.:: CAA 2010 -Fusion of Cultures- ::. Computer Applications in Archaeology, Granada (Spain) 6-9 April 2010

Monday 5th, April 2010

Los Millares is the name of a Chalcolithic occupation site 17km north of Almería, whose population in ancient times has been estimated at approximately 1000 inhabitants.

Guadix is the largest city in the northern area of the Granada province. The most famous feature of the town is the cave dwellings in the Troglodyte Quartier, where upwards of half the population live. These caves are in no way primitive dwellings and are a solution to the fierce heat of the summer. Its baroque Cathedral is also very impressive, as well as its Moorish Castle and the newly discovered Roman Theatre.

Los Millares

It consists of a settlement, guarded by numerous outlying forts and a cementery of passage grave tombs and covers around 5 acres (2ha). It was discovered in 1891 during the course of the construction of a railway. Further excavation work continues today.

The settlement itself was surrounded by three concentric walls with four bastions; radiocarbon dating has established that one wall collapsed and was rebuilt around 3025 BC. A cluster of simple dwellings lay inside the walls as well as one large building containing evidence of copper smelting. Pottery excavated from the site included plain and decorated wares including symbolkeramik bowls bearing oculus motifs. Similar designs appear on various carved stone idols found at the site. Although primarily farmers, the inhabitants of Los Millares had crucially also learned metal working, especially the smelting and forming of copper, and the site is considered highly important in understanding the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

Guadix

The route proposed runs through the centre of Guadix, a city with an enormous heritage that encloses within its urbanistic walls a curious voyage through History. The numerous artistic and monumental charms of the city have left the mark of those who baptised the city as ‘River and Life’; a city that went from being Acci to being called Guadisis, Guadias and, lastly, Guadix.

The area where Guadix is located has been inhabited since Prehistory and it is one of the oldest human settlements of Spain due to its condition of crossroad. Rests of the Neanderthal, Upper Palaeolithic and Metal Ages have been found. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians called it “Acci” from where it derives the present name. It was an important Roman colony on the side of the Augusta Route. Julius Caesar even elevated it to colony in the 45 b.C. and called it Julia Gemela Acci. During this period they had their own currencies of diverse values. At the Godos period the district begins its decadence, although the Episcopal character of the city makes it important in the different councils.

The Muslims gave its prominence back equipping it with their Arab appearance. During this period, Guadix lives periods of lights and shades, splendour and decadence. It is in the X century when Abderramán III grants it with great military importance. With the civil wars in the last stages of the Nasrid dynasty, it becomes capital of the ephemeral kingdom headed by El Zagal.

The starting point of this route could be none other than the Cathedral, constructed over the old Arab mosque. As a result of this, the inside of the temple is made up of a curious conjunction of styles with a mixture of Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance elements. Within its historic centre Guadix embraces souks, mosques and Roman edifications that each civilisation built as it passed.

The second stop on the route is the parish of Santiago, founded by the Cardinal Gaspar de Ávalos. It was also constructed on top of a mosque and was declared a National Monument and has been looted twice, once in 1812 and once during the Civil War. Considered the monument of greatest importance in the city after the Cathedral and the Citadel, the parish church of Santiago is a Renaissance building with Italianised features and a very curious Mudejar roof.

There are other churches that are much later examples, built some two hundred years after the Reconquest, shaping the urban landscape of the city with their belfries, towers and very high cupolas, bestowing on Guadix a very singular silhouette.