Metallurgical technology and resources mobility in the El Argar culture : An archaeometallurgical study at Laderas del Castillo (Callosa de Segura, Alicante)
Escanilla Artigas, Nicolau (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Espanya). Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio)
Murillo-Barroso, Mercedes
Soriano, Eni (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
López Padilla, Juan Antonio (Museo Arqueológico de Alicante)
Jover Maestre, Francisco Javier (Universitat de València. Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga)
Lackinger, Aaron (Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología)

Data:	2025
Descripció:	25 pàg.
Resum:	Metallurgy has been defined as a pivotal activity in understanding of the development of El Argar society. Nonetheless, comprehensive studies of extractive metallurgical processes based on archaeometallurgical analyses remain lacking. This article examines the production remains found at the El Argar site of Laderas del Castillo, documented from 2150 to 1950 cal BC, including samples of slag, crucibles, copper prills and artefacts. Laderas del Castillo emerges as a key site for understanding the technology and organization of metallurgical production in the El Argar world. There are few sites with archaeometric analysis of metallurgical remains, and the present case allows for an almost complete view of the entire metallurgical chaîne opératoire in this period. Microstructural analyses of smelting remains by SEM-EDS reveal a technological tradition that mirrors the previous Copper Age one and the direct exploitation of complex arsenical copper ores with occasional copper sulphides. Despite the existence of closer mineralizations, lead isotope analyses show the exploitation of various copper resources and sources far from the settlement (Linares, the Interior of the Baetic Cordilleras and Almagrera, about 300, 200 and 140 km respectively). These active exchange networks in Laderas del Castillo reflect the same pattern found in the rest of the El Argar territory, which is based on the intensive exploitation of mineralizations in the interior of the Baetics and the Southeast of the peninsula. Some of these sources have also been observed in Copper Age metallurgy, suggesting that the mobility and exchange networks operating in the southeast during the El Argar period were rooted in earlier archaeological phases, indicating a wide and complex exchange network in the region.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Arqueometalurgia ; Edad del Bronce ; Prehistoria
Publicat a:	Archaeological and anthropological sciences, Vol. 17 Núm. 3 (2025) , ISSN 1866-9565

DOI: 10.1007/s12520-024-02109-y

25 p, 8.0 MB

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