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Copper Age fortress, odd Roman burial found in Spain
A massive Copper Age fortress has been discovered during construction of a photovoltaic park on the Marquis de la Encomienda estate near Almendralejo in the Extremadura autonomous community of western Spain. The stronghold was built 4,900 years ago and even though it was fortified to the nines, it fell to enemies and was destroyed about 400 years later.
The Chalcolithic fort was the first constructed on a hilltop 1030 feet above sea level with complete 360-degree views of the landscape. Its first stage was a pentagonal adobe wall four to five feet thick with five bastions and one small entrance gate described by archaeologists as being “shaped like crab claws.” Two more concentric walls were added later to the original enclosure. The walls were reinforced with three defensive ditches and 25 total bastions placed at strategic locations to give the defending fighters the most firing angles and protected spots. The single entrance is just 27.6 inches wide, a very narrow bottleneck for any would-be attackers to get through.
The walls of the fortress enclose more than three acres in area. Remains of huts and a water reservoir found within the complex walls and ditches indicate an organized labor force coordinate by leaders. The complexity of the defensive structures reinforce that likelihood.
Archaeologists also found evidence of a fire that burned even the wooden doors in adobe walls. Adobe is not flammable, and the doors were not near any other flammable materials. This suggests the fires may have been deliberately set in a violent attack. A large number of arrowheads found in the burn layer corroborates this theory. The Cortijo Lobato fortress was abandoned around 2450 B.C. and stayed abandoned until the Roman Imperial period (2nd-3rd centuries A.D.)
The fortress was discovered in 2021 during a preliminary survey at the site of the solar park in the area of the old Cortijo Lobato. Archaeology contractors Tera S.L. excavated the site, discovering a variety of Copper Age objects (arrowheads, axes, plates, bowls, loom weights) as well as the defenses and dwellings. After the long gap in occupation, the presence of humans at the site in the High Roman Empire was revealed by a grave unearthed near the second defensive ditch.
The solitary, shallow burial contained the remains of a man between 25 and 35 years old, laid face down with a pugio (dagger) on his back. “This suggests the individual may have had a military role, as the pugio was the standard dagger used by Roman legionaries.” The burial appears to have been carried out in haste, as “the pit was barely deep enough to contain the body.” The skeleton was almost complete except for the feet, which seem to have been cut off. Remarkably, the dagger was found in an exceptional state of preservation — fully intact and still in its sheath. […]
At first, archaeologists debated whether the skeletal remains belonged to a soldier or a civilian who had simply acquired the dagger. However, the deliberate placement of the pugio in the burial “is a way of indicating he was a member of the army and was given a dishonorable burial,” a rare practice for this period, hinting at a story yet to be uncovered.
If confirmed to be a soldier, “he could only have belonged to Legio VII Gemina,” the only Roman legion stationed in Hispania at the time. Established in 74 AD, this legion was quartered in Legio (modern-day León) in the territory of the Asturians. Unlike other legions engaged in direct military campaigns, Legio VII Gemina primarily carried out escort duties, road surveillance, and provincial security.
The pugio is currently undergoing conservation and analysis. Researchers are hoping to extract archaeological DNA from one of the deceased’s teeth, which, if successful, may shed light on this person’s background, life and death.
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