Metallurgical technology and resources mobility in the El Argar culture: an archaeometallurgical study at Laderas del Castillo (Callosa de Segura, Alicante)
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- dc.contributor.author Murillo-Barroso, María de las Mercede
- dc.contributor.author Escanilla, Nicolau
- dc.contributor.author Soriano, Eni
- dc.contributor.author López Padilla, Juan Antonio
- dc.date.accessioned 2025-01-08T09:56:09Z
- dc.date.available 2025-01-08T09:56:09Z
- dc.date.issued 2024
- dc.description.abstract 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.
- dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
- dc.identifier.citation Escanilla N, Murillo‐Barroso M, Soriano E, López Padilla JA, Jover Maestre FJ, Lackinger A. Metallurgical technology and resources mobility in the El Argar culture: an archaeometallurgical study at Laderas del Castillo (Callosa de Segura, Alicante). Archaeol Anthropol Sci. 2024;17:3. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-024-02109-y
- dc.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-02109-y
- dc.identifier.issn 1866-9557
- dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/69013
- dc.language.iso eng
- dc.publisher Springer
- dc.relation.ispartof Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 2024;17:3.
- dc.rights This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/[insert DOI]
- dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
- dc.subject.keyword Metallurgical slag
- dc.subject.keyword Arsenical copper
- dc.subject.keyword SEM-EDS
- dc.subject.keyword ICP-MS
- dc.subject.keyword LIA
- dc.subject.keyword Copper ores
- dc.subject.keyword Prehistoric mining
- dc.subject.keyword Bronze age metallurgy
- dc.subject.keyword Southeast iberia
- dc.title Metallurgical technology and resources mobility in the El Argar culture: an archaeometallurgical study at Laderas del Castillo (Callosa de Segura, Alicante)
- dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion