries, this time finally. This happened for the first time in the VI century BC: the civilization that grew up on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Guadalquivir thanks to sea trade, took upon itself a terrible blow from nature - an earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal lands. Modern researchers have found geological traces of this natural disaster, which happened in ancient times and, probably, laid the foundation for the legend of Atlantis.
The only state seriously affected by the disaster was Tartess: at the end of the 6th century BC. its inhabitants had to migrate inland, to the banks of the Guadiana River, and rebuild their lives. However, not only nature could cause a deep crisis, but also international conflicts: Tartess was closely associated with both the Phoenicians and the Greeks, and they, in turn, feuded among themselves for superiority at sea. The Tartessa economy was most likely the collateral victim of these clashes.
No matter what the Tartessians fled from the coast to the interior of the country, archaeological finds date this migration to the end of the 6th century BC. But only a hundred years passed, and Tartess completely disappeared from history, written and material: archaeologists have not found a single Tartesian artifact younger than 500 BC. Instead, they found many Celtic …
It is hypothesized that Tartessus was destroyed by the Phoenicians (Carthaginians) in revenge for Tartessa's alliance with the Greeks. However, the latest archaeological finds suggest a different scenario: the weakened state was destroyed not by familiar Phoenicians for a long time, but by the Celts, who poured into Iberia from the north. The Celtic tribes drove the Tartessians out of their newly inhabited places, finally and irrevocably.
At the end of the fifth or the beginning of the fourth century BC, fearing an imminent clash with alien Celts, the inhabitants of Turunuelo decided to destroy and "bury" their homes and sanctuaries, so as not to leave them to be plundered by new conquerors.
Professor Jose Escacena cites historical parallels with modernity: "When a people is forced to leave their territory due to a change of power, their sanctuaries are destroyed by the people who received this power - as happened in the Gaza Strip after Israel's withdrawal in 2005: the Palestinians first destroyed the synagogues."
The salvation of shrines through their destruction is just one version of the development of events in Turunuelo. Physical traces of the farewell ceremony, fire and "burial" of the building are obvious, but the exact motives and reasons for this decision are not fully clear, leaving room for a variety of hypotheses.
Perhaps new answers and new riddles will be found later, on the as yet unexplored 93% of the Tartes settlement, buried under tomato beds in distant Extremadura.
Maria Myasnikova
