Prize for prehistoric DNA. The archaeological investigations at La Almoloya, in Murcia, carried out by a team from the Department of Prehistory of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, were recognized yesterday with the III National Prize for Archeology and Paleontology, which is awarded biennially by the Palarq Foundation and which is endowed with €80,000. The award ceremony took place at the National Archaeological Museum, with the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, and the director of the aforementioned institution, Isabel Izquierdo.
The award recognizes the value of research, which is above all and increasingly multidisciplinary. The La Almoloya site has four or five features that make it exceptional. Possibly the most interesting thing today is what the analysis of the genetic remains found since digging began (professionally) in 2008.
"It's probably the site in Europe where the most positive DNA results appear, we have 68 identified individuals between 4,000 and 3,600 years old," explains Rafael Micó, one of the six project directors, to La Vanguardia. The others are Vicente Lull, Cristina Rihuete, Eva Celdrán, Camila and Miguel F. G. Valério.
The most recent studies clearly conclude that the women of La Almoloya were not from La Almoloya, they do not have the same genetic line as their neighbors, which allows us to deduce that during adolescence the girls changed villages. The most surprising thing – we are talking about 4,000 years ago – is that those women changed their residence sometimes to get married, yes, but at other times, apparently, it was for economic or political reasons. "CSI has done us a lot of harm, actually", jokes Micó "because it seems that looking for DNA is simple and fast, but it is not like that, the value of what we are finding is exceptional".
In this site, located on a plateau at an altitude of 600 m, near the town of Totana, there is what appears to be a large audience hall, under which a couple appears buried, with an incredibly rich ajovar , unpublished at the time. The crypt is full of silver and jewels.
It should be emphasized that this tomb is located under what has been considered the first political meeting place in Europe. A large room with three levels denoting three levels of power, or at least two rungs above the most numerous. Perhaps we are talking about a kind of proto-parliament.
And the great personality that presides over it, at that time already dead, is a woman. And a woman who is not from that place, from abroad. The grave is close to another one, occupied by two girls, aged 2 and 7.
It does not have great pyramids or ziggurats, certainly, as some contemporary societies had, "but states or civilizations are known to be defined by their monuments", remarks Micó. The Argáric culture presents a distinctive architectural element: they built a monumental wall, up to 5 meters high, an impressive artefact resulting from a defensive need.
Maybe that's why halberds were discovered in some tombs, weapons that required training, a minimal military structure. It is perhaps the civilization that creates the monopoly of violence, a police or army instructed by the elite.
The team of archaeologists from the UAB excavates the site this year until July 29. It is the 16th year in a row that work has been done at the site. It was previously excavated for exactly four days in 1944. From that date it was also drilled, but by looters. They left 90 holes and desecrated 22 graves. No one knows what they took from there.
