Resumen
The Dolmen of “El Pendón”, located in the village of Reinoso (Burgos), is an exceptional site not only for its ocupational sequence but also for the singular ritual-funerary practices documented in its ossuary. In this work, the first results of its excavation, still in process, are presented. At first, it was developed simply as a project of enhancement of the monument, because it was thought it was completely destroyed due to its continuous plundering. At the moment when it was realized that the most of the prehistoric levels could be intact, a fieldwork methodolgy in area and a detailed system of recording suitable for a site with these features were implemented. The analysis of the evidences has revealed part of the architectural modifications and of the complex rite-funerary practices that were carried out, because of which what was a classic passage grave of large dimensions turned into a monumental milestone of collective identity and memory for the populations of its surrounding. At the moment, two cycles of use have been documented that, waiting for radiocarbon datings, could be placed at the beginning/first half of the IVth millennium cal. BC and the end of the IIIrd millennium cal. BC respectively. These one are characterized by a different funerary management (some bone rearrangements unknown in the Iberian Peninsula have been recorded) as well as by a complex sequence of “deconstructive” practices that changed the image of the megalithic monument completely (dismantling and closure of the corridor and of part of the chamber). Some evidences of possible later reuse phases, that would have taken place around the end of IIIrd-beginning of IInd millennium cal. BC and would be probably linked to the Bell Beaker phenomenon, have been documented, but its archaeological contexts are very altered by the recurrent plundering of recent times.
Palabras clave
Megalithism. Burgos. Reuse. BonesReordering. FieldworkMethodology.