A Black Cross Phoenician urn has been found in Cortijo de Acebedo deposit in Mijas and it is added to the one found only a few months ago in the same area, dated to the 7th century BC, and whose study indicates that it could serve as a trousseau or container for some ceremonial liquid, according to the local council.
The Mayor of Mijas, Josele Gonzalez, and the Councilor for Historical Heritage, Laura Moreno, have visited the Cortijo de Acebedo facilities to learn about the new findings. “From Acebedo, a commendable and much-needed job is being carried out to continue learning about our history. It is a commitment of this government team to join the maximum effort to continue advancing in the study of this site in which we have found numerous historical finds for our province and outside of it”, highlighted González.
He underlined that “the importance of our necropolis lies in the fact that it constitutes, to date, one of the few examples, if not the only one in the province of Malaga with these characteristics that has been excavated under an archaeological intervention within the framework of a general research project”.
In this sense, the councilor for Historical Heritage, Laura Moreno, wanted to value the work carried out in this project by the municipal department’s staff.
You said that right now, seven people are working on the field, plus the head of the department and there is also the collaboration of a restorer, plus the archive technician. “It is very important that within the City Council we put all the human and economic resources so that this project continues to take steps towards that future Interpretation Center that will put us on the map in Andalusia”, he added.
Thus, in the second phase of the General Research Project, we have continued with the excavation of the Phoenician necropolis dated between the 7th and 6th century BC Specifically, several graves have been documented with remains that indicate the performance of a funerary ritual of primary cremation, that is, that it occurs in the same place as the grave or grave. This collects the cremated bones along with some objects that make up their trousseau and other elements and that throw brushstrokes of how the offering process was to the deceased.
“Among the different documented tombs, it has been found a ceramic pot by hand, which is already in the laboratory, a potted knife, as well as a series of elements such as bowls and plates that show this ritual of offering to the diffuse. On the other hand, we have been able to find another urn of the Cruz del Negro type,” said Desiré Piñero, co-director of the research project.
In the first phase of the research project, a Black Cross urnthat dates from the 7th century BC After carrying out a CAT scan and its subsequent micro-excavation, it yielded some surprising preliminary results for the researchers, as the remains of the deceased were not found inside it, as was usual in this type of container.
Although it is still early to draw conclusions, the new Phoenician urn found in this second phase of research “could support the theory that this type of container would also have been used as trousseau or container of some liquid that was part of some funerary ceremony or ritual , a line of investigation undocumented until now”, they have indicated.