Revisiting the corpses exposure in Cogotas I: The evidence of Cerro de la Cabeza (Ávila)

Abstract

Advancing in the historical explanation of the diversity and complexity of the mortuary manifestations of Cogotas I (Iberian Bronze Age; MBA and LBA, ca. 1800-1100 cal BC) implies that, necessarily, an exhaustive evaluation of each of the contexts with human remains must be faced, and, in particular, of the depositional and postdepositional agents involved in their definitive archaeological configuration. This paper addresses a review of El Cerro de la Cabeza burial pit (prov. Ávila), initially ascribed to the LBA-EIA period, but that the new dates assign to Cogotas I. The results have allow to identify some evidences related to the activity of carnivores and to the action of fire in the skeletal remains of the two individuals documented there. These data, added to the establishment of the sequence and the times relating to the formation of the funeral deposit, provide new evidence on the hypothesis of the exposure of corpses as a common practice for this chrono-cultural context.