TWO EXCEPTIONAL BURIALS IN THE NECROPOLIS CRUZ DEL NEGRO (CARMONA, SEVILLE)

Abstract

The current article presents two cremation burials dated to the earliest phase of the necropolis of Cruz del Negro (Carmona, Seville), which was excavated in the 1990s. These two burials are exceptional, not so much because of the characteristic of the burial offerings, which are similar to other coeval tombs in the same necropolis and other cemeteries in the Guadalquivir Valley, but because of the provenance and function of the ash urns: two small amphorae of Syrian-Palestine origin, originally used for the storage of oil or, more likely, wine. One corresponds to the Sagona 2 type, which becomes widespread in the Western Mediterranean in the mid-7th century, and the second could be identified as a Cintas 282-283 type, dated to the late 8th or the early 7th centuries. Although both shapes are easily found in the Eastern Mediterranean (especially in the Syrian coast), they are rather uncommon in the Iberian Peninsula, especially when it comes to whole, well-preserved specimens, such as the ones found in Cruz del Negro. The fact that both were used as ash urns – one of them shows marks of repair – also raises questions about the use of their original content in the funerary ritual.