1.- Gizaburuaga

1.- Gizaburuaga
Today, two slabs of the original chamber are preserved. A stone tumulus, made with local basalts, can be seen around it. One of the slabs had fallen over, and during the reconstruction works it was put upright.

Measurements

The tumulus has a diameter of 11 meters and a height of 0.5 meters. The upright slab is 1.7 metres long, 0.5 metres high and 0.2 metres thick. The slab that was fallen over is 1.6 meters long, 1.1 meters wide and 0.2 meters thick. After reconstruction, the dimensions of the chamber are 1.7 X 1.6 meters.

Research

It was discovered by J.M. Barandiaran in 1920, but it was not excavated. During 2016 and 2017, J. Tapia carried out an archaeological excavation and reconstruction work. The structure has been published in several research papers: Aranzadi, Barandiaran and Eguren (1922), J. M. Barandiaran (1953), J. Elósegui (1953), Archaeological Maps of Gipuzkoa (1982, 1990), J. M. Apellániz (1973).

Findings

77 ceramic shards of at least 4 different vessels, one of which has been almost completely rebuilt; 12 flint pieces (a scraper, a slab, three retouched pieces, 7 laminar fragments and a core); 8 quartz glass pieces (rock crystal); an archer's bracer; 8 stone necklace beads; a sharpening stone; 5 metal ornaments; fragments of carbonized human remains (more than 100 fragments); charcoal.

Highlights

Barandiarán only recorded the tumulus but did not excavate it. During the 2016-17 excavation, the sepulchral chamber was located and two phases of use were differentiated: the first during the Neolithic period, and the second later, in the Bronze Age. Between the two phases, part of the chamber collapsed and one of the slabs fell. In the last phase of use, beliefs changed and the funerary rites turned from burial to incineration.

Type
Dolmen
Date
Neolithic-Bronze Age (4,000-1,500 B.C.)
Town
Elgoibar - Soraluze
Location

Between Atxolin and Karakate, in a flat area located to the northwest of Idoia.