Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
Prehistoric material culture proposed to be symbolic in nature has been the object of considerable archaeological work from diverse theoretical perspectives, yet rarely are methodological tools used to test the interpretations. The lack of testing is often justified by invoking the opinion that the slippery nature of past human symbolism cannot easily be tackled by the scientific method. One such case, from the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, involves engraved stone plaques from megalithic funerary monuments dating ca. 3,500-2,750 B.C. (calibrated age). One widely accepted proposal is that the plaques are ancient mnemonic devices that record genealogies. The analysis reported here demonstrates that this is not the case, even when the most supportive data and techniques are used. Rather, we suspect there was a common ideological background to the use of plaques that overlay the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, with little or no geographic patterning. This would entail a cultural system in which plaque design was based on a fundamental core idea, with a number of mutable and variable elements surrounding it.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1371/journal.pone.0088296
Volume
9
Issue
2
Repository Citation
García, R. D. and O'Brien, Michael J., "Phylogenetic Analysis Shows That Neolithic Slate Plaques From the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula are not Genealogical Recording Systems" (2014). History Faculty Publications. 5.
https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/hist_faculty/5
Comments
© 2014 the authors. Published under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088296.
García Rivero D., O'Brien M.J.. 2014. Phylogenetic analysis shows that neolithic slate plaques from the southwestern Iberian Peninsula are not genealogical recording systems. Public Library of Science.