Funerary ritual in the Iberian necropolises based on new methodological approaches: Les Esquarterades (Ulldecona, Tarragona, Spain)

The results of the excavation and study of the Iberian necropolis of Les Esquarterades (Ulldecona, Tarragona) makes possible a reconstruction of the funerary ritual of the Early Iberian period. This site is located in an area where there is relatively abundant data on the funerary world, including several necropolises excavated between the Ebro and Mijares rivers; however, most of this research was carried out between the 1960s and 1970s, with significant methodological shortcomings, including the total absence of anthropological analyses. In the study of this necropolis, we applied a renewed methodology, with a highly interdisciplinary character. Thanks to it, we have recovered quality data on aspects on which to date there was little information for the area and period, such as the anthropological characterisation of the buried population, the ustrina or the identification of funerary banquets or libations at the time of the funerary deposits.