Material Methods; Considering Ceramic Raw Materials and the Spread of the Potter‘s Wheel in Early Iron Age Southern Iberia

This paper discusses the role of clay selection and preparation in the production of wheel-made pottery in Early Iron Age southern Iberia. The first systematic use of potter’s wheels in the production of Early Iron Age ceramics in southern Iberia corresponds to the establishment of pottery workshops associated with Phoenician trade colonies, dating to the period between the end of the 10th and 7th century BCE. There are still many gaps in our understanding of how technological knowledge was transmitted between the Phoenician workshops and “indigenous’ communities that adopted the potter’s wheel. This paper draws upon a growing body of archaeometric and ceramic technological research to consider clay selection strategies in these new workshops. Secondly, this paper will consider the role of ceramic raw materials in the development of new “hybrid’ ceramic forms, particularly grey-ware. It will hereby provide theoretical considerations surrounding the significance of material cultural hybridity in answering questions raised by postcolonial archaeologists about identity, cultural transmission and hybridisation in the context of the Phoenician colonial system.

The Phoenician diaspora in the westernmost Mediterranean: recent discoveries

Important discoveries over the past 15 years in the coastal area between Huelva and Málaga in Spain have illuminated the beginnings of the eighth-century BC Phoenician diaspora into the Western Mediterranean. Here, the authors combine Bayesian modelling of recently published radiocarbon dates with the latest archaeological data to investigate the Phoenician presence in southern Iberia. Their assessment of its significance for the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the Western Mediterranean contributes not only to understanding the integration of the Phoenicians into local communities, but also to apprehending the mechanisms of colonisation and pre-colonial situations elsewhere in protohistoric Europe and other world contexts.

Four Years of Earthquake Early Warning in Southern Iberia: 2016–2019

The performance of an earthquake early warning system (EEWS) for southern Iberia during the period of 2016–2019 is analyzed. The software PRESTo (PRobabilistic and Evolutionary early warning SysTem; the University of Naples Federico II, Italy) operating at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid has detected 728 events (2 < Mw < 6.3), with 680 earthquakes occurring in southern Iberia. Differences between the EEWS origin time and epicenter and those of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) catalog are less than 2 s and 20 km, respectively, for 70% of the detected earthquakes. The main differences correspond to the EEWS magnitude that is underestimated for earthquakes that occurred at the west of the Gibraltar Strait (Mw differences larger than 0.3 for 70%). To solve this problem, several relationships have been tested, and a modification to those that currently use PRESTo is proposed. Other improvements, such as to densify the network or to use 3D Earth models, are proposed to decrease the time needed to issue the alert and avoid the false alerts (19 events over a total of 728 events). The EEWS has estimated the depth for 680 events and compared to those from the IGN (491 events). The performance of PRESTo during the 2020–2021 Granada swarm is analyzed. The hypocentral locations for the three largest earthquakes are close to those from the IGN (differences from 1 to 7 km for the epicenter and 0 s for the time origin), although there are some differences in their magnitude estimations that varies from 0.2 to 0.5. The PRESTo first times are 17, 25, and 41 s after the origin time. This study shows that the actual PRESTo EEWS configured for the southern Iberia may generate effective warnings despite the low seismicity rate in this region. To decrease the warning time, the geometry and density of the seismic network must be improved together with the use of 3D Earth models and on-site system approaches.

Interwoven traditions in Bell Beaker metallurgy: Approaching the social value of copper at Bauma del Serrat del Pont (Northeast Iberia)

Debates on early metallurgy in Western Europe have frequently focused on the social value of copper (between utilitarian and symbolic) and its purported role in the emergence and consolidation of hierarchies. Recent research shows that generalisations are increasingly untenable and highlights the need for comparative regional studies. Given its location in an intermediate area, the early metallurgy of Northeast Iberia provides an interesting case in point to explore the interaction between the well-characterised traditions of southern Iberia and southern France during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Here the analytical study of seven Bell Beaker (decorated and undecorated) vessels reused as crucibles at Bauma del Serrrat del Pont (Tortellà, Girona) are presented. We employed pXRF, metallography, SEM-EDS and lead isotope analyses. The results show evidence for copper smelting employing a remarkable variety of ore sources, including Solana del Bepo, Turquesa and Les Ferreres mines, and an extra unknown area. The smelting vessels were manufactured using the same clay, which contained both mineral and organic inclusions. Our results are discussed with reference to all the evidence available for metals and metallurgy in the Northeast, and more broadly in comparison to southern Iberia and southern France, with special emphasis on issues of production organisation and social complexity. Taken together, our results support the notion that copper metallurgy played a predominantly utilitarian role in Bell Beaker societies and highlight idiosyncratic aspects of the metallurgical trajectory in the Northeast. Differences between territories challenge unilinear explanations of technological and social development after the introduction of metallurgy. Separate trajectories can only be explained in relation to area-specific socio-cultural and environmental factors.

Lithospheric structure beneath southern Iberia and northern Morocco constrained by 3D Kirchhoff-approximate GRT imaging

The slab beneath the Alboran Sea is a consequence of the collision between two continents (Europe and Africa), which was initiated along the northeastern Spanish coast, experienced slab rollback and migrated to the area adjacent to the two continents. The tectonic background in this area includes episodes of collisions with adjacent continents as well as extension of those basins in the western Mediterranean. Here, we present three-dimensional (3D) Kirchhoff-approximate generalized Radon transform (GRT) images to further constrain the lithospheric structures previously identified by other researchers. The GRT images were calculated from the same P-to-S (Pds or Ps) teleseismic receiver functions (RFs) as the previous common conversion point (CCP) stacking, but the GRT data provide figures with greater resolution than the Pds RFs CCP results. This study indicates that the Alboran Slab may have completely detached from the crustal base under the western Betics Mountains and that a larger range of lithospheric ‘peeling off’ developed beneath the western part of the Betics Mountains than some previous results have claimed. The observed thin lithosphere under the Middle Atlas (MA) and eastern High Atlas (HA) may have a geodynamic relationship with lithospheric delamination under the eastern part of the Rif Mountains, which has also led to the thin lithosphere under the eastern Rif. According to the thick lithosphere under the western HA, the shallow LAB under the MA and eastern HA may have no heat-flow connection with the Canary mantle plume, as stated in several previous studies.

Holocene lake water-aquifer interactions in La Ballestera Playa-lake (southern Spain) recorded by stable isotopes (δ18O and δD) of gypsum hydration water

<p>Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes (δ<sup>18</sup>O and δD) of lake water are sensitive to long-term changes in environmental conditions, including relative humidity, temperature and the evaporation/outflow ratio of the lake. Lacustrine gypsum (CaSO<sub>4</sub>·2H<sub>2</sub>O) forms in equilibrium with its parent fluid, so the isotopic composition of its structurally bonded hydration water (GHW) can reflect the δ<sup>18</sup>O and δD of lake water at the time of mineral formation, with insignificant effects of temperature and salinity on the water-GHW isotope fractionation factors. Using the stable isotope content of gypsum-rich sediment cores as a paleoclimatic proxy, the environmental conditions prevailing in the lake setting at the time of gypsum crystallization can be investigated.</p><p>Here we apply this method to reconstruct the δ<sup>18</sup>O and δD of paleo-water in La Ballestera Playa-lake (Seville, southern Spain) throughout the Holocene, from 11.2 cal kyr BP to the present. Gypsum crystallization took place punctually at 11.2 and 4.4 cal kyr BP, and did continuously from 2.9 cal kyr BP to the present. The δ<sup>18</sup>O and δD showed the lowest values at ~11.2 cal kyr BP (2.3‰ and -1.1‰, respectively) and were significantly higher at ~4.4 cal kyr BP (8.8‰ and 29.2‰, respectively). Likewise, relatively higher values (8.2‰ and 29.8‰, respectively) were recorded at ~2.9 cal kyr BP. Thereafter, the isotopic ratios increased until the present (11.4‰ and 37.1‰, respectively), suggesting increasing aridity and/or hydrological closeness of the lake. A relative minimum in δ<sup>18</sup>O and δD occurred at ~2.3 cal kyr BP, during the wetter stage of the Iberian Roman Humid Period, while a relative maximum at ~1.1 cal kyr BP was recorded during the Medieval Warm Period.</p><p>We use a steady-state Isotope Mass Balance to investigate the paleo-hydrological conditions in the lake setting at different stages of the Holocene. Our results suggest that at ~11.2 cal kyr BP La Ballestera Playa-lake was a flow-through lake closely connected to the aquifer with and evaporation/outflow ratio <0.5. At 4.4 cal kyr BP and from ~2.9 cal kyr BP until the present, the system behaved as a terminal lake (evaporation/outflow ratio close to 1), with less connection to the aquifer and the main water output occurred via evaporation. The studied system turned into a playa lake because of a regional water table lowering. This most likely resulted from increasing aridity in southern Iberia during the late Holocene, which has previously been suggested by other lake sediment records in this region. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Acknowledgement</strong></p><p>This study was supported by the Junta del Andalucía PY18-871 to FG, the project<strong> </strong>CGL2017-85415-R of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER, the project B-RNM-144-UGR18, Proyectos I+D+i del Programa Operativo FEDER 2018 and the research groups RNM-189 y RNM-190 (Junta de Andalucía). Dr. Antonio García-Alix acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal fellowship, RYC-2015-18966. Fernando Gázquez acknowledges the postdoctoral “HIPATIA” program of University of Almería.</p>

Reflections on the Other Side. A Southern Iberia Origin for the First Pottery Production of Northern Morocco?

This work is a starting point for rethinking the role of the Iberian Peninsula in the neolithisation of northern Morocco. It focuses on the similarities and divergences between the first pottery productions and their decorations in both territories. This relationship is supported by the existence of an accurate chronological gradation between the first evidence of Neolithisation in Iberian Peninsula and that of northern Morocco which suggests a north–south direction. We also present arguments on the possible links between the early ceramics from the north of Morocco and those from the south of Iberia, providing a first approach to an issue that will need to be carefully analysed in future research.