The IMENA project. Metallurgy and trade during the Naviform period (Balearic Islands, 1650-850 cal BCE)

Abstract

The Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean, Spain) were the last islands of the Mediterranean to be colonized. This happened at the end of the III millennium cal BCE by settlers related to groups of Bell-baker traditions. During most of the II millennium BCE, they were settled by groups more or les homogeneous, known as Naviform societies, where isolation or connectivity and external influences have been under discussion in order to explain some of the social and archaeological changes identified. In the Balearic Islands, Cooper ores are so scarce and the amounts of metal documented in different contexts during the Naviform period suggest that much of the metal could arrive from outside of the archipelago. According to this, during this talk I will present different data, most of them produced under the ongoing IMENA Project. Metallurgy and trade in the Naviform period (c.1650-850 cal BCE). The main objective is to explore the role of metals and approach how the metallurgical exchanges have influenced (or not) the production, and historical dynamics of Balearic populations throughout the Prehistory. Different kind of metallurgical artefacts and production remains have been recovered for this project from different sites representing each island of the archipelago. The applied methodology consisted of elemental analysis performed by a pXRF, lead isotope analysis (LIA) performed by MC-ICP-MS) and metallography. The main goal of this research is to approach the technology and provenance of these metal and metallurgical remains and, if possible, relate them to the original ore source. Firsts results show that some objects present isotopic coincidences with Minorca copper ores while other artefacts can be related with more external areas as Catalonia, Languedoc, Alpine or SE Spain. Thus, this information seems to be relevant for a better understanding of the metal production dynamics, practices, and also to approach metals trade and islands connectivity.