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Publication
Distribution and consumption of fluorite and translucent beads in the Iberian peninsula from 6th to 2nd millennia BC
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Translucent minerals were valued in prehistoric societies
for their rarity and socially used as highly symbolic elements.
This work addresses the use and nature of Iberian translucent
beads. We present the results of chemical (Raman spectroscopy,
portable X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and
visible (Vis)/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy) and contextual
analyses and provide a review of the archaeological
literature on the manufacture and use of translucent items
during Iberian Late Prehistory. A total of 54 translucent beads
from 47 sites, primarily burials, were analyzed; 33 were
made from fluorite, while the remaining 21 were made of
diverse translucent minerals (calcite, quartz and different
silicates). The scarcity of translucent items in the archaeological
record, the regional and supraregional scale of its
exchange, and its recursive association to other valuables in
singular contexts reinforces the idea that their owners/wearers
enjoyed a high status.
Description
Keywords
Late Prehistory Iberia XRD Beads NIR Bronze Age Fluorite Copper Age Translucent minerals Neolithic Raman spectroscopy