Evidence of Iberian Bronze Age ‘Boquique’ Pottery in the Balearic Islands: Trade, Marriage or Culture?

Summary.  This paper deals with the recent discovery of Iberian ‘Boquique’ Bronze Age pottery on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. It marks the ‘maritime’ spread of this distinctive pottery into a geographic area not previously recorded. It should therefore be of particular interest to mainland investigators and others concerned with its geographical distribution as well as those dealing with long‐distance trade and possible kinship links during the period. The find is further supported by the ‘micaceous’ and ‘quartz’ composition of the pottery clay fabric, since mica is not known on the island as a component of local clays. The presence of Boquique pottery with ‘micaceous’ clay properties is demonstrated by microphotographic slab and thin sections as well as chemical clay analysis. This suggests that the pottery was imported, either as a trade item or as personal possessions. Along with recent evidence of earlier trade in exotic ‘elephant’ ivory and other items during Bell Beaker times, where the Boquique pottery appears to be a late intrusive element into local Beaker contexts (Waldren 1998), this new evidence represents the first material sign of cultural maritime interaction (Boquique in the present case), either as demographic extension or commercial exchange of these cultural items into the area. Furthermore, contextual radiocarbon dating surveys strongly indicate a date of 1700–1400 BC for the pottery, in accord both with recent Iberian mainland dates as well as the local archaeological sequence in which it was found.