The Chalcolithic period was characterized by collective graves always out of town. After that, the Argaric society radically changed the funerary practices by burying their own under the buildings, in individual and double graves.

It is common to find double burials of a man and a woman.  The case of tomb 12 contains the skeletons of a mature man and a woman over 40 years old, buried years after him.

In tomb 18, this circumstance did not occur at all, as we find two men buried together, who died within a short time of each other.

The first man to die was the oldest, between 21 and 29 years old. He had a congenital disability in the second and third cervical (Klippel-Feil Syndrome), visible by the shortening of the neck. In addition, he would probably also limp, as his right leg was slightly shorter than his left. These traits would have given him a unique look.

The second skeleton belonged to a young man who died at 18-21. He had a congenital anomaly in the sacrum. We do not know whether he had spina bifida occulta or visible.  In any case, he would share the fact of having an unusual trait with the other man.

Another shared aspect is having suffered, perhaps, tuberculosis. In one case, this diagnosis is proposed due to a lytic lesion in the lumbar. On the other, this is due to the alterations observed on the inside of some ribs (pleurisy).

The offerings deposited were remarkable:
– A copper axe and dagger
– A silver earring
– A pot
– A bowl full of barley and portions of sheep, goat and bovine
Although they did not belong to the elite, they were people of the wealthy class.

On the left, the bowl from tomb 18 still with sediment inside it. In the center, once emptied. On the right, some of the charred remains of dressed barley that it contained.

Tomb 21 is also a unique burial, located in the same room as tomb 18. The skeleton of a woman who died around 30 years of age layed inside the urn accompanied by special grave goods.

The remains were preserved in so optimal conditions, that we decided to transfer the tomb, in its original state, to the laboratory to work on its consolidation and musealization.

The offerings of tomb 21 consisted of a copper knife and awl, a necklace, a pot, a glass and a ceramic cup and a portion of lamb or goatling.

A new surprise appeared between tombs 18 and 21: a cenotaph (from the Greek kenos, which means ’empty’ and taphos which means ‘tomb’). It is a funerary complex that had all the characteristics of a grave but, to our surprise, did not contain human remains. But, of course, the offerings referred to someone “well off”, a male, since among them there was an axe, an object intended exclusively for men.

Burial grave goods from the cenotaph in room H3: cup, cained pot, axe and ovicaprid leg.

Right at the top of La Bastida, the remains of a slender woman of about 45 years belonging to the Argaric elite appeared in a masonry cist. Proof of this is the funeral grave goods that accompanied it, among which an exceptional ceramic vessel stands out.

Her grave goods consisted of the classic combination of a dagger and copper awl, common among women of the middle and upper classes. Likewise, it carried a vessel of the “Form 6” exclusively linked to the Argaric elite, inside which we could determine that it contained meat and vegetables mixed with honey. In addition, there was a carinated glass next to it, possibly used to extract and distribute or consume the contents of the larger vessel. Finally, two fossil shark teeth stand out, presumably worn as ornaments.