3,000 year old necropolis discovered beneath site of Visigoth graves in Spain

Spanish archaeologists excavating a Visigoth necropolis in Sena, in the northeastern province of Huesca, have uncovered what they say is a burial site dating to the 10th century BCE and that was part of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture.

An urn that revealed the existence of the cemetery dating back more than 2,000 years [Credit: EFE]

Two urns and a lid were discovered in the graveyard. Hugo Chautón, the archaeologist overseeing the excavation, says Urnfield culture spread from central Europe into northeastern Spain around 1,000 years BCE. The name comes from the Urnfield culture’s custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which were then buried.

“This culture represents the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron,” said Chautón, “and provides valuable information about burial practices, particularly the move from burying the dead to cremating them.”

Archaeologists work on the Visigoth burial site in Sena (Huesca) [Credit: EFE]

The team has been excavating a Visigoth burial site dating back to the fifth century of the Common Era. The Visigoths invaded the Iberian peninsula in the wake of the collapse of the Roman empire.

“We had indications that there was some kind of previous settlement nearby and this year we have established that it was just underneath the Visigoth necropolis,” said Chautón.

Source: El Pais [July 21, 2017]