Spare a copper

 Well, not a streetview in sight.  We can gaze at the satellite views and have a muse over someone or something.


The Copper Age has never really got the credit it deserves.  It isn’t all ornamental spoons, sold to tourists in order to gather dust until they are charity shopped.  Smelting copper seems to have happened in the 2900-4000 BC .  I mention all this because a splendid Chalcolithic Fort has been found in Spain, dating back about 4900 years.



The fort is in Extremadura, on the Marquis de la Encomienda estate.  It is on a hilltop, about 350m above sea level.  The first stage was an adobe wall about 1.5m thick, with five bastions and a small gate entrance.  Two concentric walls were added later on, as well as three defensive ditches and 25 bastions.  The fortress occupied 3 acres and included a water reservoir.


The fort was destroyed after 400 years.



More luck tomorrow.


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