Amber, beads and social interaction in the Late Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula: an update

Abstract

The identification of archaeological amber has been used in Iberian prehistory to evidence long-distance exchanges and engage Iberia in networks that connect western Europe with central and northern Europe, the emergence of social complexity, and the consolidation of trade networks. However, until now, no comprehensive analytical study of the Iberian amber has been produced to support any of the interpretive models currently in use. This paper approaches the analysis of Iberian Peninsula amber artefacts by considering their provenance (based on FTIR characterization), chronology, and spatial relationship with other exotica. Our work increases the number of analyzed artefacts to 156 (24%), out of the c. 647 currently known for the Iberian Peninsula. Based on these new data and a review of Murillo-Barroso and Martinón-Torres (2012), this overview outlines amber consumption patterns from the 6th to 2nd millennia BCE and demonstrates long-distance amber exchange connecting Iberia with the Mediterranean region from the Neolithic period onwards.

Amber in prehistoric Iberia: New data and a review

“…This presence of foreign amber materialises in a much more evident way during the 3 rd Millennium BC [ 9 , 70 ]. This increase in foreign amber is noticeable not so much in the size of the assemblages (the 250 beads from the tholos of Montelirio in Valencina de la Concepción being an exception to the general trend of only a few beads per deposit), as in the number of sites containing amber, which practically doubles compared to the previous period.…”

Paisajes sagrados de la Edad de Bronce tardía en el occidente de la Península Ibérica: estudio del caso de Penedo do Lexim (Mafra, Portugal)

“…The activities developed in these spaces seem to have assumed exceptional and non-permanent features (Cardoso 2010(Cardoso -2011, in which the valuation and exchange of valuable artifacts, not only in material but also in social terms, may have played an important role. Among these we can surely include gold pieces, recovered in at least one of these sites 7 , and also amber artifacts (Vilaça 2003: 269-270;Odriozola et al n. d.). The recovery of a necklace made of 44 amber beads, imported from the Baltic area 8 , in a LBA ritual area near Penedo do Lexim named Cabecinho da Capitôa (Sousa 2008) should be emphasized in this framework (Fig.…”

Amber imitation? Two unusual cases of Pinus resin-coated beads in Iberian Late Prehistory (3rd and 2nd millennia BC)

“…Four beads were manufactured from shell and covered by a resinite; these are the pieces analysed in the present study (Table 1). The Sicilian origin of the amber materials evidences that the area participated in long-distance exchange networks [2]. Additionally, the two gold artefacts ( tutuli ) recovered from the same layer are very rare ornaments in the SW of Europe and reinforce the idea that the site formed part of an exchange network along the Mediterranean shore of the Iberian Peninsula [20].…”

“…Body ornaments are scarce and consist of beads manufactured from a variety of raw materials. For example, three of them are made of lignite, two of amber [2], one of coral and one of a shell fragment ( Cypraea) . Four beads were manufactured from shell and covered by a resinite; these are the pieces analysed in the present study (Table 1).…”

“…beads, pendants, charms… [1], conferring on an important symbolic value in European Prehistory. The allure and rarity of amber triggered the exchange and use of this resinite, but also the development of imitations by the use of other local translucent minerals [2] or the application of coatings, as described by this paper, to reproduce the colour of amber.…”