Dancing in the Dark? The westernmost “Cypriot” knot-headed pin from Aïn Smene (Morocco)

Abstract

The present article presents a review of a singular find of a copper pin together with Bell Beaker items in a cave in Morocco. Although in the first publication of this piece Georges Souville already established a connection of the pin to the so called "Cypriot" knot-headed pins of Central Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, this piece never found the attention it deserved and never entered in the distribution maps of this type of pins. The recent publication of new metal analysis of the pin and the accompanying Palmela point even led to a rejection of this identification and its chalcolithic dating and the assumption of a Early Iron Age/Phoenician chronology. Here we review again the whole context and the findings and their potential analogies. Finally the identification as a "Cypriot" knot-headed pin will be affirmed and the finding is seen as part of the Late Chalcolithic exchange of ivory and other prestige-goods between the Near East, the Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula. Key-words:Knot-headed pin. Palmela point. Bell Beakers. Morocco. Iberian Peninsula. Exchange. Prestige-goods. Ivory. ResumenEste artículo presenta una revisión de un alfiler de cobre singular, hallado en una cueva de Marruecos junto con cerá-mica campaniforme. Aunque Georges Souville ya en la primera publicación de esta pieza estableció una conexión con las llamadas alfileres "chipriotas" de Centroeuropa y del Mediterráneo Oriental, ésta nunca recibió la atención que merece ni entró en los mapas de distribución de este tipo. La reciente publicación de unos nuevos análisis del alfiler y de la punta de Palmela, que la acompaña, llevaron incluso a rechazar esta identificación y su cronología calcolíti-ca para asumir una datación en la Primera Edad del Hierro y la Época Fenicia. Aquí revisamos otra vez todo el contexto y los hallazgos y sus posibles analogías. Finalmente confirmamos la identificación de la pieza como alfiler "chipriota" y lo interpretamos como parte del intercambio de marfil y otros objetos de prestigio entre el Próximo Oriente, el Magreb y la Península Ibérica.

Bronze Age communication and trade networks from Mediterranean Ivory records

“…While this Southwestern focus has long been recognized by scholars based on archaeological evidence, the model's contribution lies in outlining the path along the Atlantic shores, both Iberian and Moroccan. This axis is supported not only by the presence of the same raw materials (L. africana) but also by a range of typologies supporting contact with Southwestern Iberia, including palmela arrowheads and Bell Beaker pottery f the same Maritime style(Schuhmacher 2014) The existence of local megalithism, though scarcely studied, suggests an earlier phase of contact during the Early Chalcolithic, potentially contributing to the origins of the Maritime/International Bell Beakers decorative style. Based on the fact that the comb-impressed decoration, while absent in the Iberian Neolithic, is well known in the Maghrebian Neolithic.…”

“…Schuhmacher , 2014. However, these areas are outside the study area of this study and are not further discussed.…”