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Rock crystal appears relatively frequently in Late Prehistoric Iberian sites, especially in the form of micro-blades and knapping debris. With some exceptions, however, these finds have seldom been looked into in any detail, and therefore little is known about the technology involved in the use of this material, its social and economic relevance or...
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Context 1
... and valuable data related to key aspects of third millennium BCE Iberian societies, such as economic production, craft specialisation, metallurgy, cir- culation of exotic raw materials (in some cases from outside Iberia), burial practices, social complexity, etc. e see for example Nocete According to the data compiled for this paper (Table 2, Fig. 2), rock crystal has been found in 8 different sectors of the site: Ontiveros, PP4-Montelirio, Montelirio tholos, La Huera, La Cima, IES and Trabajadores and García Lorca streets. The findings come from the three great megalithic monuments (Ontiveros, Montelirio and Structure 10.042e10.049 from the PP4-Montelirio sector), a hypo- geum ...
Context 2
... knowl- edge and skill taken from the production of flint dagger blades as well from know-how of rock-crystal smaller foliaceous bifacial objects, such as Ontiveros and Montelirio arrowheads. Some of the characteristics of the technological process involved in its produc- tion can be deduced from the observable technical marks on the piece (Figs. 12 and 13). From all this we can develop the following hypothesis about the chaîne op eratoire verified during the pro- duction ...
Citations
... Un ejemplo son los ajuares del Calcolítico del sur peninsular destacando la daga en cuarzo automorfo de Valencia de la Concepción. Su excepcionalidad técnica y estética y el hecho de haber sido enmangada en marfil de origen asiático indica el alto valor otorgado (Morgado et al., 2016). Las dificultades impuestas por la materia prima podrían haber actuado como un estímulo y una oportunidad para que los artesanos mostraran sus habilidades, por lo que los objetos habrían tenido un doble valor: el originado por la experiencia técnica o los conocimientos necesarios para hacer frente a la complejidad de su fabricación y el derivado del significado o simbolismo de la materia prima misma. ...
El enfoque procesual desarrollado durante las últimas décadas en los estudios líticos ha permitido superar el supuesto carácter "arcaico" de los conjuntos en cuarzo. El progresivo abandono de las clasificaciones exclusivamente tipológicas y las innovaciones metodológicas han posibilitado sobrepasar la apariencia informal de los artefactos de cuarzo y la definición de las estrategias tecnológicas que rigen la gestión de este recurso por parte de las sociedades prehistóricas. Aspectos sobre la movilidad de los artefactos en cuarzo, la caracterización mecánica y petrográfica, la variabilidad tecnológica de los conjuntos, la funcionalidad de los artefactos en cuarzo y su significado social y simbólico ofrecen una visión completa sobre las sociedades del pasado.
... Por tanto, se podría preservar el simbolismo y el papel social del huevo. También encontramos el mismo fenómeno para el marfil que parece circular en forma de materia prima (Schuhmacher, 2017), así como para los objetos de cristal de roca (Morgado et al., 2016). Paradójicamente eso no es el caso para las cuentas de ámbar, que parecen haber circulado en forma de productos acabados (Murillo-Barroso et al., 2018), aunque esto podría cuestionarse en el futuro, como actualmente se está planteando en Francia (Leroy-Langelin et al., 2019: 159). ...
... Paradójicamente eso no es el caso para las cuentas de ámbar, que parecen haber circulado en forma de productos acabados (Murillo-Barroso et al., 2018), aunque esto podría cuestionarse en el futuro, como actualmente se está planteando en Francia (Leroy-Langelin et al., 2019: 159). Conocemos tanto los restos de un probable taller relacionado con el trabajo del marfil Nocete et al., 2013;Schuhmacher et al., 2013) como los restos de la fabricación de objetos de cristal de roca (Morgado et al., 2016), incluidos los desechos de la talla, pero no tenemos rastro de la fabricación de objetos de ámbar en la Península Ibérica (Murillo-Barroso et al., 2018). Sin embargo, M. Luciañez Triviño (2018) cuestiona la presencia de un taller de fabricación de objetos de marfil en Valencina de la Concepción. ...
Resumen
Numerosas representaciones de avestruces están presentes en el arte rupestre de toda la vertiente medi-terránea de África. Dan testimonio de la importancia económica y simbólica de este animal durante la prehistoria y también de su declive en tiempos más recientes. Ya en 1910 Luis Siret relató la presencia de objetos hechos a partir de cáscaras de huevos de avestruz en las tumbas más ricas de la necrópolis de Los Millares, pero incluso hoy en día, debido a las dificultades de su identificación, los objetos hechos a partir de cáscaras de huevo de avestruz siguen siendo extremadamente raros en España. Se encuentran sobre todo en forma de cuentas, pero también como cáscaras completas y como fragmentos de huevos que podrían usarse como recipientes, pero también como materia prima para la fabricación de cuentas. Si las modalidades de su intercambio y de su circulación tanto como la cronología del fenómeno en gran parte siguen desconocidas, los objetos hechos a partir de cáscaras de huevos de avestruz no obstante atestiguan, al igual que el ámbar y el marfil, la importancia de materias primas de prestigio y de su importación en la constitución y representación de las élites calcolíticas.
Palabras clave: cuenta, cáscara, avestruz, España, África, Mediterráneo, Calcolítico
Abstract
Numerous rock-art images of ostriches are found throughout the hinterland of Africa’s Mediterranean coastline. They bear witness of the economic and symbolic significance of this animal during prehistory and of its decline in more recent times. Already in 1910 Louis Siret reported the presence of objects manufactured from ostrich eggshells in the richest tombs of the Los Millares necropolis, but even today, due to the difficulty of their identification, objects made from ostrich eggshells remain extremely rare in Spain. They are mostly found in the form of beads but also as complete shells and as egg-shell frag-ments which could be used as containers but also as raw material for making beads. Even though the modalities of their exchange and circulation as well as the chronology of this phenomenon are still largely unknown, objects made of ostrich eggshells nonetheless bear witness, in the same way as amber and ivory, to the importance of prestigious raw materials and their import in the constitution and in the representation of Chalcolithic élites.
Keywords: bead, eggshell, ostrich, Spain, Africa, Mediterranean, Copper Age
... Due to the homogeneity and the brittleness of the raw material, this technique is particularly suitable for rock crystal. Recent finds from the Iberian Peninsula (Morgado et al., 2016) as well as from the megalithic site Sion-Petit-Chasseur (VS) (Honegger, 2011, pp. 166-169) and the settlement at Bellinzona-Castel Grande (TI) (Donati, 1986) show the impressive skills of Neolithic toolmakers. ...
Rock crystal is among the most fascinating materials in the archaeological record. It is formed in alpine-type fissures by hydrothermal processes. Due to its physical properties, rock crystal has been a valuable resource throughout human history. In alpine regions, it was frequently used for the production of stone tools between the Mesolithic and the Bronze Age. However, there are only a handful of known prehistoric crystal quartz quarries in Europe. The following article presents evidence for rock crystal mining during the Early Mesolithic and the final stage of the Neolithic at a high-altitude site in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. In combination with radiocarbon dates from previous studies, the results of our fieldwork indicate that in the Swiss Alps rock crystal was mined almost 10,000 years ago. Furthermore, typo-technological analyses provide new insights into the way in which the raw material was processed during the represented time periods.
... Other non-local raw materials are the rock crystal micro-blade, the two milky quartz monocrystals, the perforated muscovite pendant and bead, the chalcedony amulet or the amphibolite hand axe. The few studies available on Copper Age rock crystal technology show that potential sources are far and between (Morgado Rodríguez et al. 2016). Regarding fibrolite, no sources exist either in the Western Sierra Morena or in the Iberian southwest, which means that we can reasonably conclude that this stone came from one of the locations suggested in the literature, such as Serranía de Ronda (Málaga) or Hoyazo de Nijar (Almería) (García González 2014: 399). ...
Solo recientemente la investigación del fenómeno megalítico ibérico ha comenzado a beneficiarse de la ampliación del potencial técnico y científico de la arqueología moderna. Todavía son muy pocos los megalitos ibéricos para los que se han realizado investigaciones científicas de alta resolución, capaces de aportar datos detallados sobre su diseño, usos y biografías.En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del estudio del tholos del complejo megalítico de Palacio III (Almadén de la Plata, Sevilla), abordado mediante una metodología multidisciplinar que integra la geoarqueología, el estudio tecnomorfológico y funcional de la cultura material portable y el análisis gráfico, dentro de una meticulosa valoración contextual.Los resultados aportan datos muy novedosos respecto a cómo, a través de una serie de elecciones culturales cuidadosamente construidas, este monumento representa un verdadero lugar de encuentro entre los recursos geológicos localmente disponibles y los recursos accesibles mediante contacto con otras comunidades.Bien en su forma bruta, bien labrada en forma de esculturas grabadas y pintadas o transformada en artefactos de alto valor técnico y personal, la materialidad de la piedra adquiere en Palacio III múltiples dimensiones culturales que solo a través de la moderna investigación científica es posible reconstruir.
... Due to its usual white and bright coloration, it is highly perceivable in the landscape, making its detection easier during procurement. Though quartz was widely exploited throughout Prehistory (Mourre 1996;Jaubert 1997), there is still a general tendency to consider it as of a secondary category or a lower quality knappable raw material (Callahan 1987;Daffara et al. 2018;Driscoll 2011) except for its hyaline variety (MacCurdy 1931;Morgado et al. 2016). The usually irregular fracture patterns and consequential informal appearance of quartz-based assemblages resulted in it being interpreted as an Barchaic^and opportunistic form of technology used to fill the scarcity of better-quality silica cryptocrystalline varieties such as obsidian, flint, chalcedony, opal, jasper and agate (Mourre 1994(Mourre , 1996Driscoll and Warren 2007). ...
Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter is an Upper Pleistocene archaeological site in the Lozoya River Valley (Madrid, Spain) with a quartz-based Mousterian lithic assemblage. To understand the reasons behind an intense use of quartz over flint and quartzite, a mechanical experiment was carried out. Flakes from flint, quartzite, and local quartz were tested under controlled conditions and quantifiable variables. The mechanical action consisted in a standardised linear repetitive cutting protocol over antler and pine wood. Results allowed to differentiate flake resistance between raw materials through mass and edge angle material loss statistics. Results also showed that the edges produced on flint are sharper allowing to create deeper cuts, but the thin working edges break more easily meaning that they would need a higher maintenance by retouch. Quartzite and quartz have similar performances, but quartzite suffers a more intense modification of the edge angle, while quartz edges present a higher endurance. When compared with flint, quartzite and quartz are more suitable for those tasks where heavier force is applied. Based on that, we concluded that there was no functional disadvantage in using a quartz-based toolkit. Therefore, the quartz assemblages recovered throughout the sequence of Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter show that it was intensely explored not just because of its availability in the landscape but also for its suitability to the development of the different activities taking place at Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter such as big sized herbivore butchering, for a long time span.
... Other non-local raw materials are the rock crystal micro-blade, the two milky quartz monocrystals, the perforated muscovite pendant and bead, the chalcedony amulet or the amphibolite hand axe. The few studies available on Copper Age rock crystal technology show that potential sources are far and between (Morgado Rodríguez et al. 2016). Regarding fibrolite, no sources exist either in the Western Sierra Morena or in the Iberian southwest, which means that we can reasonably conclude that this stone came from one of the locations suggested in the literature, such as Serranía de Ronda (Málaga) or Hoyazo de Nijar (Almería) (García González 2014: 399). ...
Only recently the investigation of the Iberian megalithic phenomenon has begun to benefit from the expansion of the technical and scientific potential of modern archeology. There are still very few Iberian megaliths for which high-resolution scientific research has been carried out, capable of providing detailed data on its design, uses and biographies. This paper presents the results of the tholos study of the Palace III megalithic complex ( Almadén de la Plata, Sevilla), approached through a multidisciplinary methodology that integrates geoarchaeology, the technomorphological and functional study of portable material culture and graphic analysis, within a meticulous contextual assessment. The results provide very novel data regarding how, Through a series of carefully constructed cultural choices, this monument represents a true meeting point between locally available geological resources and resources accessible through contact with other communities. Well in its gross form, well carved in the form of engraved and painted sculptures or transformed into alt artifacts or technical and personal value, the materiality of the stone acquires in Palace III multiple cultural dimensions that only through modern scientific research is it possible to reconstruct.
... A further set of objects from the upper level of this grave was found in the south-eastern quadrant of the chamber, approximately half a metre from the threshold between the chamber and the corridor. This included a dagger with a rock crystal blade and ivory hilt and sheath that we have already described, separately, in two previous publications (GarCía Sanjuán et al. 2013b, 617 -622;morGaDo roDríGuez et al. 2016) (Fig. 26). Essentially, the hilt comprises two parts (both from the Asian elephant) elaborated separately and then assembled; a handle measuring about 8.4 cm long and 4.5 cm wide, and a pommel or ornamental top measuring 13 cm long and 4.5 cm wide. ...
Social complexity, social inequality and social hierarchisation are among the most frequently discussed topics in the study of the Iberian Copper Age (c. 3200 – 2200 cal BCE). Since the impact of processual archaeology on Iberian Late Prehistory during the early-1980s, a large number of studies have been dedicated to these issues1. Establishing a single theory (or a unanimously accepted one) of Chalcolithic social complexity
is especially difficult due to the geographical and ecological diversity of Iberia, with the subsequent variability of social and cultural responses, as well as due to the limitations of the available empirical record.
This paper aims to contribute to the debate concerning the nature of social inequality and hierarchisation in Copper Age Iberia by presenting and discussing new data obtained
at the site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain). Valencina2 – located in the lower Guadalquivir River valley (Figures 1 and 2) – is perhaps the largest Iberian
settlement from the 3rd millennium cal BCE and it certainly has great potential to help advance the debate on the evolution of social complexity during the Iberian Copper Age (García Sanjuán et al. 2017). Recent contributions to the ample literature on this site have made it possible to move forward in the systematisation of the available empirical evidence (García Sanjuán et al. 2013 a), especially in terms of chronology (García Sanjuán et al. 2018), demography (Díaz-Zorita Bonilla 2017) and resources (García Sanjuán 2017). Specifically, we will proceed by presenting the existing data on grave 10.042 – 10.049, which is located in the PP4-Montelirio sector of Valencina. We will subsequently continue by evaluating this grave within the context of the social organisation of the communities that occupied and/ or frequented this Chalcolithic settlement.
... Geophysical survey and excavations have revealed scores of pits and shafts, and a range of both small and large megalithic constructions and 'artificial caves' (or hypogea) (Vargas Jiménez, Meyer and Ortega Gordillo 2012;Wheatley et al. 2012;Mederos Martín et al. 2016;Meyer and Goosens 2016). The site has become central to recent debates about social complexity in Iberia; recent publications include the proceedings of a conference devoted to the site (García Sanjuán, Vargas Jiménez et al. 2013b), a monograph presenting the study of the Montelirio tholos , and a host of papers discussing metallurgy, craftsmanship and the exchange of exotic raw materials, notably cinnabar, amber, ivory, gold or rock-crystal (Nocete Calvo et al. 2008Costa Caramé et al. 2010;García Sanjuán, Luciañez Triviño et al. 2013a;García Sanjuán and Murillo-Barroso 2013;Rogerio-Candelera et al. 2013;Murillo-Barroso et al. 2015;Morgado Rodríguez et al. 2016). ...
The great site of Valencina de la Concepción, near Seville in the lower Guadalquivir valley of southwest Spain, is presented in the context of debate about the nature of Copper Age society in southern Iberia as a whole. Many aspects of the layout, use, character and development of Valencina remain unclear, just as there are major unresolved questions about the kind of society represented there and in southern Iberia, from the late fourth to the late third millennium cal BC. This paper discusses 178 radiocarbon dates, from 17 excavated sectors within the c. 450 ha site, making it the best dated in later Iberian prehistory as a whole. Dates are modelled in a Bayesian statistical framework. The resulting formal date estimates provide the basis for both a new epistemological approach to the site and a much more detailed narrative of its development than previously available. Beginning in the 32nd century cal BC, a long-lasting tradition of simple, mainly collective and often successive burial was established at the site. Mud-vaulted tholoi appear to belong to the 29th or 28th centuries cal BC; large stone-vaulted tholoi such as La Pastora appear to date later in the sequence. There is plenty of evidence for a wide range of other activity, but no clear sign of permanent, large-scale residence or public buildings or spaces. Results in general support a model of increasingly competitive but ultimately unstable social relations, through various phases of emergence, social competition, display and hierarchisation, and eventual decline, over a period of c. 900 years.
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (10.1007/s10963-018-9114-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
... A diversity of tomb architecture was utilized, including megaliths, rockshelters, natural caves, hypogea, pits, and tholos (Boaventura, 2009;Boaventura et al., 2014;Silva, 2002Silva, , 2003. The manufacture of technically complex objects and personal adornments, some made from exotic raw materials such as ivory, amber, copper, gold, variscite, and rock crystal (Morgado Rodríguez et al., 2015;Müller et al., 2007;Murillo-Barroso and Martinón-Torres, 2012;Murillo-Barroso et al., 2015;Schuhmacher et al., 2009;Sousa and Gonçalves, 2012;Thomas, 2011;Villalobos García and Odriozola, 2016;Valera et al., 2015), also attests to the formation of new identities and categories of social beings. ...
The relationship between the development of social complexity in the Iberian Peninsula during the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE (Late Neolithic and Copper Age) and population movement has been a longstanding question. Biological affinity analyses were used to explore Iberian demographic dynamics, and specifically, to discern whether there is evidence for migration and gene flow between northwest African, eastern Mediterranean, and Iberian populations. Affinities based on comparisons of nonmetric traits from the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System were estimated among samples of burial populations from three key Late Neolithic-Copper Age sites in the Portuguese Estremadura: Cova da Moura (3700–2300 BCE), Bolores (2800–2600 BCE), and Pai Mogo I (2800–2600 BCE). Results indicate: 1) the possibility of genetic exchange with African and other Mediterranean peoples, 2) some measure of population continuity over time in the Estremadura, and 3) possible local isolation of populations, given distinctive patterning at the site of Pai Mogo, located 23 km north of Cova da Moura and Bolores.
... This value may have also been transferred to the transformed objects. A perfect example of this can be seen in the paper by A. Morgado and colleagues (Morgado et al. 2016), focused on the analysis of the rock crystal assemblages recovered in several Copper Age sites of Southern Iberia. These include some of the most spectacular examples of rock crystal artefacts in Western Europe, such as a dagger blade and very finely crafted arrowheads. ...
The application of the Chaine operatoire approach developed in
the lithic studies during the last decades has overcome the
assumed “archaic” character of the quartz lithic assemblages. These
studies have gone beyond the informal appearance of the quartz artefacts
in order to achieve a positive understanding of the technological
strategies that ruled the management of this lithic resource
by the prehistoric societies.
Because of its hardness, mechanical and physical properties
macrocrystalline quartz was heavily used in the Pleistocene and
Holocene lithic technologies. Besides, quartz is one of the most
abundant minerals on Earth's crust, usually related to Palaeozoic
and granitic substrata, where the different varieties are available
both on primary outcrops (quartz veins) and secondary deposits
(alluvial or colluvial). Finally, its brightness and whitish colour
make quartz a high perceivable resource in the territory, favouring
its identification and collection.
However and despite its general presence in the archaeological
record, lithic studies have traditionally regarded quartz as a second rate
lithic resource, its use strictly conditioned by the scarcity of
better quality or cryptocrystalline rocks in the surrounding territories
(Bordes, 1947; Mourre, 1996). Every now and them, a few
studies were developed in those sites where quartz was the predominant
raw material (i.e. Pei, 1932), or where notable tools
were recovered (i.e. de Givenchy, 1923).
Quartz studies have had a late development within the lithic
studies tradition. From the 1970's onwards, the increase on the
research activity and the impact of the processual approach of
the New Archaeology led to the emergence of lithic studies focused
on minority raw materials. Such studies lay the foundation of the
present day research (i.e. Holm and Knutsson, 1998; Moloney
et al.,1996; Rodríguez-Rellán, 2015; Sternke et al., 2009). These first
examples of quartz studies were conducted in those regions where
this mineral was the predominant raw material. Thus, in Europe,
we must highlight the pioneering studies developed in Scandinavia
under an experimental, technological and functional perspective,
thanks in parte to the influx of the North American studies and
researchers (Apel and Knutsson, 2006; Barber, 1981; Flenniken,
1981). These approaches carried out in the northernmost part of
Europe contributed to the definition of the quartz technology in a
very significant way (Broadbent, 1973; Callahan, 1987; K.
Knutsson, 1988a; inter alia). Meanwhile, in France, the studies of
the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites (Bracco, 1997b; Mourre,
1996 and references therein) allowed to detect the complexity of
the techno-economical roles played by this resource within the
prehistoric groups.
In recent years, the research has focused on the characterization
of quartz from a petrographic, technological and functional point of
view. In this sense, the experimental archaeology has been a very
useful discipline for helping to achieve a complete understanding
of the quartz lithic assemblages. The systematization process carried
out by these latter approaches has relatively helped to balance
our level of knowledge regarding the quartz technology in comparison
to that of the “traditional” raw materials, such as chert. (Ballin,
2008; de la Torre, 2004; de Lombera-Hermida et al., 2011; Driscoll,
2011b; Knutsson et al., 2015; Knutsson, 1988a; Mourre, 1997;
Tallavaara et al., 2010; inter alia).
In this sense, the session “New approaches to the study of
Quartz lithic industries” held in Burgos (Spain) in the framework
of the XVII World UISPP Congress was aimed to bring together
the new advances and approaches to the technological, functional,
economical and symbolical aspects of the quartz lithic assemblages
from a wide geographical and chronological point of view. This
issue follows the monographic character of the previous choral
works edited by R. Barber (1981) or J. P. Bracco (1997b). Thus, the
contributions presented here share the technological approach,
focusing on the different aspects of the chaîne operatoire, from
the raw material acquisition to the abandonment and postdepositional
processes. Besides the technological, behavioural and
economical significance of quartz, its social and symbolic sphere
have also been considered, given their importance for understanding
the relevance of this resource for the prehistoric societies
