Yacimiento de Las Paleras

 The Arab-Berber  conquest of Spania started in 711 after the defeat of King Rodrigo´s troops during the “Los montes Transductinos “ battle. This event set the beginning of a cultural and religious process of change that would  lead to a new islamic model of society in a territory known as al-Ándalus.

In 713, after the signing of The Treaty of Tudmir between the Visigoth nobleman and Abd al – ´Aziz ibn Musa, son of the Arabian conqueror Musa ibn Nuzayr , took place the capitulation of an extense territory involving approximately the current Region of  Murcia, the South of  Alicante, the Southeast of Albacete, and the North of Almeria. This led to the creation of a new territorial entity known as the ´Cora de Tudmir´ which, in exchange for submitting to a special tax regime, guaranteed the preservation of its former inhabitants as well as respect for their customs and religion.

This Andalusian model is where this fortified settlement in hight of ´Las Paleras´ is built in the second half of the 8th century, located in the northernmost area of the Hill of the Castle of Alhama de Murcia. It is a new settlement erected on an area where  nothing had been built before nor it was reoccupied after its destruction and abandonment around mid – 10th century, thus constituing a single cultural horizon from the Emirate period and a key testimony for the understanding of the High Middle Ages both at regional and peninsular level.

The arqueological site, due to its altitude and location, is considered an excelent vantage point for the strategic control of the surrounding territory and the natural communication route of the Sangonera/ Guadalentín during the Emirate, between the large  towns of Murcia and Lorca, and will irremediably participate in the historical events related to the establishment of the Umayyad  in Cordoba and their  centralizing policies.

For all these reasons , Las Paleras stands as a prime example of medieval  Andalusian archaeology both within and outside of our Region, due to its state of preservation and its unique material contribution ,  both in terms of its exclusively ceramic tipology , with no previous or later intrusions , and in terms of anthracology , with very precise carbon-14 dating that allows us to date the life of the site to around the 8th and 10th century.