ASTRONOMY, METRICS, AND PROPORTIONALITY IN THE IBERIAN NECROPOLIS OF TÚTUGI (GALERA, GRANADA, SPAIN)

Abstract

In this study, a sample of 16 burial chambers (rectangular, square and two circular shapes), situated in the Iberian necropolis of the ancient Tútugi has been characterized metrically and geometrically, as well as in terms of noteworthy astronomical orientation. Furthermore, information compiled from the excavation records of Cabré and Motos (1920) regarding the necropolis satisfactorily coincides with our current results. The first major result in the metric study was the use of a measured pattern (the Tútugi foot) in all the monumental tombs of the necropolis, constituting a unit which we estimate at 0.294m. Also, the study classified the proportions of the burial chambers into three typologies: the golden ratio, the Cordovan proportion, and the one-to-one proportion. The first two proportions were found only in a specific zone (Zone I), which contained the largest and oldest graves, belonging to the founders of the lineage and the subordinates of that lineage. In addition, and as the most important result, all the burials were oriented astronomically, without topographical orientations of note. In these orientations we found the recurrence of certain stars and constellations, which present a scheme that we must interpret, though with scant data available on the religion and beliefs of the afterlife of the Iberian people.