event · evt_iberia1_el_argar_terminal_transformation
Terminal transformation of the Argaric institutional system
By the mid-second millennium BCE, the settlement, mortuary, production and political configurations conventionally grouped as El Argar cease to be reproduced in the same form across their former distributions.
What is the evidence?
observation
By the mid-second millennium BCE, the settlement, mortuary, production and political configurations conventionally grouped as El Argar cease to be reproduced in the same form across their former distributions.Review and provenance
Specialist reviewer: not recorded. Review date: not recorded.
Dataset workflow: proposed. This is separate from specialist review.
Confidence describes the stated assessment; it does not certify expert approval. How review works.
Chronology
Dating intervals may describe uncertainty or phases; their width alone does not establish event duration.
1600 BCE–1500 BCE
Precision: range
moderatePreferred display range for this release. It preserves BCE ordering and does not suppress narrower samples, phase dates or alternatives listed separately.
- supports · contextualizes
Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC) — Francesco Iacono, Elisabetta Borgna, Maurizio Cattani, Claudio Cavazzuti, Helen Dawson, Yannis Galanakis, Maja Gori, Cristiano Iaia, Nicola Ialongo, Thibault Lachenal, Alberto Lorrio, Rafael Micó, Barry Molloy, Argyro Nafplioti, Kewin Peche-Quilichini, Cristina Rihuete-Herrada, Roberto Risch (2022)Provides the broader terminal and post-Argaric sequence.
Locator: pp. 371–445, Iberian sequence - supports · dates
Bronze Age Frontiers and Pottery Circulation: Political and Economic Relations at the Northern Fringes of El Argar, Southeast Iberia, ca. 2200–1550 BCE — Adrià Moreno Gil, Carla Garrido García, Bárbara Bonora Soriano, David Gómez-Gras, Roberto Risch (2025)Provides a late boundary for the archaeological system.
Locator: c. 2200–1550 BCE study interval and regional discussion - supports · contextualizes
Agriculture and Social Control: From the trend towards monoculture to agricultural diversity in El Argar — Adrián Mora-González, Francisco Javier Jover Maestre, Francisco Contreras Cortés, Juan Antonio López Padilla (2022)Shows the economic and agrarian institutions that require explanation rather than assuming a generic collapse.
Locator: pp. 389–409
1550 BCE–1450 BCE
Precision: broad range
lowSome post-Argaric chronologies allow selected terminal or residual practices after c. 1550 BCE; this is not the preferred system-wide range.
- supports · dates
Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC) — Francesco Iacono, Elisabetta Borgna, Maurizio Cattani, Claudio Cavazzuti, Helen Dawson, Yannis Galanakis, Maja Gori, Cristiano Iaia, Nicola Ialongo, Thibault Lachenal, Alberto Lorrio, Rafael Micó, Barry Molloy, Argyro Nafplioti, Kewin Peche-Quilichini, Cristina Rihuete-Herrada, Roberto Risch (2022)Some post-Argaric chronologies allow selected terminal or residual practices after c. 1550 BCE; this is not the preferred system-wide range.
Locator: See linked source chronology or phase model - supports · dates
Bronze Age Frontiers and Pottery Circulation: Political and Economic Relations at the Northern Fringes of El Argar, Southeast Iberia, ca. 2200–1550 BCE — Adrià Moreno Gil, Carla Garrido García, Bárbara Bonora Soriano, David Gómez-Gras, Roberto Risch (2025)Some post-Argaric chronologies allow selected terminal or residual practices after c. 1550 BCE; this is not the preferred system-wide range.
Locator: See linked source chronology or phase model
Interpretation and caveats
The best-supported atlas interpretation is an uneven dissolution and reorganization of Argaric institutions, not a peninsula-wide collapse or securely demonstrated population replacement.
Event context
Classification
Event type: regional institutional transformation
Evidence layer: archaeological
Timeline role: regional core
People and places
Locations: Late El Argar, La Bastida, La Almoloya, Fuente Álamo
Why it matters to the timeline
This is a central transition within the required southeast and post-Argaric coverage.
Alternative interpretations
- Some regional sequences may place terminal changes closer to c. 1550 BCE, while others extend selected Argaric practices later. (moderate confidence)
Research notes
- Provides the broader terminal and post-Argaric sequence. Role: contextualizes. Locator: pp. 371–445, Iberian sequence.
- Provides a late boundary for the archaeological system. Role: dates. Locator: c. 2200–1550 BCE study interval and regional discussion.
- Shows the economic and agrarian institutions that require explanation rather than assuming a generic collapse. Role: contextualizes. Locator: pp. 389–409.
Evidence and sources
- supports · contextualizes
Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC) — Francesco Iacono, Elisabetta Borgna, Maurizio Cattani, Claudio Cavazzuti, Helen Dawson, Yannis Galanakis, Maja Gori, Cristiano Iaia, Nicola Ialongo, Thibault Lachenal, Alberto Lorrio, Rafael Micó, Barry Molloy, Argyro Nafplioti, Kewin Peche-Quilichini, Cristina Rihuete-Herrada, Roberto Risch (2022)Provides the broader terminal and post-Argaric sequence.
Locator: pp. 371–445, Iberian sequence - supports · dates
Bronze Age Frontiers and Pottery Circulation: Political and Economic Relations at the Northern Fringes of El Argar, Southeast Iberia, ca. 2200–1550 BCE — Adrià Moreno Gil, Carla Garrido García, Bárbara Bonora Soriano, David Gómez-Gras, Roberto Risch (2025)Provides a late boundary for the archaeological system.
Locator: c. 2200–1550 BCE study interval and regional discussion - supports · contextualizes
Agriculture and Social Control: From the trend towards monoculture to agricultural diversity in El Argar — Adrián Mora-González, Francisco Javier Jover Maestre, Francisco Contreras Cortés, Juan Antonio López Padilla (2022)Shows the economic and agrarian institutions that require explanation rather than assuming a generic collapse.
Locator: pp. 389–409
Referenced records
- La Almoloya · entity
- Fuente Álamo · entity
- La Bastida · entity
- Late El Argar · entity