No abstract

Summary The extraction of silver has traditionally been considered as one of the main incentives for the Phoenician expansion throughout the Mediterranean and their settlement in Iberia. In this paper, we approach the organization of silver production in Iberia during the Early Iron Age through the study of the evidence of production currently available and the development of Lead Isotope Analysis (LIA). Previous results (Hunt 2003; Stos Gale 2001; Kassianidou 1992) are considered in the light of new data. The extraction of silver from complex minerals noticeably intensifies in south‐west Iberia. Imports of exogenous lead, needed for the extraction of silver from these complex minerals, are evident. Supplies of lead come in from other regions of Iberia, such as Gádor, Cartagena/Mazarrón, Linares or even the mining district of Molar‐Belmunt‐Falset (MBF) in Catalonia. This picture reveals that the organization of silver production was much more complex than initially thought, with the articulation of an exchange network of raw materials at a macro‐territorial scale embracing almost all Iberia. The socioeconomic implications that control of these networks of lead distribution could have had are also discussed.

This work is part of a broader research line that aims to develop and implement a nondestructive methodology for the chemical characterization of archaeological metals based on a protocol that combines energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XRF) with a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation algorithm. In this paper, the ED-XRF/MC protocol has been applied to estimate the chemical composition

The hoards of metallic objects belonging to the Late European Bronze Age can be interpreted differently depending on the type, number and composition of the artefacts. PIXE analysis has been performed in nine items from the Hoard of Freixanda in Portugal comprising 4 socket axes, a palstave axe, a ring, a chisel, a dagger, and a casting debris. Besides the composition of the main matrix elements, that is Cu and Sn, the amount of trace elements of interest like, As, Pb, Ni and Ag has been determined using this ion beam technique. The high tin content alloy and the high purity of the metals from the Freixanda hoard are characteristic of the Portuguese and Spanish Late Bronze Age metallurgy, supporting the idea of a regional production.

We report lead isotope data for cinnabar from three Chalcolithic settlements and several ore deposits in the Iberian Peninsula. Lead isotope ratios of cinnabar (vermilion) employed in one Bell Beaker grave at Humanejos (Madrid) plot in the field of the Almaden mining district. Cinnabar from the La Velilla dolmen (Palencia) also plots in the isotopic field of Almaden ores but is also comparable to the closer Miñera de Luna deposit in the Cantabrian Ranges. Cinnabar used in the dolmen of Montelirio (Seville) has an unknown origin, as its new lead isotope ratios obtained do not match with any of the studied ore deposits. We conclude that cinnabar was a well-known raw material and several ore deposits were mined in the Iberian Peninsula during the Chalcolithic. The societies established at the northern and central parts of the peninsula employed locally sourced cinnabar (<200 km away) in their funerary rituals. The Chalcolithic society settled at the estuary of the Guadalquivir river (south of Spain) employed cinnabar of unknown origin, leaving open the possibility of long-distance cinnabar trade.