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Cinnabar provenance of Chalcolithic red pigments in the Iberian Peninsula: A lead isotope study
Author(s) -
Rodríguez Javier,
MonteroRuiz Ignacio,
HuntOrtiz Mark,
GarcíaPavón Evangelina
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.21810
Subject(s) - cinnabar , peninsula , chalcolithic , archaeology , provenance , geography , geology , cave , δ34s , geochemistry , mineralogy , paleontology , bronze age , hematite , quartz , fluid inclusions
We report lead isotope data for cinnabar from three Chalcolithic settlements and several ore deposits in the Iberian Peninsula. Lead isotope ratios of cinnabar (vermilion) employed in one Bell Beaker grave at Humanejos (Madrid) plot in the field of the Almaden mining district. Cinnabar from the La Velilla dolmen (Palencia) also plots in the isotopic field of Almaden ores but is also comparable to the closer Miñera de Luna deposit in the Cantabrian Ranges. Cinnabar used in the dolmen of Montelirio (Seville) has an unknown origin, as its new lead isotope ratios obtained do not match with any of the studied ore deposits. We conclude that cinnabar was a well‐known raw material and several ore deposits were mined in the Iberian Peninsula during the Chalcolithic. The societies established at the northern and central parts of the peninsula employed locally sourced cinnabar (<200 km away) in their funerary rituals. The Chalcolithic society settled at the estuary of the Guadalquivir river (south of Spain) employed cinnabar of unknown origin, leaving open the possibility of long‐distance cinnabar trade.