Rodrigo Villalobos García

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

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.

Circulación de hachas prehistóricas de jade alpino en el centro-occidente de la Península Ibérica. ¿Modelo “directional trade” o “down-the-line/prestige chain”?

espanolEn este articulo se pretende 1) actualizar la base documental de hachas de jade ibericas exponiendo los resultados de la caracterizacion de cinco hachas procedentes de la Meseta Norte Espanola (espectroscopia Raman y UV-VIS-NIR) y 2) contrastar la hipotesis sobre el intercambio direccional entre Bretana (hachas repulidas de jade) y el Occidente de la Peninsula Iberica (adornos de variscita) durante el V y IV milenios a.C Los analisis arqueometricos apuntan a un origen alpino de las hachas en estudio. Sin embargo, distintos argumentos arqueologicos –que incluyen aspectos tipologicos y cronologicos de la distribucion de hachas, adornos de variscita y otros artefactos– asi como un analisis estadistico de correlacion espacial entre la distribucion de las hachas de jade y minas y adornos de variscita, nos facultan a rechazar dicha hipotesis: no consideramos que haya existido un intercambio directo de hachas de jade bretonas por adornos de variscita del occidente peninsular sino, mas bien, una distribucion de tipo “down-the-line/prestige chain”. EnglishThe focus of this paper is to update the Iberian jade axe database with new unpublished data and the archaeometric characterisation (Raman and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy) of five jade axes of the Spanish Northern Meseta. This data will be used to test the hypothesis published by other authors which suggests that during the 5th and 4th millennia BCE there was a directional exchange of sociotechnic artefacts between Brittany, France (repolished alpine jade axes), and the Western Iberian Peninsula (ornaments of variscite mined in Zamora and Huelva). Archaeometric data shows a supra-peninsular exchange for axes based on the alpine origin of the jade. Besides this, previously untangled archaeological questions such as 1) Breton and Western Iberian jade axes and variscite ornaments typologies 2) exchange dynamics of other sociotechnic artefacts in Central Iberia and 3) the correlation of the distribution of jade axes, variscite sources and variscite beads, are analysed together. In our opinion, the data available suggest that, instead of a “directional trade” exchange, green sociotechnic objects –jade and variscite- reflect a decentralised “down-the-line/prestige chain” model. EuskaraArtikulu honen helburua da: 1) jade-aizkora iberiarren dokumentu-basea eguneratzea, Espainia Iparraldeko Goi-ordokiko bost aizkoraren ezaugarrien emaitzak azalduz (Raman espektroskopia eta UV-VIS-NIR) eta 2) K.a. V eta IV. milurtekoetan Bretainiaren (jade-aizkora txukunduak) eta Iberiar Penintsulako Mendebaldearen (bariszitazko apaingarriak) arteko norabide-trukeari buruzko hipotesiak alderatzea. Azterketa arkeometrikoen arabera, aztertutako aizkorek jatorri alpetarra dute. Baina zenbait argudio arkeologiko (horien artean aizkoren banaketaren alderdi tipologikoak eta kronologikoak, bariszitazko apaingarriak eta beste gailu batzuk) eta jade-aizkoren eta meatzeen eta bariszitazko apaingarrien banaketaren arteko korrelazio espazialaren azterketa estatistikoak hipotesi hori baztertzera garamatzate. Ez dugu uste zuzeneko trukerik izan denik Bretainiako jade-aizkoren eta penintsulako mendebaldeko bariszitazko apaingarrien artean, baizik eta “down-the-line/prestige chain” motako banaketa bat.