00:00 Tartessos, a mysterious and very advanced society that once prospered, then suddenly disappeared without a cry.
00:09 But before their total disappearance, they performed strange rituals, as if they were looking to protect themselves from something.
00:18 What could have happened to them? Let's try to find out together.
00:23 We are in the southwest of Spain, about 2,500 years ago. Once upon a time, there was a splendid city here.
00:33 The center of Tartessos trade. Imagine a temple in the heart of a deserted city. A monumental two-story building to cut the breath.
00:44 A powerful smell of grilled meat fills the air, and smoke rises high in the sky, embalming the whole sanctuary.
00:50 The sun has already set. It's time to prepare for the ritual.
00:55 We enter the old monumental hall. Inside, hundreds of people gather around a long wooden table, decorated with delicate pottery and bronze bowls.
01:07 They drink and party. These people have much more fun than the animals outside the building, which are being prepared for the ritual.
01:15 Horses, cows, pigs, donkeys, and even dogs. All were brought here to appease the deities.
01:23 And what happens after the ritual is even more incredible. At the end of the ceremony, people grab torches and set fire to the whole building.
01:33 Everything is reduced to ash and reddish embers. And when the last ones go out, we grab shovels and start to bury the place.
01:41 It will take them several days to bury the old sanctuary under tons of earth. They work relentlessly.
01:49 At some places, the thickness of the layers of mud and clay will reach more than 4 meters.
01:55 Then, these people, the last known Tartessians, simply leave the place and disappear from our world. Forever.
02:04 But what happened? Why did they do all this? Let's start with the beginning.
02:11 Tartessos was mentioned for the first time in Greek and Roman texts several thousand years ago.
02:16 But for a long time, we did not know exactly what he was referring to. All these descriptions were as confusing as contradictory.
02:23 Some archaeologists thought that Tartessos was a maritime port. Others believed that it was a river or a reservoir.
02:32 Some even suggested a link with the mythical Atlantis. An idea quickly rejected by the scientific community, without proof.
02:41 But today, finally, we know the truth.
02:45 Tartessos was an ancient civilization located on the Iberian Peninsula, one of the most southern regions of Europe.
02:51 It prospered from the 9th to the 5th century BC. Before suddenly disappearing, about 2,500 years ago.
02:59 This civilization was prosperous. The region had large reserves of metals, favoring a flourishing economy.
03:07 Money, copper, lead and other resources were extracted from the local mountains of Sierra Morena.
03:14 Almost all the inhabitants gave up trade, an activity widespread among them.
03:20 Isn't it strange that there are so few traces of their existence?
03:24 Few monuments of their culture have survived to this day. In all, scientists have been able to identify about 20 archaeological sites linked to Tartessos throughout Spain.
03:35 Three of them were discovered in the Guadiana Valley.
03:39 Cancho Roano, Casas del Turunuelo and La Mata.
03:44 Let's start with the first.
03:46 Cancho Roano was discovered in 1978. This find is one of the most significant pieces of the Tartessian puzzle.
03:55 It is one of the best preserved structures of this civilization.
04:00 Not only the walls have survived to this day, but also the hotel, the ditch around it and several artifacts such as jewels and goblets.
04:12 It was a square building surrounded by a deep ditch filled with water.
04:16 And to be honest, we still do not know its exact function.
04:21 We simply assume that it could be an old temple.
04:25 Some rituals were practiced there, such as the fire of the temple followed by its burning under thick layers of sand and clay.
04:33 Some precious artifacts were even left there, such as tools and gold jewelry.
04:39 Let's move on to the next discovery.
04:41 Casas del Turunuelo is also one of the most preserved complexes of this time of the entire western Mediterranean basin.
04:49 Discovered only a few years ago, in 2015, it has not yet been fully studied.
04:55 But we already know that this place was rather strange.
05:00 Casas del Turunuelo was a sumptuous building and not a simple camp.
05:06 We are talking about a place with monumental and impressive architecture.
05:11 With vast stairs, vaults at the ceiling, refined materials from all over the Mediterranean, and the very last of its construction technology.
05:21 It was supposed to be a place of power, maybe even a palace.
05:26 And yes, this place has also become the setting for terrible rituals.
05:31 We don't really know if the Tartessians intended to destroy this magnificent place from the start.
05:36 But this is where they performed the largest ritual in the region, involving more than 50 animals, including the most precious.
05:44 Horses, which were their only means of transport.
05:48 The fact that they helped sacrifice their horses may indicate that they planned to stay here for a while.
05:55 Perhaps they hoped to appease the gods and settle on these lands.
05:59 The ritual was carried out exactly as they wished.
06:03 And, like Cancho Roano, the place was also set on fire.
06:08 Once the ritual was over, the inhabitants buried the site and left, scattered throughout the Iberian Peninsula.
06:16 Today, it is a quiet and deserted place.
06:19 Just like Cancho Roano, it has been standing here intact for more than 2,000 years.
06:25 Our last discovery is that of the Mata, which was set on fire much earlier than the other two, in 1930.
06:32 The resemblance between them is striking, because the Mata has suffered the same fate.
06:37 It was set on fire and forgotten for centuries.
06:41 All of this remains very strange.
06:43 It seems that the Tartessians were running away from something.
06:47 Perhaps events led them to build these banquet halls and to organize large-scale rituals.
06:54 They may have thought that the gods had turned away from them and tried to appease them.
06:59 But alas, it did not work.
07:02 As a result, they were forced to leave their temple and quickly disappeared forever.
07:07 And besides, why did they disappear after all?
07:11 Well, that's another mystery of this civilization.
07:15 One of the most important questions is, did they know they were going to disappear or was it unexpected?
07:23 Did they avoid a sudden disaster that they tried to escape from?
07:27 Or was it something else?
07:29 Scientists have several theories on this subject.
07:32 The first theory advances that several major earthquakes and consecutive tsunamis could have occurred in the region.
07:39 These natural disasters would have destroyed these populations and strongly demoralized the survivors.
07:45 Perhaps they were trying to escape from this.
07:48 Another theory evokes some problems of commercial order.
07:52 Being rich in ore and dependent on their economy, any problem at this level could have caused serious difficulties.
07:58 If they had experienced a mining crisis, then the relations between different nations could have deteriorated considerably, making the situation very difficult.
08:07 The truth is probably somewhere between these theories.
08:11 The most recent suggests that in the 6th century BC, a large-scale tsunami would have hit the port of Tartessos,
08:18 seriously damaging the economy and deteriorating the relations between Tartessos and its neighbors.
08:23 Whatever it is, it's all speculation.
08:26 This site is a real gold mine for archaeologists.
08:30 It contains an immense amount of information and secrets that are still waiting to be revealed.
08:36 The Tartessians had no idea that by burying their artifacts, they were offering an invaluable gift to future researchers.
08:44 And while scientists continue their research, we can already admire the discoveries made so far.
08:52 History lovers can admire Tartessian tools, horse figurines and ivory pieces decorated at the archaeological museum of Badagios.
09:01 Let's hope that in the future archaeologists will learn more about this civilization and that we will finally discover what happened to them.
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