Spain : a Masterfully Crafted 5000-year-old Copper Age Crystal Dagger
Matamoro
The archeological treasure
A rare archaeological discovery was found by a collaboration of researchers from the University of Granada, the University of Seville and the Spanish Higher Research Council. This treasure included the magnificent crystal dagger pictured above. Found in the megalithic tomb of Montelirio Tholos from 2007 to 2010, it was accompanied by ten arrowheads, four blades and a core for making weapons, all made of rock crystal. According to experts, this artefact is "the most technically sophisticated" ever found in the Iberian Peninsula and would have required enormous skill to carve. It measures nearly 8.5 inches long (21.59cm).
All the elements around these legendary weapons suggest that they once belonged to an elite individual, such as the rarity and distance of the necessary materials, the crystal mines being far away and the ivory coming from Asian elephants, as well as the extreme skill involved in shaping it.
The researchers also believe that rock crystal at this time may have had symbolic significance and that such societies used it for vitality, magical powers and links with ancestors : "They probably represent a funerary paraphernalia accessible only to the elite of this period" reads the study published in the journal Quaternary International.
The tomb is located in the lower Guadalquivir valley - the settlement is called Valencina. The site is revered as the most important Copper Age site on the Iberian Peninsula and is also the largest.
Researchers discovered rock crystals in eight different areas of the massive 143-foot-long structure, which includes a 128-foot-long (39m) corridor leading to a main chamber more than 15 feet (4,5m) in diameter.
Because of the size of the dagger, researchers believe it was taken from a single crystal at least eight inches (20.32cm) long and two inches (5.08cm) thick, and was designed to fit an ivory handle. Essentially, the handle consists of two parts (both from the Asian elephant) made separately and then assembled; a handle measuring approximately 8.4 cm (3,3 inches) long and 4.5 cm (1,8 inches) wide, and an ornamental knob or top measuring 13 cm (5,11 inches) long and 4.5 cm wide (1,8 inches).
This is further evidence of the ancient links between Asia and the West... Which revives the hypothesis of the location of Atlantis, linked to the semi-mythical city of Tartessos cited by the ancient Hellenes.
The arrowheads, 16 in all, were made by pressure-cutting, which is a process that removes narrow flakes along the edge of the stone. Researchers say they mimic the appearance of flint arrowheads, but note that greater skill was required to forge such objects from crystal.
Other non-local raw materials are the rock crystal microblade, the two milky quartz single crystals, the perforated muscovite pendant and bead, the chalcedony amulet or the amphibolite hand axe. The few available studies on Copper Age rock crystal technology show that potential sources are remote (Morgado Rodríguez et al.2016). With regard to fibrolite, no sources exist either in the western Sierra Morena or in southwestern Iberia, which means that it is reasonable to conclude that this stone came from one of the places suggested in the literature, such as the Serranía de Ronda (Málaga) or Hoyazo de Nijar (Almería) (García González 2014: 399).
Tartessos : a Mythical City
The distribution of archaeological sites in which quartz and rock crystal artefacts have been found in late prehistoric southern Spain. This would be the place that corresponds to the supposed location of the mythical Tartessos, mentioned by the ancient Greeks and shown on an ancient map there.
The geologist Marc-André Gutscher (CNRS/Brest), who took part in the Milos conference, gave his support to another French researcher, Jacques Collina-Girard, who also suggests that the islands of Cape Spartel, located to the west of the Strait of Gibraltar, could have fed the myth of Atlantis.
The search for Atlantis
"Gutscher's sonar field studies first showed that 12,000 years ago - the supposed period of the tragedy - the island was smaller than his colleague thought and therefore hardly habitable. But the study of the sediments revealed an unsuspected history: the geologist discovered traces of turbidity, real underwater avalanches. Several earthquakes would have shaken the island, which would therefore have sunk into the sea more abruptly than Collina-Girard described. A scenario closer to the catastrophe recounted by Plato, according to which Atlantis and its brilliant civilisation disappeared in one day. "
This account, written by Plato over 2300 years ago, has put scientists on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis. Did it ever exist? And if so, where was it and when did it disappear?
In a recent article in Geology, Marc-André Gutscher of the European Institute for Marine Studies in Plouzané gives details of a candidate for the lost city: the submerged island of Spartel, west of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The top of this island lies about 60 metres below the surface in the Gulf of Cadiz, having sunk beneath the waves at the end of the last ice age as melting glaciers caused sea levels to rise.
Geological evidence has shown that a great earthquake and tsunami struck this island about 12,000 years ago, at about the time and place indicated in Plato's writings. Gutscher studied the island in detail, using sound waves reflected off the seabed to map its contours.
Gutscher says the island may have sunk more since then because of seismic activity. The layers of turbidite, sand and mud shaken up by underwater avalanches suggest that eight earthquakes have occurred in the area since the sinking of Atlantis. Each earthquake could have lowered the sea floor by several metres.
So, 12,000 years ago, Spartel could have been 40 metres (43,74 yards) higher than expected, and could have measured five kilometres (3,1 miles) by two kilometres (1,24 miles).
"This is an interesting contribution to the discussion," says Jacques Collina-Girard, a geologist at the University of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence, who proposed Spartel as a candidate for Atlantis some years ago.
"This does not mean that the island was inhabited," Gutscher warns. At a conference of Atlantis researchers in Greece this month, he became convinced that the sophisticated city described by some could not have existed so long ago. "If it was inhabited, it would probably have been simple fishermen and not a Bronze Age culture as described by Plato"
The Bronze Age is generally described as beginning just 5,000 years ago. Gutscher adds that his sound reflection data revealed no unusual geometric structures that would suggest an extinct civilisation. He says the Egyptians who told Plato the story of Atlantis may have used a different definition of "years", meaning that the destruction of Atlantis occurred more recently than expected.
The conference in Greece did not come to any definite conclusions about the existence of the city. But the researchers did manage to agree on 24 criteria that a geographical area must meet to qualify as a site where Atlantis could have existed. The place must have hosted such oddities as hot springs, north winds, elephants, enough people for an army of 10,000 chariots and a bull sacrifice ritual.
At present, there are half a dozen candidates for the location of Atlantis, each with its own shortcomings. Some say that finding a final answer may prove impossible.
Summary of the study :
- Many geographical similarities exist between Plato's descriptions of Atlantis and a paleoisland (Spartel) in the western Strait of Gibraltar.
- The dialogues tell of a catastrophic event that submerged the island ca. 11.6 ka in one day and one night, due to violent earthquakes and floods.
- This sudden destruction is consistent with a large earthquake (M> 8.5) and a tsunami, as in the Gulf of Cadiz region in 1755 when the tsunami rise reached 10 m. Large earthquakes (M 8-9) and tsunamis occur in the Gulf of Cadiz with a recurrence time of 1.5-2 ky, according to sedimentary data. An unusually thick turbidite dated at ca. 12 ka may coincide with the destructive event in Plato's account.
- The detailed morphology of the Spartel palaeoisland, as determined from recently acquired high-resolution bathymetric data, is reported here. The viability of human habitation on this ca. 11.6 ka palaeoisland is discussed on the basis of a new bathymetric map.
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Let's keep an eye out for the next signs that the gods will send us to guide us in our quest in reconnecting with our roots.
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