Soto del Henares deposit
A deposit type "hole course"
Located in an area suitable for agricultural and livestock use, which explains its long occupation from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, the multiple occupations resulted in an extensive "hole course" of more than 20 hectares.
Soto del Henares deposit
The Soto del Henares deposit is located near the mouth of the Torote river in Henares. The location has a privileged situation, since being located in an elevated area of the Henares river valley gives it visual control of the surrounding territory, especially the valley itself. It is also an area suitable for agricultural and livestock use and is close to areas suitable for hunting, which explains its long occupation.
The Soto del Henares deposit corresponds to the typology of "field of silos or holes" deposits, since the type of structures found correspond mostly to trenches excavated in the ground, mainly silos, cabin bottoms, post holes or longitudinal trenches that had different uses. In total, more than 1.000 structures of these types have been documented.
The settlement responds to the pattern established for the prehistoric sites of the peninsular center located around the great rivers, with a differentiated occupation of the space depending on the needs of each period.
So far, four major phases of occupation have been distinguished at the site:
Neolithic. It is the oldest phase and occupies an area of approximately one hectare. Four areas have been identified with Neolithic materials from groupings of holes of different morphology and two possible enclosures, one of them of about 3.000 m². The recovered ceramic material presented printed decorations, typical of this period, that testify to the existence of an occupation prior to the Final Neolithic.
Chalcolithic. It seems to correspond to a more extensive occupation, of about 16 hectares, with several enclosures of moats, habitat structures and a burial in a grave under a burial mound. The structures of this phase correspond mainly to storage silos with various shapes. The cabins lack items such as hearths or pole holes inside.
Two chambers have been excavated from the Chalcolithic Campaniform phase, one semi-circular, where abundant decorated ceramic material and fragments of bowls and vessels have been found, and another circular one formed by quartzite edges. A funerary structure has also been documented from this phase. It is a multiple grave in a pit with a tumular cover, that is, with a mound made of earth and stones that covered the grave. Ceramics and stone pieces corresponding to this phase have been documented in this burial mound, but the signs of reuse of the tomb allow us to suspect a Neolithic origin.
Full Bronze Age. Characterized by habitat and burial structures. The funerary or symbolic world is represented in this phase by a set of single or double burials, in which the corpse has been deposited directly inside dugouts excavated in the ground. Within this same chronological phase we also find a symbolic deposit, since it is the burial of animals, specifically ovicápridos, in a silo, whose deposition seems to respond to some type of ritual. The material record of this moment varies from that of previous periods, with ceramics that present better finishes and selection of pastes and the generalization of fairing forms.
Ancient Iron Age. A very small occupation was located in the southwest area of the site, with cabins delimited by pole holes and large structures with fillings characterized by the presence of abundant quality ceramic material and careful decoration.
As for the fauna of the site, it can be seen how from the beginning of the occupation there is a predominance of domestic species over hunting, highlighting cattle and sheep, the former being used more for secondary uses (obtaining milk and as draft power). ) and for meat the second. Hunting is losing relevance since the Neolithic, which is when it has the most representation.
The landscape that defines the study of fauna would be quite modified by the hand of man, with a large number of open areas of pastures and crops, evidenced by the existence of vegetation whose tree and shrub species are adapted to long periods of drought and heat. For all this, the presence in the site of species such as herons, deer, hares and hedgehogs is common.
Archaeological performance
The archaeological action was linked to the development of the Soto del Henares Partial Plan.