While researching the main paradigms or the most famous sites in prehistory is not at all condemnable, there is often a generalization that prehistory is reduced to small enclaves of Spanish geography, ignoring that although not every province has an Atapuerca site, almost all have evidence of prehistoric presence. This article aims to be self-critical and at least for once give importance to areas that go unnoticed and are often around us. On this occasion, we want to present a brief synthesis of the work and findings on prehistory in the El Cuervo de Sevilla area.
Introduction
El Cuervo de Sevilla is a small town located in the south of the province of Seville, belonging until 1992 to the municipality of Lebrija, but now independent. Its municipal term borders that of Jerez de la Frontera, in the province of Cádiz, being anecdotal that one of the streets of the town belongs administratively to the contiguous term.
In terms of History, most writers from the area have been drawn to other centers such as Jerez de la Frontera, Mesas de Asta and Lebrija, with El Cuervo being a subject of few mentions until very late in the 20th century. Within the last century, the scarce documents have referred briefly on prehistoric chronologies to focus on the appearance of the first mesons, ventas and post houses. To this, and to issues related to the segregation of the population is where literature has given much depth, addressing prehistorical questions very fleetingly.
A question may arise in this regard. Why is there little interest in these chronologies? Although we do not aim to provide an absolute truth, it seems interesting to pause and reflect on several possibilities that are not mutually exclusive.
Option A) There may be greater interest in recent historical issues that influence daily life to a certain extent or whose knowledge provides better understanding of the present.
Option B) The knowledge of prehistory has been so scarce, that approaching it poses a real challenge for those interested.
Although many other options can be presented, much of the responsibility for the current situation may lie in these two. Unfortunately, what is popular and scientific do not often go hand in hand, and on many occasions, scientific articles are confined to scientists without the general public knowing of their existence or having the basic knowledge to understand the technical terms used. On the other hand, it is also common to find works of dissemination carried out by amateurs that are not subject to any review by a committee of scientists. The case of El Cuervo de Sevilla is a good example where the few existing works of dissemination barely delve into or even avoid these chronologies, while there do exist scientific works related to the area. We will thus present, and attempting to provide an introduction to this zone based on scientific data, a synthesis of archaeological and prehistoric work in the El Cuervo de Sevilla area.
Archaeological studies in the surrounding area
To understand how early studies appeared, a small synthesis must be developed where we can see chronologically the research process. In broad strokes, until 1980 there are only isolated references to finds of stone tools with barely any descriptions either in context or typology. Some of these cases were documented by Hugo Obermaier in 1925 in the Arcos area, related to the Musterian period; by Quintero Atauri in 1934 at Playa de los Corrales; or by J.M. Gómez Tabenera in 1968 documenting the appearance of chipped stones between Jerez and Medina Sidonia. Other researchers associated with these areas are E. Vallespí, F. Díaz del Olmo, and G. Álvarez.
It would not be until 1984 when a team composed of E. Aguirre, F. Borja, E. Carbonell, M.I. Molina, J. Ramos, J. Rodríguez, and E. Vallepí carried out one of the most notable surface prospections. Following these is the first campaign in 1989 around the Guadalete river basin in the El Portal-Torrecera area, led by F. Giles Pacheco, A. Santiago Pérez, J.M. Gutiérrez López, E. Mata Almonte and L. Aguilera Rodríguez, who document and detail what is known as Fuente de la Salud, near El Cuervo. References about it come, according to them, from the archaeologists A. Caro Bellido (from Lebrija) and J.F. Ramos Muñoz (from Cádiz), mentioning the appearance of a bifacial tool in quartzite.
Following this prospection would be that carried out by J. Ramos and R. Rodríguez in the term of Jerez de la Frontera in 1990. With this prospection, prehistoric information in the area took a turn as different sites from the Middle Paleolithic to the Medieval period were identified in detail, attempting, from a processualist perspective, to establish possible human-environment relationships.
Ignoring the paleontological aspects of the area, prehistory is documented for the Lower-Middle Paleolithic specifically in the Upper Achelense period, with the identification of the Laguna Tollón 1, Laguna Tollón 9 and Peñas del Cuervo-Fuente de la Salud sites. In their record quartzites and sandstones have been documented as raw materials for bifaces, flakes and cores, using techniques such as Levallois knapping.
In the next period, from the Upper Paleolithic to early Neolithic times, a population gap is observed according to the prospections of J. Ramos and R. Rodríguez in 1990. Subsequently, from the Neolithic there would be a repopulation with uninterrupted habitation until today. In these chronologies spaces are identified functionally, specifically workshops and habitats around Laguna de los Tollos and Peñas de El Cuervo. With the Late Neolithic the extraction of flint from the Peñas del Cuervo is documented, in addition to sandstone and quartzite. Ceramic remains are also more frequent in these chronologies, which has helped with a more precise identification.
In the Copper Age two areas of occupation can already be observed in the area. One linked to the Peñas del Cuervo, and another to the Marches, where settlements always respect the possible coastline line of the time (referring to the marches). Among the raw materials, subvolcanic rocks from the adjacent Sierra de Gibalbín can be highlighted, from which both riolite, as well as andesite and diorite were extracted for lithic knapping. As time progresses, polished tools take on greater prominence in pieces such as chisels, hammers or blades, as well as millstones, querns or sickle elements. With respect to ceramics, Campaniforme type pottery has been documented in at least four sites and Cogotas type in at least three others. The archaeological wealth of the area persists over time even into orientalizing periods.
We can see how, except during the Upper Paleolithic period, there have been settlements in the area from the Lower Paleolithic to today, and all this based solely on isolated finds and surface prospections. What could be learned if administrations invested in an existing resource? What would happen if instead of having information from prospections we had extensive excavations? Despite administrations not being at their best economically speaking, perhaps investing intelligently in cultural heritage issues will revive a resource that, if neglected, is disappearing as it indeed is.
Conclusions
Although in this brief entry we have only presented some general data, we believe that with them it can be understood that in many of the areas that are usually considered archaeologically sterile, if one delves into documentation, sufficient evidence appears to illustrate a prehistoric landscape completely different from the barren one we might expect. The El Cuervo de Sevilla area has characteristics that make it an ideal place, whether as a supply point around the lagoon or as a territorial control point from Gibalbín.
*This article (with modifications) was published by this author in the now defunct digital magazine Tempora Magazine.
Bibliography
- RAMOS MUÑOZ, J., GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, R.: «Superficial archaeological prospection in the municipal term of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz). Campaign 1990». Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía 1990.
- BARRIONUEVO CONTRERAS, F.; AGUILAR MOYA, L; GONZÁLEZ RODRÍGUEZ, R.: «Superficial archaeological prospection of the northwestern extreme of Cádiz province. Campaign 1994». Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía 1994.
- GILES PACHECO, F.; SANTIAGO PEREZ, A.; GUTIERREZ LOPEZ, J.Mª.; MATA ALMONTE, E.; AGUILERA RODRIGUEZ, L.: «Superficial archaeological prospections in the Guadalete river basin. 1st Campaign (1989)». Anuario Arqueológico de Andalucía 1989.
- TOMASSETTI GUERRA, J.M.; CARO BELLIDO, A.: El Cuervo de Sevilla: in the center of a History. First part (Prehistory – Middle Ages). Cádiz. 1999.
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