Researchers have uncovered evidence of repeated mass animal sacrifice rituals that took place around 2,500 years ago at a mysterious site in southwestern Spain.
The ritual sacrifices occurred at the site of a large Iron Age building known as Casas del Turuñuelo, located in the province of Badajoz in the Guadiana River valley.
The structure is associated with the enigmatic Tartessian culture, which thrived in southwestern parts of the Iberian Peninsula between the 9th and 5th centuries B.C. before seeming to abruptly disappear in mysterious circumstances.
In 2017, researchers found animal bones in the courtyard of Casas del Turuñuelo. The discovery of the remains in the courtyard appeared to indicate that some form of animal sacrifice event had taken place at the site.
Now, the results of an analysis of more than 6,700 bones—representing the remains of 52 animals—unearthed in the courtyard to date have been announced. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, has shed new light on the animal sacrifices, which rather than being a single event, seems to have formed part of a series of rituals linked to the site's last period of activity and eventual abandonment.
"After the spectacular finding of the animal skeletons in the courtyard, it was suggested that the entire deposit could correspond to a single large sacrifice," Maria Pilar Iborra Eres, an author of the latest study with the Valencian Institute of Conservation, Restoration and Research in Spain, told Newsweek.
However, after completing the excavation—during which further animal remains were uncovered—and carrying out various analyses, the researchers determined that they were dealing with a succession of sacrifices conducted over several decades.
"At the initial discovery, the entire surface of the courtyard was not excavated. This study that we have now presented includes all of the bone remains deposited in the entire patio," Eres said. "Now the courtyard is completely excavated, and we can see how it looked before the sacrifices were made."
The rituals took place toward the end of the 5th century B.C. when the building was intentionally burned before being buried under a mound of earth measuring around 300 feet across and almost 20 feet in height, according to the study. The site was then abandoned. The fact the building was covered in the earth mound means that the site is exceptionally well-preserved.
The bones provide evidence of repeated use of the building's courtyard for animal sacrifices carried out in different phases, although what motivated the rituals is unclear. The number and role of the humans coordinating the practices also remain unclear.
"The building is one of the most important sites in the Iberian Peninsula due to the architectural techniques it shows, its magnificent state of preservation and the fact that for the first time in the whole Mediterranean a sequence of animal sacrifices has been documented," Eres said.
Archaeological sites containing evidence of major animal sacrifices that date to the Iron Age are rare in the Mediterranean region, meaning such practices are not well understood.
The researchers found that the animals were buried in three sequential phases. They also identified the bones present at the site, finding primarily those of adult horses as well as smaller numbers of cattle and pig bones and the remains of one dog.
In the first two ritual phases, the researchers found that the skeletons were mostly complete and unaltered. But in the third phase, some of the bones showed signs of having been processed for food, suggesting that some sort of meal or banquet had accompanied the ritual.
The evidence documented in the study suggests that the courtyard was used repeatedly for a period of several decades as a site for animal sacrifice rituals whose practices varied.
"It has been possible to establish with great precision the different stages of sacrifices that took place in the courtyard of Casas del Turuñuelo over several decades," Eres said. "It is really like going back to that place 2,500 years ago and contemplating the animal sacrifices that took place there within the complex Tartessian culture."
The study highlights the importance of horses to the Tartessian culture while also revealing details about the ritual practices at the site, such as the intentional selection of adult animals rather than juveniles and the key role of fire, as evidenced by the presence of burned plant and animal remains.
The volume of sacrifices found in the first and second phases is "extraordinary" in European Iron Age contexts, according to the researchers. The fact that the number of sacrificed animals in the final phase drops dramatically and that their characteristics differ suggests a change in the rituals.
"This study highlights the role of mass animal sacrifices in the context of Iron Age European societies," the authors said in a news release.
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Aristos is a Newsweek science reporter with the London, U.K., bureau. He reports on science and health topics, including; animal, ... Read more
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