Building Death: Readings on French and Iberian Prehistoric Hypogea

Edited by Marie-Elise Porqueddu Edited by Nuria Castañeda Edited by Rosa Barroso Bermejo Edited by Primitiva Bueno Ramírez

Book cover: Building Death: Readings on French and Iberian Prehistoric Hypogea

Extent: 186 pages

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: European Prehistory, World Archaeology

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(August 2026)

ISBN: 9781805832898

6.85 x 9.69 inches

Price: $49.00

In stock

Exploring prehistoric hypogea across France, Iberia and the western Mediterranean, this volume examines their chronology, architecture and spatial distribution alongside funerary practices and grave goods, combining studies of individual necropolises with regional syntheses and broader perspectives.


Building Death analyses the role of hypogea within the diversity of funerary constructions employed in the Western Mediterranean since the Neolithic. Their underground nature, entirely or partially carved out rock, and their architecture, sometimes hybrid, elevates them to the status of complex tombs exhibiting a wide variety of forms and functions.

The book derives from an international conference held on 23 November 2023 at the University of Alcalá (UAH), in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, Spain), which brought together French, Portuguese, and Spanish specialists on the subject. It offers a novel overview of the rich assemblage of hypogea in Southwestern Europe. Papers address specific studies of necropolises, regional syntheses, and broader perspectives applied to the entire Mediterranean. The range of topics covers spatial distribution, chronology, construction typologies, funerary practices and grave goods, and even the contribution that can be made by analyses of other underground features such as flint mines.

Contributors

Introduction – Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Nuria Castañeda, Rosa Barroso Bermejo, Primitiva Bueno Ramírez

The Hypogean Phenomenon in Alentejo, South Portugal (4th and 3rd Millennia BC). A Summary – António Carlos Valera

The Necropolis of Valle de las Higueras, Huecas (Toledo).Cave 3 as a Case-Study for the Characterisation of the Use of Bell Beaker Hypogea in inland Iberia – Rosa Barroso Bermejo, Primitiva Bueno Ramírez, Rodrigo de Balbín-Behrmann

Displaying power: burial structures in Humanejos cemetery (Parla, Madrid) – Rafael Garrido-Pena, Raúl Flores Fernández, Ana Mercedes Herrero-Corral, Rodrigo Paulos-Bravo

Magdalena I: Funerary aspects in the Henares River lower valley (Madrid) during Late Prehistory – César Heras Martínez, Miriam Cubas Morera, Sergio Heras Bastida

What’s the relationship between hypogea and dolmens in the south of France? The example of the Fontvieille site in Provence – Xavier Margarit

Final Neolithic ornaments and rock-cut tombs in south-eastern France – Laurine Viel

Neolithic hypogea in the south-west of the Marne (France) – Rémi Martineau

Prehistoric rock-cut tombs in the western Mediterranean: a global approach to local phenomena – Marie-Elise Porqueddu

Flint Mining Know-How in the South European Neolithic – Nuria Castañeda

  • Edited by Marie-Elise Porqueddu
  • Edited by Nuria Castañeda
  • Edited by Rosa Barroso Bermejo
  • Edited by Primitiva Bueno Ramírez