Trafalgar: megalithic tombs still in use in the Bronze Age in Spain

A late megalithic necropolis

The Trafalgar necropolis, at Barbate in the province of Cádiz, includes two known tombs, each containing several individuals buried together. Megaliths, large structures of upright or assembled stones, are typical of the Neolithic and Copper Age, or Chalcolithic, societies of the Iberian Peninsula.

According to the study published in PLOS One, the site stands out above all for its late date. It illustrates a period when Iberian communities gradually abandoned large collective tombs in favour of smaller individual burials. This transition did not happen at the same pace everywhere: some regions resisted this cultural change, and southern Spain offers the most striking example.

Radiocarbon dating

To establish the chronology of the site, the researchers radiocarbon dated sixteen individuals. This method relies on measuring the decay of carbon-14 contained in organic remains, which makes it possible to estimate when an individual died.

The results indicate that the two tombs were used between 1875 and 1625 BCE. This range shows that the cultures of southern Spain continued to practise collective burial well into the second millennium BCE, among the last Iberian cultures known to do so.

A construction date still uncertain

The date when the necropolis was built is still unknown. The absence of older material found at the site leads the authors to propose a hypothesis: the structure may have appeared slightly earlier, at the beginning of the second millennium BCE.

Confirming this will require new dating methods. If the hypothesis holds, Trafalgar would rank among the last major megalithic funerary projects carried out in the region, which would change the picture of how this tradition came to an end.

A site threatened by dunes

The researchers believe other tombs may still lie in the area, which would help clarify the history of Iberian funerary practices. Such potential makes the site a major scientific priority for years to come.

However, the location is exposed to strong winds and the shifting sands surrounding it, and there is a real risk that the necropolis could again be buried under dunes. Preserving the remains therefore requires regular maintenance. Without such monitoring, the structures could disappear before yielding all their information.

A new view of funerary practices

The authors stress the significance of the discovery: in their view, a entirely new monumental funerary area would have been built during the Bronze Age in a landscape dominated by the sea. This hypothesis rests on the absence of traces of earlier occupation in the immediate vicinity.

Until now, the available data for this period pointed mainly to the reuse of megalithic monuments erected during the Copper Age. Trafalgar suggests instead that new monumental funerary spaces continued to be built, which invites a rethinking of how funerary rites evolved in southern Iberia.