Elements for the definition of the Bell Beaker horizon in the lower Ebro Valley: Preliminary approaches

The significance of the lower valley of the Ebro during Late Prehistory was undoubtedly due to its richness in resources for the first agricultural societies and for being an important way of communication between the Mediterranean coast, northeast, and the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. This importance is evident in large sites located for years, but today they are still under study with the aim to undestand different economic and territorial dynamics that occurred in the III and II millennia cal BC. Problems inherent to the archaeological record, and circumstances of research, place us today in an initial knowledge, especially with regard to Bell Beaker, whose evidence and interpretations have changed little in the last twenty years in that region. It is still lacking material and chronological characterization of Bell beaker domestic occupations and their relationship with funerary areas. In this sense, we think the key may be in sites findings from recent years that are examples of extensive occupations in valleys along the III millennium BC, present throughout the region in high farming capacity areas. One of these sites, El Molló, located on an immediate terrace Ebro River is the subject of study by our Research Group. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical review to the bell beaker horizon in the lower Ebro Valley from the updated documentation and the review of the known records, particularly the register associated to the 'Bell Beaker set' as a first step to the understanding of the possible economic and social basis that sustained the appearance of bell beakers in the region. The results of our approach does not yet allow us make definitive conclusions. For the moment the state of art on Bell Beaker in the area (and on the third millennium BC in general) is far from being able to provide an answer to differentiate: exchange elements, elements of local origin and production, and local elements such as emulations result of contact or the arrival of ideas.