Unearthing Son Peretó

Please share with your friends. Slide 1: Title Slide Welcome to this presentation on Son Peretó, a vital archaeological site located in Manacor, Mallorca. Today, we will examine the evolution of funerary and domestic spaces on the island during Late Antiquity, focusing on the 5th through the 8th centuries AD. Slide 2: The Balearic Islands at the Centre of Mediterranean Transition The Balearic Islands held a strategic position in the western Mediterranean trade routes. While the period between the 3rd and 10th centuries is often historically dismissed as a "dark age," physical evidence from Son Peretó reveals a vibrant community that remained integrated into wider Mediterranean networks through Vandal, Byzantine, and pre-Islamic periods. Slide 3: Locating the South Sector within the Religious Complex First discovered in 1912, the site has been the subject of modern systematic excavations since 1981. Our focus is the Sector Sur (South Sector), which shares a structural boundary with the southern wall of the site’s Paleochristian Baptistery, sitting adjacent to the main Basilica. Slide 4: The Architectural Phasing of the South Sector The South Sector is divided into four distinct areas: Ámbitos A, B, C, and D. These structures are defined by zocales—stone walls bound with clay and an inner core of rubble—which illustrate the local architectural techniques used to organize the site's expanding functions. Slide 5: Ámbito A: Where Domestic Routine Meets Funerary Ritual Ámbito A reveals a complex hybrid history. Originally designed with a compacted earth floor and a cooking hearth, it was eventually repurposed to accommodate funerary practices, including the placement of high-status burials and a specialized ritual pit. Slide 6: The Women of the Northern Wall Excavations along the northern wall of Ámbito A uncovered two significant female burials. Burial 2010-4 remained completely undisturbed since the 7th or 8th century, while Burial 2010-3 showed evidence of an ancient robbery attempt where a cover slab was shifted shortly after the inhumation. Slide 7: Anatomy of a Refrigerium: The Funerary Banquet Pit A central feature of Ámbito A is a ritual pit (UE 498) cut directly into the rock. Unlike smooth storage silos, its rough construction and the presence of animal bones with burn marks, ash, and nearly complete vessels link it to the practice of refrigeria—memorial meals consumed at the grave site to honour the dead. Slide 8: The Culina and the Vandal Connection The hearth, or culina, found in Ámbito A provides a direct link to the Vandal occupation of the Balearics. Key artefacts found embedded in the floor, such as a bronze coin minted by the Vandal King Thrasamund and North African mortars, prove that trade lines remained robust during the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Slide 9: Ámbito B: A Dense Matrix of Overlapping Inhumations In contrast to Ámbito A’s hybrid use, Ámbito B served as an intense focal point for burials. It contains four distinct grave sites holding at least eight individuals, representing multiple generations of use and the common practice of reopening graves for new burials. Slide 10: Demographic Profile of the Ámbito B Burials The individuals in Ámbito B include men, women, and children, indicating it was likely a family panteón rather than a space reserved for clergy. The deepest and oldest layer belongs to Burial 2009-3, a young woman interred at the turn of the 5th century. Slide 11: Reading the Stratigraphy: Graves Older Than Walls Physical evidence shows that the site was a cemetery before the rooms were built. In Phase 1, high-status open-air burials were marked by stone tumuli (mensae); later, in Phase 2, the western wall of Ámbito B was built directly on top of these existing funerary structures. Slide 12: Structural Expansion: Ámbitos C and D As the site evolved, Ámbito C was added, characterized by a deep storage depot (the Cubeta). This pit was eventually filled with squared stones and ceramics after 600 AD, marking another shift in the room's function late in the site's history. Slide 13: The Timeline of Sector Sur: A Continuum of Occupation This timeline demonstrates that Sector Sur was never static. It transitioned from an open-air 4th-century cemetery into enclosed domestic spaces in the 5th and 6th centuries, and finally into a site for Late Antique ritual banquets well into the 8th century. Slide 14: Redefining the Transition to the Middle Ages In summary, Son Peretó proves there was no sudden collapse after the fall of the Roman Empire. The community remained tethered to Mediterranean trade and adapted its religious and domestic rituals over five centuries, acting as an archaeological blueprint for a society in vibrant transition. Thanks for watching.