History
Although numerous palaeontological sites containing the fossilised remains of large Quaternary mammals have been discovered, two million years ago this territory was a veritable orchard. During this period, the area was inhabited by saber-toothed cats, short-necked giraffes, wild boars, cheetahs, hyenas and southern mammoths, to name but a few. All of this has been preserved at the exceptional paleontological site of Fonelas (P-1), which has been studied since the beginning of the 21st century.
This extensive layer was deposited in the floodplain near the edge of a small river channel and preserves fossil evidence of a 'lost' natural world that had not previously been identified on the continent. The site has also yielded the fossilised remains of species that are new to science, including the Iberian badger (Meles ibericus), the Accitan jackal (Canis accitanus) and the oldest known ibex (Capra pyrenaica).
Humans inhabited this area and fossils have been found in the higher layers of rocks in the ravines to the east of the Fardes River. These rocks were deposited on the edge of a small swamp just over 100,000 years ago, shortly before the Guadix Basin was completely filled in. The humans established an open-air camp here, and some mammal fossils and stone tools from the Acheulean or Mode II "cultural" period have been found. This site, La Solana del Zamborino, was studied in the 1970s.
Thereafter, the landscape began to change drastically. What were once extensive plains, covering the entire area, started to erode rapidly, forming the current landscape of ravines bordered by large high plains and cut through by the fertile Fardes River valley. The fertility of the plains explains why these lands have been occupied by humans.
During the Copper Age (the Chalcolithic period, between 2.600 and 2.200 BC), an important prehistoric megalithic settlement emerged, comprising more than 70 dolmens. Most of these were looted and partially destroyed in the 20th century. In the necropolis, which is made up of several groups, the dolmens known as 'Moreno 3' and 'Domingo 1' are particularly notable. The former contains a funerary stele made of slate depicting a human figure adorned with zigzag lines (the Fonelas Stele). This artefact is currently on display alongside other pieces from the Fonelas Necropolis in the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Granada, and it has featured on the town's official coat of arms 2003.
The history of Fonelas is closely linked to that of Guadix, dating back to Roman times and the founding of the latter by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. For centuries, Fonelas was part of the Roman town of Iulia Gemella Acci, from which stems the origins of Guadix. Accredited by Emperor Augustus to house veterans of the First and Second Legions, this base allowed the Romans to control the Sierra Morena passes between Castulo (Cazorla, near Linares), Malaca Málaga, and Cartago Nova (Cartagena). Between 13 BC and 41 AD, the city issued its own coins.During the Roman period, Fonelas was an important town dedicated to the cultivation of vines in the first century AD, as the name Fonelas seems to suggest. An extensive network of roads was created to support the agriculture.
Between 13 BC and 41 AD, the colony issued its own coins. During the Roman period, Fonelas was an important town dedicated to the cultivation of vines in the first century AD, as the name Fonelas seems to suggest. Thanks to the Hispano-Romans, an extensive network of roads was created for agricultural exploitation.
Following the decline of the Roman Empire, this city and its surrounding territories were inhabited and dominated by the Visigoths. The city was called Acci and the present-day Fonelas territories were under their political and economic control. Due to its location near the Visigothic-Byzantine border, Acci was a Visigothic stronghold. The city also minted coins between 612 and 710 AD.
During the period of Visigothic Spain, the city of Acci and its surrounding region, including the lands of Fonelas, served as the episcopal seat of the Catholic Church. It was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toledo, which covered the ancient Roman province of Cartaginense within the Diocese of Hispania. As part of Visigothic ecclesiastical geography, the bishops of Acci were influential at the Councils of Toledo (the capital of the Visigothic Kingdom of Spain) and in the most significant decisions of the Spanish Crown.
From the eighth to the fifteenth century, the town was under Muslim rule. First it was invaded by Moors, then by the Almohads in the twelfth century. Fonelas was a hamlet that rose to prominence during the Nasrid period (thirteenth to fifteenth centuries) as a border town, with watchtowers to protect its outposts from the cavalry of Castilian horsemen from advancing from Cazorla entury).
At the end of the 15th century, Fonelas was affected by the fragmentation of the Taifa of Granada. Guadix became the seat of Muhammad XIII's court, also known as Zagal, from 1485 to 1486. In 1489, the city and the territory of the Hoya de Guadix were captured by the Catholic Monarchs. Fonelas passed to the Crown of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. They granted this territory, along with the lordship of Gorafe and the mayorship of Fiñana, to Álvaro de Bazán.
In 1570, during the reign of King Philip II, the Moriscos were expelled from the kingdom after rebelling in the Alpujarras region. This had serious repercussions for one of the most profitable industries: the silk industry. After the expulsion, some of the exiles returned and settled around Guadix, digging their homes into the clay. This led to the extensive development of the caves for which the area is now famous.
In the seventeenth century, Fonelas was a manor owned by Don Diego Carrillo de Mendoza, who was also the Lord of Güélago and Huélago. He was the captain of the guard of Don Rodrigo Ponce de León, the Duke of Arcos and Viceroy of Naples. Decades later, it was incorporated into a manor that was supposedly granted to the Afán de Rivera family (Don Baltasar Afán de Rivera Gadea y Bazán, Councillor of Granada). During this period and until the nineteenth century, when the road between Guadix and Baza passed through the municipality, Fonelas dominated the surrounding area and its farmhouses.
In the eighteenth century, Fonelas was granted the status of a 'royal village' with its own district mayor. It acquired municipal jurisdiction and became an independent town with its own town hall in 1847.