The Archaeology of Beekeeping in Pre-Roman Iberia

Abstract

This paper presents a set of pottery beehives from the pre~Roman Iberian peninsula, dating from the third century BC, and all coming from a single region known in antiquity as Edetania. These beehives are closely related to similar examples from Greece and to a type described by Roman authors such as Columella. It is the first such archaeological material that can be associated with apiculture in this area.

Chromatographic analysis of honey ceramic artefacts

“…The Egyptian beekeeping technology seems to have spread initially to Greece, where 2000-year-old horizontal clay hives have been excavated, and later to Rome (Crane 1983;Crane and Graham 1985). Honey production extended throughout different parts of the Empire, achieving a position of utmost importance in family economies, both as a foodstuff and as a commercial product (Bonet Rosado and Mata Parreño 1997;Crane 1983;Crane and Graham 1985;C r a n e2013;M o r a i s 2011).…”

“…In that process, the apiarist could insert smoke through the end of the hive, forcing the bees to move to the front, inducing many of them to leave through the flight hole (Bonet Mata Parreño 1995, 1997;C r a n e1983; Crane and Graham 1985;H a r i s s i s2014; Jones et al 1973;Morais 2006). Ceramic hives are known in the Iberian Peninsula for pre-Roman times (Bonet Rosado and Mata Parreño 1997;Jardón Giner et al 2009;Quixal Santos and Jardón Giner 2016).…”