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A geochemical characterization of copper ore deposits in the Balearic Islands: an isotope database for archaeometallurgical studies in Western Mediterranean Prehistory

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Abstract

This study presents a new isotope and element-composition database of copper ores from Mallorca and Menorca. The main goal of this paper is to characterize copper resources from the Balearic Islands and demonstrate how this database can contribute to furthering studies on the origins of archaeological materials from the Western Mediterranean. Using our isotope database in conjunction with supporting geological and archaeological background information, we present analyses of six archaeological metals from Mallorca’s Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods as case studies. Our results suggest that copper metal arriving to Mallorca during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age was mainly sourced from the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Languedoc, and the neighboring island of Menorca. These findings show that despite the difficulties posed by these regions’ overlapping isotopic fields, such a database is still a useful tool for provenance studies in the Western Mediterranean.

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The data is unpublished until now. They will be published for the first time in this article.

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Acknowledgements

Without the collaboration of Ignacio Montero Ruiz at the Instituto de Historia (CCHS, CSIC), the XRF analyses of ores from the Balearic Islands would not have been possible. Our colleague and friend Bartomeu Salvà Simonet selflessly provided us with some of the samples for the present study. Geologist Joan Arbona Mas helped us in prospecting areas around Sóller. Jaume Deyà Miró, head of the Museo de Sóller, allowed us to extract some samples from materials at the museum. We would also like to thank the Servicios Generales de Investigación at the UPV/EHU for technical and human support as well as Dr. Zofia Anna Stos-Gale for making available to the researchers the OXALID isotope database.

Funding

This study was supported by the following R&D project: Archipiélagos: Paisajes, comunidades prehistóricas insulares y estrategias de conectividad en el Mediterráneo Occidental. El caso de las Islas Baleares durante la Prehistoria (HAR 2015–67211-p) and Movilidad y conectividad de las comunidades prehistóricas en el Mediterraneo occidental durante la prehistoria reciente: El caso de las Islas Baleares (PID2019-108692 GB-I00), both financed by the Minestry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spanish Government). This study also received support from the R&D project La construcció dels paisatges culturals a l’edat del bronze a les Illes Balears (PRD2018-19), financed by the Direcció General d’Innovació i Recerca (Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Historical Sciences and Art Theory, ArqueoUIB, Material Culture and Archaeological Heritage Management Research Team (Grupo de Investigación de Cultura Material Y Gestión de Patrimonio Arqueológico), University of the Balearic Islands, Cra. Valldemossa km 7.5, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Bartomeu Llull Estarellas, Laura Perelló Mateo & Manuel Calvo Trías

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  1. Bartomeu Llull Estarellas
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  3. Manuel Calvo Trías
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Bartomeu Llull Estarellas: investigation, formal analysis, methodology, writing—original draft, and writing—review and editing. Laura Perelló Mateo: investigation, formal analysis, methodology, writing—original draft, and writing—review and editing. Manuel Calvo Trias: investigation, conceptualization, resources, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition, methodology, and writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Laura Perelló Mateo.

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Llull Estarellas, B., Perelló Mateo, L. & Calvo Trías, M. A geochemical characterization of copper ore deposits in the Balearic Islands: an isotope database for archaeometallurgical studies in Western Mediterranean Prehistory. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 118 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01370-9

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