10. WHAT WAS TIRA DEL LIENZO?

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TIRA DEL LIENZO

WHAT WAS TIRA DEL LIENZO?

WHAT WAS TIRA DEL LIENZO?

In archaeology it is easier to say what things are not. Tira del Lienzo was not a small self-sufficient community of farmers, nor was it the residence or villa of a powerful family. Rather, it seems to be a compound dedicated to producing, storing and managing a significant volume of goods, of which only a small part were consumed on-site. If capitals such as La Bastida were supplied by a form of taxation, then it is not surprising to find intermediate centres for the control and management of goods. Tira del Lienzo is the most extensively documented of such sites, but others such as Barranco de la Viuda (Lorca, Murcia)4 and Cabezo Pardo (San Isidro, Alicante)5 probably performed similar functions. In these places, the goods were accumulated, managed and sometimes transformed by a small group of warriors, specialists and administrative personnel, before being sent to centres such as La Bastida.

The relationship of Tira del Lienzo with the ruling class (which was the biggest beneficiary of this economic system) is evident in the goldsmith’s workshop in the H1 building. Here they manufactured silver objects that ended up being deposited in some of the richest tombs in

the higher-lying settlements. The variety of stored food, as well as the excellent quality of the grinding stones and pottery, indicate also that a good part of its inhabitants, even if they did not reside here permanently, enjoyed superior living conditions.

The almost complete absence of graves suggests that the few people with fixed residence lacked the right to be buried there, while those in charge of the administrative complex had a different permanent residence. Warriors or guards, skilled craftsmen and administrative personnel would labour for seasons of variable length to guarantee the supply of the Argaric elites within the territory of La Bastida.

Tira del Lienzo offers a unique opportunity to look into the birth of bureaucracy. In the Argaric society, things moved more than people, following an orderly flow that benefited only specific groups. The administration was established here as the necessary mediator of this movement.