Of collapses and continuities. A conceptual review on the study of societies in transition

El proceso de estudio de los fenómenos de orden social o natural requiere de categorías analíticas específicas como herramientas destinadas a describir la realidad. Una de las categorías comúnmente utilizadas en la bibliografía es la de colapso. Este artículo persigue dos objetivos fundamentales que convergen en la intención de matizar la definición de este término: (1) se realiza una revisión de su uso a través de la bibliografía que trata casos concretos de sociedades pasadas cuyo destino ha sido directamente relacionado con este fenómeno y (2) se presenta el caso de estudio del colapso de la sociedad argárica, sita en el sudeste peninsular. Finalmente se realiza un ejercicio de correspondencia entre los aspectos destacados en el caso de estudio y los rasgos postulados en la bibliografía acerca del concepto de colapso.El procés de l'estudi dels fenòmens de l'ordre social o natural requereix de categories analítiques especifiques, com eines destinades a descriure la realitat. Una de les categories comunament utilitzades en la bibliografia és el del col·lapse. Aquest article, persegueix dos objectius: (1) es realitza una revisió del seu ús a través de la bibliografia que tracta casos concrets de societats passades en el que el seu destí ha estat directament relacionat amb aquest fenomen i (2) es presenta el cas d'estudi del col·lapse de la societat argàrica, situat en el sud-est peninsular. Finalment, es realitza un exercici de correspondència entre els aspectes destacats en el cas d'estudi i el trets postulats en la bibliografia sobre el concepte de col·lapse.The process of studying social or natural phenomena requires specific analytical categories that serve as tools to describe reality. One of the commonly used categories among the literature is collapse. This article has two main objectives that converge on the intention to refine the definition of the term: (1) a review of its use through the literature dealing with specific instances of past societies whose fate has been directly related to this phenomenon and (2), presents the case study of the collapse of the argaric society, located in southeastern Spain. We carried out an exercise of correspondence between the aspects highlighted in the case study and the features postulated in the literature about the concept of collapse.Peer Reviewe

The Strength of Diversity : Macrolithic Artefacts and Productive Forces During the Chalcolithic of Southern Iberia

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABPublished Online 10 October 2023Any approach to the economic organization of a society depends on our knowledge of the productive forces and relations of production involved. In archaeology, this line of research requires an analysis of the technical quality and quantity of the means of production, as well as their spatial distribution and contextualisation. Macrolithic artefacts constituted the means of production in many of the productive processes of past communities, from the Neolithic period to the end of prehistory. This article seeks to utilize macrolithic data to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the economic organisation of the Chalcolithic communities in the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula between c. 3100 and 2200 cal BC. These communities produced one of the most outstanding, but at the same time puzzling archaeological records known in later prehistory. The main aim of this exploratory approach, the first of its kind, is to determine if the different forms of occupation of the Chalcolithic, namely monumental, ditched enclosures, fortified and unfortified hill-top settlements, and simple, open settlements were distinguished by specific modes of production. This issue is crucial to the on-going debate about the meaning and relevance of the notion of social complexity in the context of Chalcolithic societies and their political organisation. Our study describes the productive forces of the Chalcolithic settlements as highly variable, both in the type of productive tasks performed and in their intensity, and such variability is not explained by aspects like geographic location, form of occupation, or monumentality. The observed wealth and productive diversity, without signs of marked social hierarchies, emerge as a characteristic feature of what can be defined as cooperative affluent societies

Bronze Age cereal processing in Southern Iberia: A material approach to the production and use of grinding equipment

During the last two decades important progress has been made regarding functional analysis on prehistoric grinding equipment, thanks to the application of new methods and techniques. Despite these efforts studies integrating archaeology, ethnography, geology and other disciplines related to the material sciences are still rare. The main focus of this paper is placed on the grinding equipment composed of two elements, grinding slab and rubber, acting in reciprocal abrasive contact. Starting from systematic petrological, morphometrical, and functional analysis, qualitative and quantitative data are considered to define the manufacturing and use of grinding tools participating specifically in the production of flour. Morphology and size of grinding slabs and rubbers, raw materials used for manufacturing them, their mechanical properties as well as the geographical management of rocks will be interrelated in this study. From a methodological perspective, socio-economic contexts where grain processing was the main food supplying strategy are of particular interest. In these contexts, access to mechanically optimal raw materials and technical equipment plays a crucial role in the social as well as biological reproduction of human communities. This was the case in the El Argar society of southeast Iberia, where barley became the main staple food and the basic good of large scale surplus production between 2200 and 1550 cal. BCE. We will use this archaeological context to highlight the complexity of macro-lithic tool analyses and in particular with regards to the study of grinding tools. The ultimate aim is to understand to what extent the technological parameters of this subsistence strategy were related to the development of class society

Manufacture, use and management of macro-lithic resources in the Bronze Age settlement of Bruszczewo (Poland)

Contrary to pottery or metal artefacts, macro-lithic tools are still not fully integrated into the archaeological research programs concerning the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe. While such kind of archaeological materials usually do not easily allow typological approaches, their constant participation in several productive spheres makes them a crucial element for understanding the economic processes and the organisation of past societies. This paper presents the general results of the investigation carried out on an assemblage of 1073 macro-lithic items recovered in the wet soil area of the site of Bruszczewo (municipality of Śmigiel, Poland). This fortified settlement was inhabited during the Early Bronze Age (2100-1650 BCE) and later on in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (1100-800 BCE), with minor archaeological evidences from Middle Ages. The methodology applied in this assessment is a holistic one, which combines manufacturing (petrography and morphometry), functional (use-wear and residues) and spatial analyses. This approach has allowed recording a mainly local raw material supplying system, based on the gathering of pebbles in the vicinity of the site and a minimal transformation of raw pieces previous to use. Moreover, Bruszczewo comes out to be a central settlement managing and controlling exogenous ores, such as copper and gold, as shown by residues found on some macro-lithic forging anvils. All in all, the recognition in the macro-lithic tool assemblage of different tasks related to subsistence (food preparation) as well as to manufacture (metallurgy, probably bone working) processes contributes to (a) defining the settlement's organisation and the management of resources in the site and (b) improving our understanding of the role played by central settlements in the socio-economic networks, at a time when the first class societies emerged in Central Europe

Material principles and economic relations underlying Neolithic axe circulation in Western Europe

Neolithic societies produced and circulated axeheads made out of different rock types over substantial distances. These tools were indispensable to their economic reproduction, but they also demanded considerable manufacturing efforts. The material properties of the raw materials chosen to produce axeheads had a direct effect on the grinding and polishing processes, as well as on the use life of these tools. However, surprisingly little is known about the criteria followed by these societies when it came to choosing adequate raw materials, or why certain rocks were exploited in greater volumes and circulated over larger distances than others. In order to determine the material parameters ruling axe production, circulation, and use, a range of different rock types was submitted to mechanical tests. For the first time, comparative values relating to the resistance to friction and to breakage are presented for some of the most important rock types used for the manufacture of axeheads by the Neolithic communities of Western Europe. These mechanical parameters allow us to approach hypothetical production and use values, which are then correlated with the distances travelled and the volumes of rock in circulation. This combination of petrographic, mechanical, and paleo-economic information leads to new understandings of the principles ruling Neolithic supply and distribution networks and the economic rationale behind them. It reveals how deeply the economic and symbolic meanings of these outstanding Neolithic artefacts were rooted in their production and use values.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

L’activité minière préhistorique dans le Nord-Est de la péninsule Ibérique. Étude sur la Coveta de l’Heura et l’exploitation du cuivre à la Solana del Bepo (Tarragone, Espagne)

Cet article présente le résultat d’une étude détaillée de la mine de la Solana del Bepo (Tarragone, Espagne), ainsi que du site archéologique de la Coveta de l’Heura qui lui est lié. Ces deux gisements, découverts peu après les années 1950, n’avaient été étudiés que de façon très générale. Ces études ne résolvaient pas les questions en rapport avec les vestiges qui y ont été retrouvés. D’un point de vue méthodologique, notre étude tient compte des aspects archéologiques, historiques et archéométriques, ce qui permet de situer la mine dans son contexte. Nous ne disposons pas de données chronologiques directes du site de la Solana del Bepo, puisque les nombreux objets macrolithiques destinés à l’extraction minière qui y ont été retrouvés ont bénéficié seulement d’un faible diagnostic de ce point de vue. Nous pouvons, en revanche, dater le site voisin de la Coveta de l’Heura entre le Chalcolithique récent et le Bronze ancien et moyen. D’autre part, la caractérisation isotopique des mines du bassin du Montsant, dont la Solana del Bepo fait partie, et leur comparaison avec les analyses d’isotopes pratiquées sur des vestiges de la région, permettent d’affirmer que l’exploitation minière du bassin pendant la Préhistoire est une réalité démontrable. Les instruments d’exploitation minière récupérés à la Solana del Bepo sont constitués d’un ensemble de 81 outils macrolithiques, dont la plupart sont des pics avec un degré élevé d’élaboration, et qui présentent dans leur grande majorité des dispositifs d’emmanchement. La Coveta de l’Heura a été utilisée, entre autres fonctions, comme grotte funéraire, atelier de confection de pointes de flèches en silex et atelier métallurgique. Ses caractéristiques matérielles correspondent pour la plupart au Chalcolithique récent, ce qui a été corroboré par une datation au 14C, et en raison de ses similarités avec les groupes languedociens de la fin du Néolithique. Concernant ce dernier aspect, il convient de mentionner la présence de formes céramiques qui ont un lien évident avec les groupes chronoculturels du Véraza- Fontbouïsse, ainsi qu’une perle en plomb – un élément très caractéristique de Fontbouïsse – élaborée cependant avec du métal du bassin minier de Molar-Bellmunt-Falset, géographiquement proche de celui du Montsant. Si nous considérons la région que nous étudions dans le contexte du Nord-Est de la péninsule Ibérique, il est évident que c’est la zone qui dispose du plus grand nombre de preuves d’activités minières et métallurgiques pour la période qui englobe le Chalcolithique récent (2800-2300 cal. BC) et le Bronze ancien et moyen (2300-1300 cal. BC). Concernant la première période, il conviendrait d’y inclure les preuves d’exploitation de minerai des bassins miniers du Montsant et de Molar-Bellmunt-Falset, constituées respectivement par les haches plates en cuivre de la Cova M d’Arbolí et par la perle en plomb de la Coveta de l’Heura. Les sept vases à réduire les minerais de cuivre découverts se placent chronologiquement dans un moment indéterminé de cette frange temporelle (2800-1300 BC). Le poignard aux trois rivets de la Cova de la Font Major (L’Espluga de Francolí), daté de ca 1850 cal. BC, a été élaboré avec du minerai de cuivre du Montsant, ce qui certifie son exploitation entre le Bronze ancien et le Bronze moyen. D’autre part, la découverte récente d’une nouvelle mine préhistorique dans le bassin du Montsant, la mine de la Turquesa ou del Mas de les Moreres, en cours d’étude, a permis le mise au jour de nouveaux outils miniers et fourni de nouvelles données analytiques, aussi bien du point de vue de la composition que de l’isotopique, qui permettent une meilleure caractérisation de l’exploitation minière du Nord-Est de la Péninsule Ibérique.En aquest article presentem el resultat d’un estudi detallat de la mina de la Solana del Bepo (Tarragona, Espanya), així com del jaciment de la Coveta de l’Heura que ha estat tradicionalment vinculat al primer. Descoberts la dècada dels 50, aquests jaciments només han estat estudiats de manera molt general, sense resoldre les problemàtiques a ells associades. Des del punt de vista metodològic, es tenen en consideració tant els aspectes arqueològics com els històrics i arqueomètrics, cosa que permet situar la mina en el seu context. No disposem de dades cronològiques directes de la Solana del Bepo i els instruments macrolítics recuperats destinats a l’explotació minera només proporcionen indicacions tipo-cronològiques febles. Per contra, podem datar la Coveta de l’Heura en el calcolític final i el bronze inicial. La caracterització isotòpica de les mines de la conca del Montsant, de la qual forma part la Solana, i la comparació d’aquestes dades amb les anàlisis isòpiques realitzades sobre peces metàl · liques de la regió permeten afirmar que recuperats a la Solana constitueixen un conjunt de 81 artefactes, la major part dels quals són pics, la majoria amb un alt grau de transformació, i presenten quasi sempre dispositius d’emmanegament. La Coveta de l’Heura fou utilitzada successivament com a taller de puntes de sílex, com a cova funerària, i com a taller metal · lúrgic. Les evidències materials recuperades a la cova corresponen en bona part al calcolític final, cosa que una datació radiocarbònica i les seves similituds amb els grups llenguadocians de finals del neolític corroboren. Diferents formes ceràmiques tenen lligams evidents amb els grups crono-culturals de Véraza-Fontbouïsse, mentre que una dena de collaret en plom constitueix un element molt característic de Fontbouïsse, tot i que està elaborada localment amb mineral de la veïna conca prioratina de Molar-Bellmunt-Falset. En el context català l’alt Priorat constitueix una de les zones amb més testimonis d’activitats mineres i metal · lúrgiques en el període que engloba el calcolític recent (2800-2300 cal. BC) i el bronze inicial (2300-1300 cal. BC). En el primer d’aquests períodes se situen proves d’explotació de les conques dels Montsant i de Molar-Bellmunt-Falset, les destrals planes de coure de la cova M d’Arbolí en el primer cas i la dena de collaret de plom en el segon, entre altres. Les troballes de vasos de reducció a la comarca i els seus voltants s’inscriuen en un moment indeterminat d’aquesta franja temporal (2800-1300 cal. BC). El punyal amb tres reblons de la cova de la Font Major de l’Espluga de Francolí, datat ca 1850 cal. BC, fou elaborat amb coure del Montsant, fet que certifica l’explotació en aquests moments. Per altra banda, la descoberta recent d’una nova mina prehistòrica, la Mina de la Turquesa o del Mas de les Moreres, en curs d’estudi, ha permès recuperar un important lot d’estris miners de pedra, així com noves dades analítiques que permeten una caracterització millor de les explotacions mineres a Catalunya.Since the year 2000 we have been undertaking a research programme into prehistoric mining and metallurgy. It focuses on the contextual and archaeometric characterisation (composition and lead isotope analyses) of the Priorat mining and metallurgy basins (Tarragona province, Spain) : the Molar-Bellmunt-Falset basin to the south and the Montsant basin to the north. In recent years our research has focused on the latter zone, which has a high density of metal mineral resources (copper and lead). Our work to date has followed three parallel and interconnected lines of research : a) geomineral surveys and the analytical characterisation of more than a dozen mines in the area ; b) archaeometric analyses and the study and reinterpretation of archaeological data from earlier field research ; and c) the localisation and excavation of a previously unstudied prehistoric copper mine, La Turquesa or Mas de les Moreres (Cornudella de Montsant). The contribution we present here focuses on the second line of research and is based on a detailed study of La Solana del Bepo mine, as well as the related La Coveta de l’Heura (Ulldemolins) archaeological site. Both sites were discovered just before the middle of the last century, but only very generalist studies have been made of them to date. None of these studies has emphasised the importance of the documented archaeological evidence of prehistoric mining and metallurgy in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. In methodological terms, this study takes into account the archaeological, historical and archaeometric aspects, thus placing the sites in their correct regional context. The mining tools found at La Solana del Bepo are unique in the whole north-east : the assemblage of finds from the survey consists of 81 macrolithic artefacts, mainly highly intensively manufactured picks, most of which have fittings for handles. The main aspects revealed by the traceological study and analysis of the tools are the use of local rock types, the continuous reuse of tools, even after they were broken, and the presence of copper residue on some percussion surfaces. We have no direct chronological data as, although abundant, the tools provide little information in this respect ; however, we can date the neighbouring La Coveta de l’Heura archaeological site between the Late Chalcolithic (2800-2300 cal. BC) and the Early to Middle Bronze Age (2300-1300 cal. BC). On the other hand, the isotopic characterisation of the Montsant basin mines, of which Solana del Bepo is one, and its comparison with the isotopic analyses of finds from the area, prove that mining activities were carried out there during prehistory. La Coveta de l’Heura, located barely half a kilometre from Solana del Bepo, is an archaeological site in a para-dolmenic shelter that at different times has served as a collective burial site, a flint arrowhead workshop and a metallurgic workshop. The evidence for metallurgy consists of a smelting vessel, pieces of copper-bearing mineral, various bronze smelting remains, a copper awl and a rolled bronze plate bead. The assemblage of finds, which shows affinities with the Fontbouïsse horizon, is mainly from the Late Neolithic/ Chalcolithic and we have a radiometric dating to corroborate this. Especially noteworthy are the pottery finds that are clearly related to the Neolithic of the Languedoc, as well as a lead bead, a type of ornament highly characteristic of Fontbouïsse and the only one of its type documented to date on the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. However, in this case the bead is made of local lead. Other finds, for example the evidence of bronze, indicate that the shelter was also used during the Early and Middle Bronze Age. If we look at our study zone in the context of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, there can be no doubt that both in relative and absolute terms it is the area with the largest amount of evidence of prehistoric mining and metallurgy. It is in the Late Chalcolithic (2800-2300 ca. BC) that we have to place the evidence of mineral exploitation in the Montsant and Molar-Bellmunt-Falset mining basins, a chronology corroborated by lead isotope data from the flat axes found at Cova M in Arbolí and the lead bead from La Coveta de l’Heura. With the current state of art, we are unable to specify between that period and the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2300-1300 cal. BC). We can highlight the find of eight smelting vessels, one of which appears to have been used for smelting mineral ore from the Montsant basin. The three-rivet dagger from La Cova de la Font Major (L’Espluga de Francolí), dated to c. 1850 cal. BC, was made of copper mineral from Montsant and confirms mining in that area between the Early and Middle Bronze Age. On the other hand, the recent discovery of a previously unknown prehistoric mine in the Montsant basin, La Turquesa or Mas de les Moreres, which is still being studied, has given us another unique set of mining tools (almost 75 implements), together with analytical data, both compositional and isotopic, with which we can improve our characterisation of mining in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula

MAZAS OCULTAS. RASTROS DE MINERÍA PREHISTÓRICA EN EL CERRO MINADO DE HUERCAL-OVERA (ALMERÍA)

Metallurgy in southeast Iberia played a leading role in the development  of the Los Millares and El Argar archaeological groups. However, to date little is known about one of the key aspects of prehistoric  metal  production:  the mining  process.  The  recent  identif ication  of prehistoric mining traces at Cerro Minado, in the northeast of the present day province of Almería, sheds new  light  on  a long  debated  issue.  After  a geological  and  mineralogical  characterisation  of the ore deposit, a specif ic petrographic, morpho-technical and functional research programme has allowed the def inition of a set of macro-lithic tools, which had remained unnoticed in the prehistoric archaeological record in Southeast Iberia.La metalurgia  en el sureste peninsular  jugó un papel destacado  en el desarrollo  de los grupos arqueológicos de Los Millares y El Argar. Sin embargo, hasta la fecha uno de los aspectos determinantes de la producción metalúrgica prehistórica continúa siendo prácticamente des- conocido: la minería. Recientemente este panorama ha cambiado gracias a la identif icación inequívoca de evidencias de minería  prehistórica en la mina de Cerro Minado, en el noreste de la actual provincia de Almería. En este trabajo presentamos la información contextual y las evidencias de trabajos de minería prehistórica reconocidas en el marco de recientes actividades de caracterización geológica y mineralógica del yacimiento. La aplicación de un programa de investigación petrográf ico, morfotécnico y funcional específ ico ha permitido def inir un  tipo de herramientas macrolíticas que habían permanecido ignoradas en la arqueología prehistórica del sureste  peninsular

Dataset on the evidence of bee products processing : a functional definition of a specialized type of macro-lithic tool

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552The database includes spatial, chronological and technological information about the analyzed tools in the article entitled "Evidence of bee products processing: a functional definition of a specialized type of macro-lithic tool" (Ache et al., 2017 ). The technological information refers to the tool type, its rock type, weight, state of preservation, morphology, metrical data and functional features. We also provide an index of acronyms to properly understand the dataset published here

First evidence for the forging of gold in an Early Bronze Age Site of Central Europe (2200–1800 BCE)

Evidence of gold processing in the fortified site of Bruszczewo (Poland) is the first testimony of the production of gold artefacts in a domestic Early Bronze Age site of Central Europe. This paper highlights the potential of macrolithic tool ensembles as a key element for the recognition of metallurgical work processes. Moreover, it presents an optimised methodological approach to tackle the application of stone tools in metallurgical production, based on technological characterisation, use-wear analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Finally, the absence of gold sources in Central Europe raises the question about the origin of the metal, constituting an especially striking issue, as gold was a raw material of restricted access. As Bruszczewo was one of the few enclosed Early Bronze Age sites north of the Central European Mountain Range, the patterning of metal processing (including gold) sheds light on the mode of the production of metal artefacts, apparently restricted to central sites of power, which controlled the communication trails.47Journal of Archaeological Science: Report

La primera explotació de coure a Catalunya. Dades arqueològiques i arqueomètriques de la Mina de la Turquesa (Cornudella de Montsant, Priorat)

Aquest treball exposa l’estat de la recerca a la mina de coure de la Turquesa (Cornudella de Montsant Priorat) l’explotació prehistòrica que vam identificar l’any 2011. Es van realitzar tres campanyes d’excavació que han permès recuperar i estudiar 117 artefactes lítics miners i s’han analitzat mostres de minerals i roques del jaciment amb diverses tècniques (isòtops de plom fluorescència de raigs X i difracció de raigs X). Els resultats obtinguts permeten detectar coincidències amb altres elements metal·lúrgics de la zona i datar la primera explotació de la mina durant el III mil·lenni cal ANE