Have the secrets to Spain's lost Tartessian civilization been unearthed?

For centuries, the lost civilization of Tartessos has been shrouded in mystery. But 3,000 years after flourishing in the Iberian peninsula, its secrets are slowly emerging.

Viewed by historians as Western Europe's oldest civilization, Tartessos, in Spain's western Extremadura region, has long been considered a 'mysterious' puzzle, but little by little the pieces "are falling into place", archaeologist Sebastian Celestino Perez said. 

A member of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Celestino Perez, who has led the excavation at the site of Casas del Turunuelo since 2015, said it contains "great riches."

Last year they discovered five stone faces, two of them with intricately carved stone earrings. They have also found the bones of 42 horses lined up alongside each other.

A society that emerged out of the contact between the indigenous Iberian population and traders either from Phoenicia or Greece, Tartessos flourished from the ninth to the fifth century BCE in an area extending from Extremadura to the southern Andalusia region and an adjoining area in Portugal. 

Described in the ancient writings of Herodotus and Pliny the Elder as being rich in metals and minerals, Tartessos has long been the subject of outlandish theories, as well as the mystery of its disappearance.

Severe droughts or recurrent flooding have been put forward as reasons why the population left the land unworkable, forcing the inhabitants to leave. 

Excavations first began after the discovery in 1958 of the so-called El Carambolo treasure hoard just outside the southern city of Seville which offered the first proof of the existence of Tartessos. 

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Since then, they have intensified with the use of new technologies to recreate three-dimensional images of the various remains.

The excavations have shown that the Tartessians used "elaborate means of construction", explained Rodriguez, painting a picture of a civilization which prospered thanks to the rich metal resources in the area which were favored by the Greeks and the Phoenicians.

According to Javier Paredes, former mayor of the nearby town Zalamea de la Serena, the site was used as "a large gathering place" used for religious purposes and trade. 

Inside the complex, archaeologists found bronze figurines, gold jewellery, marble slabs and pieces of pottery, some from Greece, revealing trading connections. 

So far, historians have had to rely on hypothesis alone in the absence of written evidence: although the Tartessians did use a script based on the Phoenician alphabet, nobody has yet managed to decipher it.

"Our understanding is growing but we still have a lot to learn," admitted Celestino Perez. 

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