image/svg+xml
129
XIII/2/2022
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age of South-east Spain:
New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
Dirk Brandherm
1*
, Ignacio Montero Ruiz
2
, Milena Müller-Kissing
3
,
Alexander Maass
4
, Emilio Diz Ardid
5
1
Queen’s University Belfast, School of Natural and Built Environment, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom
2
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científcas, Instituto de Historia, Calle Albasanz 26–28, E-28037 Madrid, Spain
3
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, Am Bergbaumuseum 31, D-44791 Bochum, Germany
4
Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpfege, Arbeitsstelle Montanarchäologie, Bergtal 18, D-38640 Goslar, Germany
5
Museo Arqueológico Comarcal de Orihuela, Calle Hospital 3–5, E-03300 Orihuela, Spain
1. Introduction
This paper presents results from a programme of analyses
undertaken on copper ores from the Lower Segura Valley,
straddling the provinces of Alicante and Murcia in south-
east Spain, and on metal objects from sites of the El Argar
culture in that same study area (Figure 1). Our programme
of analyses was conducted following a feld survey project
that aimed at identifying evidence for pre-modern mining
activities in the Lower Segura Valley (Brandherm and
Maass, 2010; Brandherm
et al.
, 2013; 2014). Both in terms
of the archaeology of its pre-modern mining remains and of
the characterisation of relevant ore bodies, the study area has
received relatively little attention in comparison to the much
larger nearby mining district of Cartagena and Mazarrón, as
well as other mining areas further afeld in southern Iberia.
The principal aim of our project was to remedy that situation
and enable a full assessment of the signifcance of extractive
industries and their contribution to past metal supply
networks in the region.
One of the main points of interest in this regard was to
determine to what extent the exploitation of local copper
ores might have contributed to the metal supply of Early
Bronze Age (EBA) settlements in the region. During the
EBA the Lower Segura Valley constituted the northernmost
expanse of the El Argar culture area (Brandherm, 1996;
Martínez Monleón, 2014), and the extent to which copper
supply within the El Argar culture may have been centrally
controlled by a political élite continues to be a matter of
considerable debate (Lull Santiago
et al.
, 2010a; 2010b;
Montero Ruiz and Murillo Barroso, 2010).
On one side of that debate we have a model according to
which the bulk of El Argar copper would have originated
from the Linares mining district in the eastern Sierra Morena,
Volume XIII ● Issue 2/2022 ● Pages 129–141
*Corresponding author. E-mail: d.brandherm@qub.ac.uk
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 18
th
November 2021
Accepted: 11
th
April 2022
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2022.2.3
Key words:
Bronze Age
copper
supply networks
lead isotopes
minor elements
trace elements
ABSTRACT
The range of copper sources and the nature of metal supply networks used by the El Argar culture of
south-east Spain have been the subject of a long-running debate. On one side of this debate we have
a model that envisages supply for much of the El Argar culture coming from a closely circumscribed
region and controlled centrally by a political élite, while on the other side we have a model of a more
decentralised supply network drawing on a wider, geographically more dispersed range of ore sources
that is lacking the same level of political control. The available archaeometallurgical data are not
entirely conclusive in this respect. While results from the existing, comparatively small body of lead
isotope analyses have been taken to support, at least to some extent, the idea of a single main source
region supplying most if not all of the El Argar culture area with copper, results from the much larger
but not easily interpreted body of minor-element analyses would appear to lend support to the notion of
a more decentralised supply. In this contribution we present new analytical data from the Lower Segura
Valley, both from local copper ores and from local El Argar artefacts, which provide new insights
relevant to this debate.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
130
with the distribution of the metal tightly controlled by the
ruling class of an emerging El Argar state. This model was
originally based on a limited set of lead isotope data obtained
as part of the Gatas project through a programme of analyses
undertaken at the Oxford Isotrace Laboratory (Stos-Gale
et al.
, 1999). Subsequently it also came to draw on the lack
of direct evidence for extractive metallurgy from El Argar
contexts other than those of the Linares mining district
(Escanilla, 2016, pp.430–432).
On the other side of the debate we have a model of multiple,
geographically dispersed ore sources providing El Argar
society with copper through a non-centralised supply system.
This model was originally informed by statistically signifcant
variation in the trace-element contents of copper-base metal
objects from a range of diferent El Argar settlements, which
seems to suggest that not all of the relevant sites were supplied
from the same ore body and clearly contradicts the notion of
a single supply source for El Argar copper (Montero Ruiz,
1999, p.350). Subsequent additions to the body of relevant
lead isotope data also appear to indicate that diferent sources
contributed to the copper supply of El Argar society (Stos-
Gale, 2001, p.454; Müller-Kissing, 2014, p.56; Murillo-
Barroso
et al.
, 2015, pp.152–154), but the number of available
analyses still only provides limited coverage of the very
diverse range of relevant ore bodies in southern Spain, and the
respective body of data continues to present some difculties
of interpretation which only an approach combining lead
isotope and trace-element data can potentially overcome
(Montero Ruiz, 2018, pp.322–324; Murillo-Barroso
et al.
,
2019, pp.606–607).
The isotopic and trace-element characterisation of ore
bodies and El Argar copper-base metal objects from the
Lower Segura Valley presented here constitutes an important
step in flling the remaining gaps in this jigsaw.
2. Methodology
As part of our feld survey project, copper ore samples were
collected at diferent locations in the Sierra de Orihuela and
Sierra de Santomera, either directly from surface outcrops of ore
bodies or from spoil tips left by modern exploration or mining
activities. None of the analysed ore samples was retrieved from
an EBA context, although several of the respective sampling
locations are situated in the immediate vicinity of prehistoric
settlement sites (Cabezo Mal Nombre, Cerro de la Mina).
Figure 1.
Map of the study area with site names mentioned in the text.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
131
The analyses of ore samples from our survey were carried
out in the German Mining Museum at Bochum (Deutsches
Bergbau-Museum Bochum), employing X-ray difraction
(XRD) to establish the types of minerals present, and
inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to
determine their chemical composition. Samples with a copper
content of less than 5 % were excluded from the subsequent
lead isotope analysis. Likewise, sample preparation for
the latter was undertaken at the German Mining Museum,
with subsequent analysis through multicollector-inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) conducted
at the University of Frankfurt (for the relevant method
statement, including measurement conditions, see Klein
et al.
, 2009, p.64).
Further ore samples from the Lower Segura Valley
referenced in this study and collected prior to the
aforementioned survey project were analysed by X-ray
fuorescence (XRF) for their elemental composition, as part
of the project “Archaeometallurgy of the Iberian Peninsula” at
the National Museum of Archaeology (Museo Arqueológico
Nacional) in Madrid (Rovira Llorens and Montero Ruiz,
2018). As part of that same project, one sample (PA13535B)
was also analysed for its lead isotope ratios through thermal
ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) at the Geochronology
and Isotope Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the
University of the Basque Country (SGIker).
The elemental and lead isotope analysis of copper-base
archaeological objects for the present study was also carried
out by SGIker, on bulk samples drilled close to the centre of
the relevant artefacts, using quadrupole inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS) for elemental
analysis and MC-ICP-MS for lead isotope analysis (for
the relevant method statement, including measurement
conditions, see Rodríguez
et al.
, 2020, pp.875–876).
Previously published analyses of copper-base metal
artefacts from the Oxford Archaeological Lead Isotope
Database (OXALID) referenced in this study had been
analysed via XRF for their elemental composition and
through TIMS for their lead isotope ratios at the Oxford
Isotrace Laboratory (Stos-Gale, 2001, p.445). The results of
the TIMS method used by SGIker and the Oxford Isotrace
Laboratory have been shown to be directly comparable to
those from MC-ICP-MS analyses such as those presented in
the present study (Stos-Gale and Gale, 2009, pp.196–198).
3. Copper resources in the Lower Segura Valley
According to the ICP-MS analyses carried out at the German
Mining Museum (Table 1), the copper ore from the study
area is quite pure, with a low to moderate presence of
arsenic, depending on the mines sampled. The As / Cu ratio
ranges from 0.02 % to 5.24 %, with an average of 1.78 %.
Arsenic content is highest in the sample from Cabezo Mal
Nombre in the Sierra de Santomera and is lowest in the
samples from Cabezo de Bello in the Sierra de Orihuela,
with the samples from Cerro de la Mina falling in between.
Processing of ore with these characteristics will produce
copper with variable arsenic content, but it is unlikely that
high-arsenic pieces (>3% As) are produced from such ore,
as the relative volatility of arsenic will generally produce
metal with a lower average arsenic content than is found
in the ore from which that metal has been smelted, and this
efect will be further enhanced if that same metal is then
subjected to subsequent pyrotechnical processes (Craddock,
1995, pp.285–290). Other elements do not have a signifcant
presence, except for iron (Fe) in samples where this element
is in the majority and which we can therefore classify as Cu-
Fe ore. The amounts of sulphur detected are extremely low,
which means that we are dealing with oxide, hydroxide or
carbonate minerals rather than chalcopyrite or other primary
sulphides. X-ray difraction (XRD) confrms that samples
are mainly malachite, with paratacamite also present, and
iron appearing as goethite or hematite. The gangue is mainly
composed of quartz, albite, muscovite and paragonite, with
calcite present in only one instance (sample SAN 24-2-1).
These features allow the ores to be attributed to Escanilla’s
(2016, pp.328–330) Class 3, with the samples falling into his
Groups B or C, based on their greater or lesser proportion of
copper. These data coincide with the ores studied by Escanilla
(5 samples) from Cerro de la Mina, labelled as Cerro de las
Fuentes in his study (Escanilla, 2016, pp.75–85 and Annex
I, ID 89; pp.521–525). Ores of Group 3B in particular would
have been easily processed with the technology available to
EBA communities in the study area (Escanilla, 2016, p.329).
Ore samples from Cerro de la Mina were also analysed
by XRF as part of the “Archaeometallurgy of the Iberian
Peninsula” project (Table 1). Although poorer in arsenic
than the newly analysed samples presented here, these show
the same trend and identify a sporadic presence of cobalt
(Co) and bismuth (Bi), as do the analyses conducted as
part of Escanilla’s study. It is also interesting to note that in
all analyses undertaken the lead content is low, below the
detection limit for some of the analytical techniques involved.
In the new analyses presented here, the Pb / Cu ratios do not
usually exceed 0.01 % or 100 ppm, with a maximum value
of 0.03 % Pb / Cu.
The absence of relevant proportions of antimony, silver and
nickel means that the metal obtained from these ores would
fall into Group 2 (Cu + As) according to the classifcation
established by Pollard
et al.
(2018). Articulating a more
specifc relationship between the diferent categories of ores
according to Escanilla (2016) and that of fnished objects
according to Pollard
et al.
(2018) is rendered difcult by the
coarse-grained nature of the latter classifcation scheme and
by the complex nature of the chemical processes involved in
smelting operations.
4. Metal objects from San Antón and Monteagudo
A set of 12 objects, mainly dagger blades, have been
analysed to determine their composition, using ICP-MS in
the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
132
Table 1.
Chemical composition of copper ores from the Lower Segura Valley (1–13: ICP-MS analyses carried out at the German Mining Museum [Element XR, Thermo Fisher Scientifc]); 14–22: XRF analyses
carried out at the National Museum of Archaeology [X-MET 920MP, Metorex]; mdl = method detection limit).
No.Lab CodeField Sample IDProvenanceSrAgSnSbTeBiPbUCoCuNiSeAsZnFeFeO
ppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppm%ppmppm%%%%
1
4002/13
ORI-28-2-1Cabezo de Bello2820
47
531204522
6.37
34<40.0033.26
2
4003/13
ORI-30-1-1Cabezo de Bello281612112596.561940.0010.92
3
4004/13
ORI-31-2-1Cabezo de Bello231592<142
7
141.9026<40.0011.62
4
4005/13SAN-2-0-7
Cabezo Mal Nombre110636
7
1
175
3934920.34051.061.01
5
4006/13
SAN-64-5-3Cerro de la Mina5644923<12253826
17
22.3535
0.75
3.11
6
4007/13
SAN-11-0-3Cerro de la Mina424323<1381482
4.71
11<40.060.39
74008/13
SAN-16-0-4Cerro de la Mina
79
115
57
8<11052322213.994
0.73
1.69
8
4009/13
SAN-33-6-1Cerro de la Mina1351485
7
<1811318485
7.60
200<40.035.16
9
4010/13SAN-27-5-1
Cerro de la Mina4413483026110325613.896150.1521.3
10
4011/13
SAN-14-0-2Cerro de la Mina50254612<1509211025.9
17
40.192.28
11
4012/13SAN-33-7-2
Cerro de la Mina3411410<12242
71
6.5565<40.031.02
12
4013/13
SAN-24-2-1Cerro de la Mina105149120<1129304611.181
7
0.1824.2
13
4014/13
SAN-44-2-1Cerro de la Mina3843624<1313121103.2269<40.12
3.71
14
PA13535A ―
Cerro de la Mina10<mdl<mdl<mdl180013.2<mdl<mdl<mdl1.43
15
PA13535B ―
Cerro de la Mina520<mdl100<mdl200025.8<mdl1.10<mdl
8.76
16
PA13535C―
Cerro de la Mina
170
<mdl<mdl<mdl10053.5<mdl<mdl<mdl2.01
17PA13535D―
Cerro de la Mina
270
<mdl<mdl<mdl<mdl
7.28
<mdl<mdl<mdl4.44
19
PA13535E―
Cerro de la Mina200<mdl<mdl<mdl140046.2<mdl<mdl<mdl
0.74
20
PA13535F―
Cerro de la Mina260<mdl<mdl<mdl180018.9<mdl<mdl<mdl
2.07
21
PA13536A―
Cerro de la Mina190<mdl<mdl<mdl220035.0<mdl<mdl<mdl1.31
22
PA13793―
Cerro de la Mina160<mdl<mdl<mdl
670029.7
<mdl<mdl1.581.91
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
133
Table 1.
Chemical composition of copper ores from the Lower Segura Valley (1–13: ICP-MS analyses carried out at the German Mining Museum [Element XR, Thermo
Fisher Scientifc]); 14–22: XRF analyses carried out at the National Museum of Archaeology [X-MET 920MP, Metorex]; mdl = method detection limit). (Continuation
)
No.Lab CodeField Sample IDProvenanceNa2OBaOMgOAl2O3SiO2P2O5SCaOTiO2MnOZnOK2O
%%%%%%%%%%%%
1
4002/13
ORI-28-2-1Cabezo de Bello
0.71
0.020.453.65
74.70.17
0.030.320.540.030.011.41
2
4003/13
ORI-30-1-1Cabezo de Bello
0.77
0.010.145.21
79.6
0.090.010.200.330.020.011.36
3
4004/13
ORI-31-2-1Cabezo de Bello0.490.03
0.176.2778.2
0.110.000.190.320.040.01
2.70
4
4005/13SAN-2-0-7
Cabezo Mal Nombre0.430.010.394.5260.10.130.060.901.510.010.020.38
5
4006/13
SAN-64-5-3Cerro de la Mina1.200.010.09
11.7
50.0
0.07
0.030.260.440.030.020.89
6
4007/13
SAN-11-0-3Cerro de la Mina0.640.0030.09
7.46
80.30.150.010.300.500.0020.010.66
74008/13
SAN-16-0-4Cerro de la Mina1.300.010.06
12.7
56.5
0.07
0.060.150.240.0020.011.25
8
4009/13
SAN-33-6-1Cerro de la Mina2.910.010.04
7.64
58.90.08
0.07
1.803.000.010.011.44
9
4010/13SAN-27-5-1
Cerro de la Mina0.630.010.235.2246.60.300.110.661.100.030.010.39
10
4011/13
SAN-14-0-2Cerro de la Mina0.510.0040.068.0552.10.160.03
0.67
1.120.0050.010.40
11
4012/13SAN-33-7-2
Cerro de la Mina0.09<0.0030.310.0985.50.010.03
0.470.79
0.030.010.11
12
4013/13
SAN-24-2-1Cerro de la Mina0.430.010.223.6545.20.460.02
1.73
2.880.080.041.18
13
4014/13
SAN-44-2-1Cerro de la Mina0.820.0020.098.24
79.5
0.060.010.110.190.0010.010.58
14
PA13535A ―
Cerro de la Mina
15
PA13535B ―
Cerro de la Mina
16
PA13535C―
Cerro de la Mina
17PA13535D―
Cerro de la Mina
19
PA13535E―
Cerro de la Mina
20
PA13535F―
Cerro de la Mina
21
PA13536A―
Cerro de la Mina
22
PA13793―
Cerro de la Mina
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
134
Table 2.
Chemical composition of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley (Q-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the
University of the Basque Country [XSeries 2, Thermo Scientifc]; mdl = method detection limit). (Continuation
)
Lab CodeSbBaLaCePrNdSmEuGdTbDyHoErTm
ppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppm
D13/1
69.501.450.051
0.077
<mdl<mdl0.0060.002
0.007
0.001<mdl0.0010.003<mdl
D13/2
166.20
1.07
<mdl<mdl<mdl<mdl0.002<mdl0.002<mdl<mdl<mdl0.001<mdl
D13/3
56.223.18
0.057
0.0960.011<mdl0.0080.0020.0090.001<mdl0.0010.003<mdl
D13/47.50
1.830.0840.169
0.017
<mdl0.0140.0030.0120.002<mdl0.0020.005<mdl
D13/550.47
2.910.035
0.067
<mdl<mdl0.0050.0010.0050.001<mdl0.0010.002<mdl
D13/6
15.202.40<mdl<mdl<mdl<mdl0.0020.0000.0020.000<mdl0.0000.001<mdl
D13/7
6.393.460.0590.1120.012<mdl0.0100.0010.0100.001<mdl0.0010.004<mdl
D13/8176.56
0.480.0330.0350.016<mdl0.0020.0000.002<mdl<mdl<mdl0.001<mdl
D13/9
38.490.910.0490.1310.011<mdl0.0090.0020.0080.001<mdl0.0010.003<mdl
D13/10
188.003.860.0500.0930.010<mdl0.0090.0020.0080.001<mdl0.0010.003<mdl
D13/11
42.3916.82
0.3270.7120.0870.297
0.0590.0120.061
0.007
0.042
0.007
0.020<mdl
D13/12375.604.74
0.404
0.783
0.1160.2900.0630.0160.0660.0100.0450.0090.024<mdl
MDL (ppm)1.120.530.0280.0430.0110.2280.00010.00010.00010.00010.0130.00010.0001
17.271
Table 2.
Chemical composition of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley (Q-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the Geochronology and Isotope
Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the University of the Basque Country [XSeries 2, Thermo Scientifc]; mdl = method detection limit).
Lab CodeObject CategoryMuseumInventory NumberProvenanceBibliography
D13/1
halberd
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8957
San Antón (?)
Brandherm, 2003, no. 1457A
D13/2
knife-dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Alicante
CS8965San Antón
Brandherm, 2003, no. 1257
D13/3
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8967
San Antón (?)Brandherm, 2003, no. 1502
D13/4
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8970
San AntónBrandherm, 2003, no. 1501
D13/5
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8973
San AntónBrandherm 2003, no. 1232
D13/6
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8978
San Antón
Brandherm, 2003, no. 743
D13/7
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de AlicanteCS8979
San Antón (?)
Brandherm, 2003, no. 744
D13/8
dagger
Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Alicante
CS8980MonteagudoBrandherm, 2003, no. 481
D13/9
axeMuseo Arqueológico Comarcal de OrihuelaB 383San Antón
Simón García, 1998, fg. 5,1
D13/10
daggerMuseo Arqueológico Comarcal de OrihuelaB 385San AntónBrandherm, 2003, no. 585
D13/11
daggerMuseo Arqueológico Comarcal de OrihuelaSA (CB) 3San AntónBrandherm, 2003, no. 632
D13/12
daggerMuseo Arqueológico Comarcal de Orihuela
–
San AntónBrandherm, 2003, no. 699
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
135
Table 2.
Chemical composition of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley (Q-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the
University of the Basque Country [XSeries 2, Thermo Scientifc]; mdl = method detection limit). (Continuation
)
Lab CodeYbLuPbBiThUNaMgAlKCaVCrFe
ppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppmppm
D13/1
0.0030.00034.54268.800.020.19239.00141.30145.40311.30
405.70
11.24<mdl111.00
D13/2
<mdl<mdl
708.40318.70
0.28<mdl
74.40
25.86
21.97
<mdl<mdl
0.37
<mdl<mdl
D13/3
0.0020.00041.11159.920.030.05295.92122.16165.36456.00321.445.60<mdl88.56
D13/4
0.0030.000<mdl554.300.040.03591.60152.00160.60
577.00487.50
6.53
7.92
128.80
D13/5
0.0020.000
79.18
99.400.03<mdl
770.40
954.00
97.01
604.301405.005.629.69164.90
D13/6
0.001<mdl<mdl92.340.04<mdl858.69
70.43
20.41494.55
271.17
2.12<mdl<mdl
D13/7
0.003<mdl50.5282.640.080.31<mdl109.045866.40<mdl<mdl
4.75
14.91166.64
D13/8
0.001<mdl50.9862.52
0.07
<mdl
212.72
109.20<mdl
312.72
<mdl0.46<mdl<mdl
D13/9
0.0030.00144.68
547.280.07
0.04<mdl
139.7679.89
80.48231.04
1.73
<mdl160.40
D13/10
0.0030.000
67.03
51.180.030.1098.80
78.59
99.12105.84<mdl4.9910.35118.48
D13/11
0.0160.00316.23
118.70
0.150.142293.00
374.80
594.502021.001664.0013.519.38383.50
D13/12
0.0180.004
38.79
298.640.14
0.47117.52
231.92509.20220.88
166.72
23.52<mdl269.04
MDL (ppm)0.00010.000114.182.350.020.0268.50
16.17
19.39
72.17
86.940.154.85
37.16
Table 2.
Chemical composition of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley (Q-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research
Laboratory of the University of the Basque Country [XSeries 2, Thermo Scientifc]; mdl = method detection limit). (Continuation
)
Lab CodeMnCoNiCuZnGaAsSeSrYAgCdSn
ppmppmppm%ppmppm%ppmppmppmppmppmppm
D13/1
2.552.1363.83
78.35
230.800.065.2010.35
27.65
0.06
373.60
<mdl<mdl
D13/22.17
0.29213.10
93.97
234.20<mdl4.49
10.47
10.51<mdl
20.77
<mdl<mdl
D13/32.78
1.53
7.83
84.56221.280.052.5810.2532.900.0563.06<mdl<mdl
D13/4
4.662.302.42
87.55
226.200.054.8818.5389.110.06
72.59
<mdl<mdl
D13/5
2.889.4144.2588.34228.300.262.28
4.72
183.500.03108.600.06<mdl
D13/6
1.251.26
1.76
89.24
227.07
<mdl5.95
5.75
43.25<mdl
51.270.07
<mdl
D13/7
18.681.60
7.35
92.40284.480.863.254.88<mdl0.0524.880.06<mdl
D13/8
1.483.00132.6480.88195.44<mdl
0.79
8.9010.58<mdl
43.97
<mdl25192.00
D13/9
1.840.431.8093.36220.08
0.07
4.55
15.8717.51
0.0352.06
0.07
<mdl
D13/10
1.856.3152.9488.56223.52<mdl
0.977.18
14.360.03
137.28
0.02546.56
D13/114.477.10
120.40
87.56
212.900.195.2912.95209.600.21
28.76
0.06<mdl
D13/12
11.545.4830.2191.68233.840.230.82
34.077.80
0.2313.040.1256128.00
MDL (ppm)0.300.061.542614.019.390.0429.121.016.630.029.820.02
104.37
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
136
Table 3.
Lead isotope ratios of copper ores from the Lower Segura Valley (1–10: MC-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the University of Frankfurt [Neptune, Thermo Scientifc]; 11: TIMS analysis carried out at
the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the University of the Basque Country [Finnigan MAT 262, Thermo Scientifc]).
No.Lab CodeField Sample IDProvenance206Pb/204Pb2SE207Pb/204Pb2SE208Pb/204Pb2SE208Pb/206Pb2SE207Pb/206Pb2SE
1
4002/13
ORI-28-2-1Cabezo de Bello19.48340.0043
15.7060
0.003539.3005
0.00972.01712
0.000130.806120.00004
2
4003/13
ORI-30-1-1Cabezo de Bello19.02690.001215.68590.001139.06530.00332.05316
0.00007
0.824400.00001
3
4005/13SAN-2-0-7
Cabezo Mal Nombre
18.9327
0.0012
15.6817
0.001139.03980.00332.06203
0.00007
0.828290.00002
4
4006/13
SAN-64-5-3Cerro de la Mina19.12080.001315.69020.001139.11950.00342.04591
0.00007
0.820580.00002
5
4008/13
SAN-16-0-4Cerro de la Mina19.99510.0031
15.74560.002739.2817
0.0080
1.96457
0.00016
0.78747
0.00004
6
4009/13
SAN-33-6-1Cerro de la Mina
19.8671
0.0012
15.7272
0.0010
38.9798
0.00301.962030.00006
0.79162
0.00002
74010/13SAN-27-5-1
Cerro de la Mina19.29820.001215.69580.001139.22350.00302.032500.000050.813330.00001
8
4011/13
SAN-14-0-2Cerro de la Mina
18.7658
0.001615.66360.0014
38.9227
0.0036
2.07413
0.000060.834690.00002
9
4012/13SAN-33-7-2
Cerro de la Mina19.33340.0014
15.7010
0.001138.99320.00332.016880.000060.812120.00002
10
4013/13
SAN-24-2-1Cerro de la Mina19.22400.005615.6881
0.004739.1796
0.01202.038060.00013
0.81607
0.00005
11
PA13535B
—Cerro de la Mina
19.0975
0.003315.69140.003138.95240.01362.039600.000530.821650.00005
Laboratory of the University of the Basque Country
(Table 2). The analysed objects are from the two regional
El Argar centres of Monteagudo and San Antón, situated
in strategic positions along the Lower Segura Valley (
cf.
Brandherm, 1996). A smaller El Argar settlement exists at
Cerro de la Mina, from whose immediate vicinity most of
the analysed ore samples were obtained, but the site remains
unexcavated and so far has not yielded any documented
fnds of copper-base metal objects of EBA date. The same
holds true for the less securely dated prehistoric settlement
at Cabezo Mal Nombre.
Most analysed objects (9) are from arsenical copper with
high proportions of arsenic (> 2% As), reaching a maximum
value of 5.3 % As in the two-rivet dagger SACB3. Dagger
B385, which has slightly below 1 % As, in this respect
constitutes an exception. The contents of Ag, Ni and Sb
never exceed 0.05 %, so all sampled objects would fall into
Metal Group 2 (Cu + As) according to the classifcation by
Pollard
et al.
(2018, pp.85–114). Co and Bi values are also
not particularly elevated, with Bi values the higher of the two,
in some cases reaching proportions of 0.05 %. Lead contents
in the objects are very low, less than 100 ppm, except for the
dagger CS8965, which reaches a value of 710 ppm (0.07 %).
The two remaining pieces are made of bronze with
low proportions of tin (2.5 % in the dagger CS8980 from
Monteagudo and 5.6 % in the dagger without inventory
number from San Antón). Both bronzes contain signifcant
proportions of arsenic, around 0.8 % As. These pieces also
do not contain any other element in proportions greater
than 0.1 %, so they would likewise fall into Metal Group 2
according to Pollard
et al.
(2018, pp.85–114). As the
overwhelming majority of copper-base metal objects from
EBA south-east Spain fall into this group (Pollard
et al.
,
2018, pp.100–103), this classifcation does not facilitate
regional distinctions within the El Argar culture area.
Stos-Gale (2001) analysed some other pieces from San
Antón and Montegudo. They are mostly arsenical coppers,
except for a dagger from Monteagudo (MU35) that only
has 0.4 % As. The metal strip from San Antón analysed by
Stos-Gale (MU29), which consists of a quaternary alloy with
Zn, does not belong to the El Argar period. The three-rivet
dagger (MU28) difers from the remainder of this assemblage
because of its high proportion of silver (0.4 % Ag).
5. Provenance study
Lead isotope analyses carried out on copper ores from the
Lower Segura Valley include the ten samples presented
here (Table 3) and one previously published by Murillo-
Barroso
et al.
(2015, p.151, note 9). All of them plot
in the same zone and present a clear linear regression
trend in their 207Pb/204Pb versus 206Pb/204Pb ratios
(Figure 2), allowing a good defnition of their isotopic
feld, which tends to cover radiogenic zones. They can be
clearly diferentiated from the trend shown by ores from
Cerro Minado in Almería, whose linear regression runs in
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
137
Table 4.
Lead isotope ratios of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley (MC-ICP-MS analyses carried out at the Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Research Laboratory of the
University of the Basque Country [Neptune, Thermo Scientifc]).
Lab
Code
Object
Category
Museum
Inventory
Number
ProvenanceBibliography206Pb/204Pb2 SE207Pb/204Pb2 SE208Pb/204Pb2 SE208Pb/206Pb2 SE207Pb/206Pb2 SE
8957
halberd
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8957
San Antón (?)
Brandherm,
2003, no.
1457A
18.3654
0.0007
15.64190.000938.43650.0035
2.09287
0.00013
0.85170
0.00002
8965
knife-
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8965San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 1257
18.26630.000815.6352
0.000738.4197
0.00202.103300.000040.855960.00001
8967
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8967
San Antón (?)
Brandherm,
2003, no. 1502
18.46240.0008
15.6573
0.000938.5515
0.0037
2.088120.00014
0.84807
0.00002
8970
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8970
San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 1501
18.35580.0048
15.6702
0.004538.50040.0115
2.09746
0.00021
0.85370
0.00005
8973
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8973
San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 1232
18.5245
0.000715.66670.000738.7189
0.00192.090150.00004
0.84573
0.00001
8978
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8978
San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 743
18.40320.0032
15.6700
0.003038.5509
0.0087
2.094800.000210.851480.00004
8979
dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8979
San Antón (?)
Brandherm,
2003, no. 744
18.45890.001115.66980.001438.53860.0054
2.08781
0.000200.848910.00004
8980dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Provincial de Alicante
CS8980Monteagudo
Brandherm,
2003, no. 481
18.5743
0.0009
15.6758
0.0012
38.5437
0.0044
2.07511
0.000160.843950.00003
B383axe
Museo Arqueológico
Comarcal de Orihuela
B 383San Antón
Simón García,
1998, fg. 5,1
18.3127
0.0008
15.66750.0007
38.54830.00202.105000.000040.855550.00001
B385dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Comarcal de Orihuela
B 385San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 585
18.3297
0.000615.64560.000638.42060.00192.096080.00006
0.85357
0.00001
SACB3dagger
Museo Arqueológico
Comarcal de Orihuela
SA (CB) 3San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 632
18.3157
0.001515.64490.0014
38.2799
0.00382.090000.000090.854180.00002
MUSdagger
Museo Arqueológico
Comarcal de Orihuela
―
San Antón
Brandherm,
2003, no. 699
19.25280.0012
15.6875
0.001238.95900.00432.023550.000130.814820.00002
206Pb/204Pb2 SD207Pb/204Pb2 SD208Pb/204Pb2 SD208Pb/206Pb2 SD208Pb/206Pb2 SDn
Calibration Standard NBS981
16.94250.003515.49900.0065
36.7177
0.0285
2.16719
0.001310.914800.000224
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
138
parallel. The graph shows that these ores are also clearly
distinguishable from other mineralisations of the Betic
Sierras, such as Cabo de Gata in Almería or those of the
Sierras of Cartagena and Mazarrón in Murcia, whose
linear-spread trends run perpendicular to that of the Segura
Valley ores. They are also isotopically diferentiable from
the ores of the Linares mining district.
The objects from San Antón and Monteagudo analysed
for their lead isotope ratios include the 12 samples presented
here (11 from San Antón and 1 from Monteagudo; Table 4)
and a dagger blade from Monteguado whose analysis was
published by Stos-Gale (2001, table 2, MU32) and which
is included in the OXALID database. The results shown in
Figure 2 demonstrate that only one of the analysed objects
can be related to the ores of the Segura Valley; it is the
dagger blade without inventory number from the Orihuela
Museum which is made of bronze (5.6 % Sn and 0.8 % As).
From a compositional point of view, this moderate amount
of arsenic is compatible with that detected in the local ores,
as are the very low proportions of other trace elements. The
rest of the analysed objects, consisting of arsenical copper
with high proportions of arsenic, plot in diferent zones of
the graph that do not coincide with ores from either Cerro
Minado or the Cartagena and Mazarrón mines. Two of them
(looking at all plotted combinations) fall into the isotopic
feld of Linares (CS8965 knife-dagger and B385 two-rivet
dagger from San Antón). The majority, including the two
pieces from Monteagudo, must be related to diferent ore
bodies, either from the provinces of Granada or Málaga or
from the Cordovan area of Los Pedroches and adjacent parts
of the Sierra Morena.
If we include all El Argar copper-base metal objects whose
lead isotope ratios have been published or are in the process
of being published (Montero Ruiz
et al.
, forthcoming) in the
comparison (73 objects), we observe that another piece fts
within the isotopic feld of the Segura Valley ores (Figures 3
and 4). It is a bronze dagger (8.7 % Sn and 0.1 % As) from
grave 21 of Cerro de la Encina (Granada), and this possibility
was already highlighted when the respective analysis was
frst published (Murillo-Barroso
et al.
, 2015, p.150), now
confrmed with a greater number of ore samples to defne the
isotopic feld.
Currently, there are 16 EBA metalwork objects in the
available corpus of lead isotope analyses that can be linked
to the Linares ores, plus the two objects identifed in the
present study, which represents 21 % of the El Argar copper-
base metal objects analysed so far. The plotted spread of
the lead isotope analyses suggests that the ore bodies from
which the metal used in the manufacture of El Argar objects
was extracted were diverse. Some of these ore bodies, such
as those found in the coastal ranges of Murcia and Almería,
were of limited signifcance: the mines of the Lower Segura
Valley (only 2 of the 85 objects analysed), Cerro Minado
(4 objects, one of them found in grave 21 of Cerro de La
Figure 2.
207
Pb/
204
Pb versus
206
Pb/
204
Pb lead isotope ratios of El Argar copper-base metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley and the Linares area, and of
diferent ore bodies in south-east Spain.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
139
Figure 3.
208
Pb/
204
Pb versus
206
Pb/
204
Pb lead isotope ratios of El Argar copper-base metal objects and of diferent ore bodies in south-east Spain.
Figure 4.
208
Pb/
206
Pb versus
207
Pb/
206
Pb lead isotope ratios of El Argar copper-base metal objects and of diferent ore bodies in south-east Spain.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
140
Encina, although this metal could also be from the Alcolea
mines in Almería) and Mazarrón (1 object).
At the same time, the plotted spread of the analyses
indicates that metal from diferent ore bodies circulated
throughout the El Argar culture area, regardless of their
geographical location. Thus, a dagger blade from Cerro de la
Encina can be related to ores from Murcia and a bracelet from
the same context to ores from Almería, and only a small part
of the objects from El Argar, Monteagudo or San Antón were
manufactured using metal of local origin. Metal produced
from ores of the Linares mining district has been found at
a number of diferent sites across the El Argar culture area, but
based on present evidence it does not account for a majority
of the metal used, neither with regard to the overall body
of analysed El Argar copper-base metalwork nor regarding
any of the sites where we have a minimum of fve objects
analysed. Finally, taking into account the latest available
data (Murillo-Barroso
et al.
, 2015; Montero Ruiz
et al.
,
forthcoming) it is possible to identify metal from outside
the El Argar culture area, originating from Los Pedroches
or from geographically even more remote regions, such as
northern Iberia and the Alps, and this wide catchment partly
explains the diversity of raw material sources apparent in the
lead isotope data.
6. Conclusions
The results from the programme of metal analyses presented
here clearly demonstrate that the majority of copper-base
metal objects in circulation in the Lower Segura Valley
during the EBA do not seem to have been made from locally
available copper ores. Another important result is that
only a minority of objects were possibly made from ores
originating from the Linares mining district. Instead, the raw
material used in the production of most EBA copper-base
metal objects from the Lower Segura Valley appears to have
come from sources further afeld, most likely ore bodies in
the provinces of Granada, Málaga or Córdoba,
i.e.
regions
either on the periphery of the El Argar culture area or entirely
beyond its confnes. This observed variation in raw material
sources for EBA copper-base metal objects is consistent
with results from previous programmes of metal analyses
focusing on other regions of south-east Spain during the El
Argar period, although a considerably larger dataset would
be required in order to make statistically valid statements
about the relative proportion of metal supplied by diferent
source areas.
In any case, the variation in raw-material make-up
observed in the presently available dataset lends further
support to the notion that metal recycling, which could
be expected to exercise a homogenising efect on metal
composition and lead isotope ratios, did not play a signifcant
part in supplying El Argar society with copper-base metal
(
cf.
Montero Ruiz
et al.
, 2020, pp.242–245). As we have
no indication of long-distance movement of ores, and as
metal travelling as ingots from the Linares mining district
only seems to have accounted for a minority of the metal
consumed by El Argar society (
cf.
Moreno Onorato and
Contreras Cortés, 2010), it would seem to have been mostly
fnished objects that travelled, sometimes over considerable
distances, from their place of manufacture to where they
were deposited in the archaeological record.
What the results from our programme of analyses do not
support then is a model of centralised metal procurement
and supply for the El Argar culture area. Things were clearly
more complex than the prevalent model of tight political
control over metalwork production exercised at polity level
would have it. It is, of course, entirely possible to envisage
other models involving a high level of élite control over
metalwork production that do not rely on directly controlling
raw material supply, but which instead focus on the social
and symbolic connotations of metalwork. Such models,
however, will require us to look beyond what metal analyses
alone can tell us and consider other elements of the social and
economic context in which metal objects were produced and
consumed (
cf.
Brandherm, 2009, pp.176–179; Lull Santiago
et al.
, 2010b, pp.24–26).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Prof. Thomas Stöllner (Ruhr-
Universität Bochum) for his support and encouragement
particularly in the early stages of our feldwork, Dr Michael
Prange (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum) for technical
advice and for facilitating the analysis of ore samples,
and Dr Jorge Soler Díaz (Museo Arqueológico Provincial
de Alicante) for permission to sample objects from the
museum’s collections. Funding for most of the feldwork
and for the programme of analyses was generously provided
by the British Academy’s Albert Reckitt Archaeology Fund.
References
BRANDHERM, D., 1996. Zur Nordprovinz der El Argar-Kultur.
Madrider
Mitteilungen
, 37, 37–59.
BRANDHERM, D., 2003.
Die Dolche und Stabdolche der Steinkupfer-
und der älteren Bronzezeit auf der Iberischen Halbinsel
. Prähistorische
Bronzefunde, VI/12. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
BRANDHERM, D., 2009. The social context of Early Bronze Age
metalworking in Iberia. Evidence from the burial record. In: T. Kienlin,
and B. Roberts, eds.
Metals and Societies. Studies in honour of Barbara
S. Ottaway
. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie,
169. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt, pp. 172–180.
BRANDHERM, D., and MAASS, A., 2010. Copper mining, settlement and
society in the Earlier Bronze Age of southeast Spain: prospects for new
research in the Lower Segura Valley. In:
Mining in European History and
its Impact on Environment and Human Societies – Proceedings for the
1st Mining in European History Conference of the SFB-HIMAT, 12–15
November 2009, Innsbruck
. Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, pp.
17–22.
BRANDHERM, D., MAASS, A., and DIZ ARDID, E., 2013. Multi-
period mining remains from the Sierra de Orihuela (Alicante, SE
Spain). In:
Mining in European History and its Impact on Environment
and Human Societies – Proceedings for the 2nd Mining in European
History Conference of the FZ HIMAT, 7–10 November 2012, Innsbruck
.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2022 ● XIII/2 ● 129–141
Dirk Brandherm, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Milena Müller-Kissing, Alexander Maass, Emilio Diz Ardid: Copper Supply Networks in the Early Bronze Age
of South-east Spain: New Evidence from the Lower Segura Valley
141
Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, pp. 115–119.
BRANDHERM, D., MAASS, A., MÜLLER-KISSING, M., and DIZ
ARDID, E., 2014. Prospecciones arqueomineras en la Sierra de Orihuela.
In:
Orihuela. Arqueología y museo. Museos municipales en el MARQ.
Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, pp. 114–125.
CRADDOCK, P.T., 1995.
Early Metal Mining and Production
. London:
Archetype Publication.
ESCANILLA, N., 2016.
Recursos minerales de cobre y su explotación
prehistórica en el sudeste peninsular. El valle del Guadalentín
.
Unpublished thesis (PhD), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
KLEIN, S., DOMERGUE, C., LAHAYE, Y., BREY, G.P., and VON
KAENEL, H.-M., 2009. The lead and copper isotopic composition of
copper ores from the Sierra Morena (Spain).
Journal of Iberian Geology,
35(1), 59–68.
LULL SANTIAGO, V., MICÓ PÉREZ, R., RIHUETE HERRADA, C., and
RISCH, R., 2010a. Metal and social relations of production in the 3rd and
2nd millennia BCE in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula.
Trabajos de
Prehistoria
, 67(2), 323–347.
LULL SANTIAGO, V., MICÓ PÉREZ, R., RIHUETE HERRADA, C., and
RISCH, R., 2010b. Las relaciones políticas y económicas de El Argar.
Menga
, 1, 11–36.
MARTÍNEZ MONLEÓN, S., 2014.
El Argar en el Bajo Segura y Bajo
Vinalopó. Patrón de asentamiento en un territorio de frontera
. Villena:
Fundación Municipal José M.ª Soler.
MONTERO RUIZ, I., 1999. Sureste. In: G. Delibes de Castro, and
I. Montero Ruiz, eds.
Las primeras etapas metalúrgicas en la Península
Ibérica II. Estudios regionales
. Madrid: Instituto Universitario Ortega y
Gasset, pp. 333–357.
MONTERO RUIZ, I., 2018. La procedencia del metal: consolidación
de los estudios con isótopos de plomo en la Península Ibérica.
Revista
d’Arqueologia de Ponent
, 28, 313–330.
MONTERO RUIZ, I., and MURILLO BARROSO, M., 2010. La producción
metalúrgica en las sociedades argáricas y sus implicaciones sociales: una
propuesta de investigación.
Menga
, 1, 37–52.
MONTERO RUIZ, I., and MURILLO BARROSO, M., forthcoming. The
frst bronzes in El Argar: an approach to the production and origin of
the metal. In: M. Bartelheim, F. Contreras Cortés, and R. Hardenberg,
eds.
Landscapes and Resources in the Bronze Age of Southern Spain
.
Tübingen: Tübingen Library Publishing.
MONTERO RUIZ, I., MURILLO BARROSO, M., and ROVIRA
LLORENS, S., 2020. Reciclado o reutilización en la producción
metalúrgica argárica. In: P. Diaz del Rio, K. Lillios, and I. Sastre, eds.
The Matter of Prehistory: Papers in honor of Antonio Gilman Guillén
.
Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana, 36. Madrid: Editorial CSIC, pp. 235–
248.
MORENO ONORATO, M.A., and
CONTRERAS CORTÉS
, F., 2010.
La organización social de la producción metalúrgica en las sociedades
argáricas: el poblado de Peñalosa.
Menga
, 1, 53–76.
MÜLLER-KISSING, M., 2014. Lokale Produktion oder überregionale
Versorgung? Kupfergewinnung und -metallurgie der bronzezeitlichen
El Argar-Kultur in Südostspanien. In: B. Nessel, I. Heske, and
D. Brandherm, eds.
Ressourcen und Rohstofe in der Bronzezeit: Nutzung
– Distribution – Kontrolle
. Wünsdorf: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für
Denkmalpfege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum, pp. 51–60.
MURILLO-BARROSO, M., MONTERO RUIZ, I., and ARANDA
JIMÉNEZ, G., 2015. An insight into the organisation of metal production
in the Argaric society.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
, 2,
141–155.
MURILLO-BARROSO, M., MONTERO RUIZ, I., NIETO, J.M.,
CAMALICH MASSIEU, M.D., MARTÍN SOCAS, D., and MARTINÓN-
TORRES, M., 2019. Trace elements and lead isotopic composition of
copper deposits from the eastern part of the Internal Zone of the Betic
Cordillera (SE Iberia): application to provenance of archaeological
materials.
Journal of Iberian Geology
, 45(4), 585–608.
OXALID.
Oxford Archaeological Lead Isotope Database
. [online]. Oxford
Isotrace Laboratory. Available from: https://oxalid.arch.ox.ac.uk/default.
html. Retrieved on July 24
th
2021.
POLLARD, A.M., POLLARD, A., BRAY, P., CUÉNOD, A., HOMMEL,
P., HSU, Y., LIU, R., PERUCCHETTI, L., POUNCETT, J., and
SAUNDERS, M., 2018.
Beyond Provenance: New Approaches to
Interpreting the Chemistry of Archaeological Copper Alloys
. Leuven:
Leuven University Press.
RODRÍGUEZ, J., MONTERO-RUIZ, I., HUNT-ORTIZ, M., and GARCÍA-
PAVÓN, E., 2020. Cinnabar provenance of Chalcolithic red pigments
in the Iberian Peninsula: a lead isotope study.
Geoarchaeology,
35(6),
871–882.
ROVIRA LLORENS, S., and MONTERO RUIZ, I., 2018. Proyecto
“Arqueometalurgia de la Península Ibérica” (1982–2017).
Trabajos de
Prehistoria
, 75(2), 223–247.
SIMÓN GARCÍA, J.L., 1998.
La metalurgia prehistórica valenciana
.
Servicio de Investigación Prehistórica – Serie de Trabajos Varios, 93.
Valencia: Diputación Provincial de Valencia.
STOS-GALE, Z.A., 2001. The development of Spanish metallurgy and
copper circulation in prehistoric southern Spain. In: B.M. Gomez Tubio,
M.A. Respaldiza Galisteo, and M.L. Pardo Rodriguez, eds.
III Congreso
Nacional de Arqueometria, Sevilla 1999
. Sevilla: Secretariado de
Publicaciones de la Universidad de Sevilla. pp. 445–456.
STOS-GALE, Z.A., and GALE, N.H., 2009. Metal provenancing using
isotopes and the Oxford archaeological lead isotope database (OXALID),
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
, 1, 195–213.
STOS-GALE, Z.A., HUNT ORTIZ, M., and GALE, N.H., 1999.
Análisis
elemental y de isótopos de plomo de objetos metálicos de Gatas
. In:
P.V. Castro Martínez, R.W. Chapman, S. Gili i Suriñach, V. Lull, R. Micó,
C. Rihuete Herrada, R. Risch, and M.E. Sanahuja Yll, eds.
Proyecto
Gatas 2: la dinámica arqueológica de la ocupación prehistórica
. Sevilla:
Junta de Andalucía – Consejería de Cultura, pp. 347–358.
image/svg+xml