Tartessos wasn't a Phoenician colony, excavations reveal

Tartessos wasn't a Phoenician colony, excavations reveal

What if the first civilization of the Iberian Peninsula was not simply a transplant of eastern trading posts, but a kingdom capable of commissioning walls on the far side of the Mediterranean? That is the conclusion emerging after the last decade of excavations in the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valleys, with the Casas del Turuñuelo site as its flagship.

A building that shouldn't exist according to the manual

The Tartessian sanctuary of Turuñuelo, in Guareña (Badajoz), appeared with a monumental staircase that has no parallel in the western Mediterranean. Shortly afterwards, the third excavation phase documented a scene that surpasses any script: in the courtyard at the bottom of the staircase, a great banquet was held and, before burning and burying the building, at least 16 horses, two bulls and a pig were sacrificed.

The dating—5th century BC, two storeys and one hectare of surface area—already contradicted the old idea that Tartessos was a cultural satellite of the Phoenicians. And it does so with an architectural argument: if you wanted to copy, you wouldn't invent a unique building.

Tartessos, between fusion and dependency

The underlying debate is not new. Some argued that Tartessian culture was born from the fusion of Phoenicians and indigenous populations as early as the 9th century BC; others reduced it to an appendage of the colonial trading posts. Recent evidence leans towards the former option, with a network of settlements in the middle Guadiana valley—Cancho Roano, La Mata, Cerro del Tamborrío, Cerro Borreguero—that outline a territory organized to produce and administer surpluses.

The Aliseda Treasure, a collection of 354 orientalizing pieces from the 7th-6th centuries BC, is another piece of the puzzle. Its goldwork has parallels in the Phoenician world, but the execution and context reveal a local workshop, not an import.

Greek contacts and walls charged to Tartessos

The most uncomfortable novelty for the official narrative came with the Pentelic marble statue found at Turuñuelo, accompanied by Etruscan objects. It is not the kind of material that usually appears in a corner of Badajoz. And it connects with the news that Herodotus left written about the Phocaeans: walls built with money from a king of Tartessos.

The archaic wall of Phocaea exists, and is dated to the early 6th century BC. What is not confirmed is whether a Tartessian paid for it. The coincidence is suggestive, but sceptics recall that there are no inscriptions or accounting records from the Ancien Régime.

What remains to be excavated (and protected)

Meanwhile, heritage remains halfway between science and urban planning policy. In Castilla y León, it was decided to cover the ruins of Lancia to avoid diverting a motorway; in Extremadura, Turuñuelo was halted for two years due to the purchase of the land. Only 10% of its surface area has been excavated.

With that 10%, five relief faces and a slate tablet with warriors and letters have already appeared. The rest awaits underground. The most prudent thing would be to scratch before pouring concrete: history, when allowed to emerge, tends to be more profitable than cement.