- Motillas
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The motillas during the Iberian Bronze Age
The motillas were the first attested settlement of La Mancha (Spain), which took place in the Middle Bronze Age by people belonging to the culture of Bronze of Levante.
The motillas are human-made hills atop of which are placed fortified settlements. Most of the sites of this culture belong to this category. Only a few sites in the skirts of Sierra Morena make an exception, being these fortified towns of larger size. Their height is usually between four and five meters and the motillas are separated from each other by a distance of four or five kilometers.
The motillas were created as a consequence of the destruction of fortified enclaves that existed from c. 2200 BCE to c. 1500 BCE and were used as a control center of the resources the place offered; the motillas were thus erected c. 1500 BCE and abandoned c. 1300 BCE, coincident with the end of the Argarian civilization.
The motillas were first believed to be antique burial mounds. However, this theory was ruled out when an excavation at the Motilla de Azuer that took place in the seventies proved their defensive and management faculties. This way, a wide area could be controlled easily.
External links
References
- [Fundación Dalpa, "Patrimonio de Castilla la Mancha, La Motilla del Azuer: la Edad de Bronce en la Mancha", Memoria Historia, XVII, 2009, pgs. 93-96].
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