Early technologies for metal production in the Iberian Peninsula

The islands of Ibiza and Formentera (the Pityusic Islands in the Balearic archipelago, Spain) were one of the last insular contexts to be colonised in the Mediterranean. The first settlement occurred during the second millennium cal BCE, probably by continental Bronze Age communities. During the first centuries of occupation (ca. 2100-1400 cal BCE), local material culture is defined in terms of the Bell-Beaker/Dolmenic and First Naviform periods. The Pityusic Islands have no mineral resources for producing copper or bronze objects locally, so the presence of metal objects dated to these periods necessarily indicates exogenous contact. Seven metal objects have been found in five archaeological sites located in both islands. Archaeometallurgical research conducted on these objects reveals the economic behaviour of these first settlers in acquiring these resources. In this respect, aspects of this behaviour, such as technological patterns and trade dynamics, are analysed.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The first metallurgy in the Pityusic Islands (Balearic archipelago, Mediterranean Sea)

Sureda

2018

“…In these terms, researchers' attention has been drawn to the peculiarities exhibited by the metallurgical tradition developed in SE Iberia and its contrasts with neighbouring areas. Its earliest metalworking has been defined as a low-intensity activity, focused on tools and weapons, characterised by low slag production under conditions of incomplete reduction and by the absence of common signs of annealing until the second millennium BC (Montero Ruiz 1993;Müller et al 2006;Rovira and Renzi 2017). The relative balance in the amount of copper goods recovered from domestic as opposed to funerary contexts may suggest that copper production and consumption was part of a regional system of values in which metal did not acquire a central role in the expression of power relations until the Late Chalcolithic (Murillo-Barroso and Montero-Ruiz 2012).…”

Section: Recent Prehistory In the Region Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While these goods were central to promoting social asymmetry, they were also entangled with a wide range of common goods made out of clay, stone, animal bones and vegetal materials, the very basis of most day-to-day activities. Of course, these traditional industries were also involved in metalworking, either through the phenomenon of skeuomorphism, through accumulated knowledge of pyrotechnology or by being active in ore extraction and processing (Rovira 2005;Risch 2008;Rovira and Renzi 2017).…”

Section: Recent Prehistory In the Region Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Plus ça change: pots, crucibles and the development of metallurgy in Chalcolithic Las Pilas (Mojácar, Spain)

Curbelo

Day

Massieu

et al. 2018

This paper considers the structure of production, distribution and consumption of ceramics within Chalcolithic communities of SE Iberia, an important region for modelling social and technological change in the recent prehistory of Eurasia. Our research provides new data through the comparative analysis of domestic and metallurgical ceramics, as well as building and other clayrich materials from the archaeological site of Las Pilas (2875-2620 cal. BC 2σ to 2460-2205 cal. BC 2σ) (Mojácar, Almería). In total, 56 samples are characterised by optical petrography, with SEM analysis of 22 of those individuals, in order to assess firing conditions. Results point to the existence of a local tradition in which domestic and metallurgical wares exhibit important similarities in their production processes. In terms of technology, the assemblage shows a relative homogeneity, although firing conditions, surface treatment and decoration seem to have played an important role in the differentiation of highly symbolic wares from other ceramics. We conclude that raw material procurement and processing at Las Pilas differ from those at other Copper Age sites already studied in SE and SW Iberia. This is in agreement with earlier archaeometallurgical studies on Las Pilas, suggesting the development of local and community-based technological traditions. As such, the paper attempts to bridge the recent divide between re-emergent top-down models and our detailed understandings of technological practice.

“…Copper and tin bronze production techniques: Iberia is different A key peculiarity of the Iberian archaeometallurgical record is that, from the beginning of extractive copper metallurgy in the Chalcolithic and until Roman times, crucible smelting is the predominant system. Some examples include the Chalcolithic (third millennium BC) crucible fragments from Almizaraque and Las Pilas (Rovira and Renzi 2017;Müller et al 2004;Murillo-Barroso et al 2017), the samples from several sites reported by Rovira (2007) and dated from the Early Bronze Age (EBA) (2300-1300 BC) to Roman times (first millennium AC onwards), as well as crucibles from the IA hillforts (eighth century BC until Roman times) of La Corona de Corporales, el Castrelín de San Juan de Paluezas and El Castru, among others (Farci et al 2017;Fernandez-Posse et al 1993). There is evidence for the deliberate production of these technical ceramics from the EBA, as shown in the presence of pouring spout and grip handles that are absent in other ceramics (Soriano and Escanilla 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Working temperatures around 1100-1200°C and variable reducing conditions are typical of crucible smelting. Metal droplets were recovered by crushing the generally immature, poorly reacted slag usually attached to the reaction vessel and later melted in a crucible to obtain the liquid metal that was cast (Milton et al 1976;Rovira and Renzi 2017). This process involved great losses of mineral and charcoal and it was therefore not very efficient, but it covered the necessities of the local communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditions and innovations: versatility of copper and tin bronze making recipes in Iron Age Emporion (L’Escala, Spain)

Montes-Landa

Montero‐Ruiz

Masoliver

et al. 2020

Established around 575 BC, Emporion was a Greek colonial enclave in northeast Iberia and hence constitutes a good context to study Mediterranean innovations and their adaptation with indigenous technologies. Here, we present an analytical study of the archaeometallurgical assemblage from a workshop context dated to the first occupational moment of Emporion's Neapolis (second half of the sixth century BC), including slag and technical ceramics. We aimed at reverse engineering the copper and tin bronze metallurgical technologies at the site. The results allow the identification of copper smelting and melting, and a variety of bronze alloying techniques, together with iron smelting and forging. The use of Fe-rich copper ores with BaO, ZnO and PbO impurities is consistent with the exploitation of local sources, preceding the diversification of raw materials documented for later phases. The co-occurrence of co-smelting, cementation and co-melting as bronze making technologies is discussed with reference to parameters of efficiency and cost-effectiveness and contextualised in the broader colonial interaction, providing pointers for future comparative work and discussion. The early use of metallic tin for bronze production at the site supports a Mediterranean origin for this innovation in Iberia.