Helmut Becker

Discovery of a first Neolithic settlement in the Meseta of Central Spain near Ambrona (Soria) by caesium magnetometry in 1996

Cooperation of Bavarian State Conservation Off ice . Department Archaeological Prospection and Aerial Archaeology (H. Becker), Institute for General and Applied Geophysics Munich University (H.C. Soffel), German Archaeological Institute Madrid (M. Kunst, H. Schubart .T. Ulbert) and University ofValladolid (M. Rojo) The archaeological excavation of the Early Bronze Age barrow La Pena de la Abucla near Ambrona (Soria) by Manuel Rojo, University ofValladolid, brought some Early Neolithic pottery fragments from the deeper strata to light, which gave the idea searching for an Neolithic settlement somewhere in the vicinity. An extensive program for ficldwalking by a team of the University ofValladolid surveyed about 12 localities with Neolithic and later ceramics in the wider surroundings of Ambrona, which were completely unknown before. In September 1996 a magnetic prospection by caesium magnetometry was undertaken in the sites Ambrona-La Lampara containing also the Pena de la Abuela, and Ambrona-La Rcvilla