The last excavation campaign of the MARQ at the archaeological site of the Argaric culture "Laderas del Castillo" of Callosa del Segura has exposed three graves inside a house. It is about a child under two years of ageburied inside a ceramic vessel, a grown man and another child of about 6 or 7 years old The burial site is located next to the one where two ivory buttons have been found. Burials inside dwellings were a common practice in this ancient culture that inhabited the south of the province of Alicante. more than 4000 years ago.
The discoveries were made last June during the work of the third excavation campaign promoted by the Diputación de Alicante through the museum.
The Algar Culture is a society of Bronze Age which occupied the south-eastern area of the Iberian peninsula between 2,100 and 1,500 BC. The site of Las Laderas del Castillo was first explored at the beginning of the 20th century by the Jesuit Julio Furgús and later by the Catalan archaeologist Josep Colominas. However, years later the site was abandoned.
After checking the deterioration process of the remains, the Diputación de Alicante decided to launch a documentation and excavation project, which is being carried out by since 2012. The various recovery works, promoted by through MARQThe study of the village has shown that the village was one of the main population centres on the Mediterranean coast, as it was one of the most important in the region. It was home to a thousand inhabitants in an area of more than two hectares.
In the three excavation campaigns The following staff have been involved so far in the Alicante Provincial Councilof the town hall of Callosa del Segura and graduates and students of the Universities of Alicante, Murcia, Valencia and Autónoma de Madrid. Among the most striking material findings are the following two terracotta figurines in the shape of a bull, exceptional pieces of which there are hardly any parallels in other Argaric settlements on the peninsula.
The continuity of the excavations will allow us to continue to deepen our knowledge of the archaic societies of the province of Alicante and the origins and customs of its first inhabitants.
