This is close by Cartagena and thus likely linked in the time andplace. However what is here described is contemporaneous to theMinoans and the Egyptians. Since we have built a powerful case for aMinoan Atlantean sea empire, this complex fits rather nicely.
Any land based princely holding would feature a port city and aninland city that was able to act as a keep in the face of losing abattle. This pattern is repeated often. Ports can be surprised andsuddenly captured in a coup de main from the sea itself. A wisecommander would want to fall back onto an impregnable fortress. Thatis what is described here.
In the meanwhile, it is located in one of the likely locales for suchstructures. I am sure we will find good agriculture in the immediatevicinity and ample water.
The whole Atlantic littoral needs a close survey to pick up onsimilar sites. Often we will find that the port has disappearedunder the waves and to be difficult to locate. Yet inlandstrongholds will exist for any good land base. We may surpriseourselves.
4,200-year-oldfortification unearthed in Spain
Posted by TANN
http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.ca/2012/09/4200-year-old-fortification-unearthed.html The archaeologicalexcavations carried out this year at the site of La Bastida (Totana,Murcia) have shed light on an imposing fortification system, uniquefor its time. The discovery, together with all other discoveries madein recent years, reaffirm that the city was the most advancedsettlement in Europe in political and military terms during theBronze Age (ca. 4,200 years ago -- 2,200 BCE), and is comparable onlyto the Minoan civilisation of Crete.
The discovery waspresented today by Pedro Alberto Cruz Sánchez, Secretary of Cultureof the Region of Murcia and Vicente Lull, professor of Prehistory ofthe Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and director of theexcavation. The event also included the presence of Iván MartÃnezFlores, executive administrator of the research and head of the UABArea for Strategic Projects.
Thefortification consisted of a wall measuring two to three metresthick, built with large stones and lime mortar and supported by thickpyramid-based towers located at short distances of some four metres.The original height of the defensive wall was approximately 6 or 7metres. Until now six towers have been discovered along a length of70 metres, although the full perimeter of the fortification measuredup to 300 metres. The entrance to the enclosure was a passagewayconstructed with strong walls and large doors at the end, held shutwith thick wooden beams.
One of themost relevant architectural elements discovered is the ogival archedpostern gate, or secondary door, located near the main entrance. Thearch is in very good conditions and is the first one to be found inPrehistoric Europe. Precedents can be found in the second city ofTroy (Turkey) and in the urban world of the Middle East (Palestine,Israel and Jordan), influenced by the civilisations of Mesopotamiaand Egypt. This indicates that people from the East participated inthe construction of the fortification. These people would havereached La Bastida after the crisis which devastated their region4,300 years ago. It was not until some 400 to 800 years later thatcivilisations like the Hittites and Mycenaeans, or city-states suchas Ugarit, incorporated these innovative methods into their militaryarchitecture.
A ConstructionDesigned for Combat
Thefortification of La Bastida is an impressive construction due to itsmonumentality, the expertise demonstrated in architecture andengineering, its antiquity and because it helps us today to learnabout such a distant past which is also easily recognisable in thepresent. It also represents an innovation in the art of attacking anddefending fortifications, especially on the military front. Theconstruction was designed solely for military purposes, by peopleexperienced in fighting methods unknown in those times to the West.
The towers andexterior walls denote advanced knowledge of architecture andengineering, with slopes of over 40 per cent. The lime mortar usedoffered exceptional solidity to the construction, strongly holdingthe stones and making the wall impermeable, as well as eliminatingany elements attackers could hold on to.
The posterngate, as a hidden and covered entrance, demanded great planning ofthe defensive structure as a whole and of the correct engineeringtechnique to fit it perfectly into the wall.
ContinentalEurope's First Bronze Age City
The latestexcavations and the result of Carbon 14 dating indicate that LaBastida was probably the most powerful city of Europe during theBronze Age and a fortified site since it was first built, in circa2,200 BCE, with a defence system never before seen in Europe.
Thefortification was not the only discovery made. From 2008 to 2011,excavations unearthed large residences measuring over 70 squaremetres distributed throughout the city's four hectares. These largehouses and public buildings were alternated with other smallerconstructions, all separated by entries, passageways and squares. Alarge pool held by a 20-metre dyke with a capacity for almost 400,000litres of water also clearly denotes that the city's population wasof a complexity and that it used advanced techniques incomparable toother cities of its time.
Thediscoveries made at La Bastida reveal a military, political andsocial rupture: the establishment of a violent and classist rulingsociety, which lasted seven centuries and conditioned the developmentof other communities living in the Iberian Peninsula. Overall,archaeologists are redefining what is known of the origin of economicand political inequalities in Europe, as well as military institutionand the role played by violence in the formation of identities.
A UniqueArchaeological Park in Spain
Theexcavations at La Bastida are directed by the Research Group inMediterranean Social Archaeoecology (ASOME) of Universitat Autònomade Barcelona (UAB), formed by lecturers Vicente Lull, Rafael Micó,Cristina Rihuete and Roberto Risch. The research group receives thesupport and funding of the Department of Culture Regional CulturalMinistry of Murcia, the UAB, and the Totana City Council. The SpanishMinistries of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and of Economics andCompetitiveness also give financial support to the project.
La Bastidawill be systematically excavated with the aim of becoming a uniquearchaeological park open to the public and consisting in amonographic museum, a research and documentation centre, and part ofthe site open to visitors. Advancing and maintaining this projectwill depend on the commitment shown by the different publicinstitutions and social agents taking part in the excavation of LaBastida.
Moreinformation on La Bastida: http://www.la-bastida.com/LaBastida/
Source: UniversitatAutònoma de Barcelona [September 27, 2012]
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