Elfenbein des Chalkolithikums und der Frühen Bronzezeit auf der Iberischen Halbinsel und im Maghreb. Die Ergebnisse eines interdisziplinären Forschungsprojekts

Abstract

On behalf of an interdisciplinary research project (2005–2008) between the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Madrid and the INCENTIVS group of the University of Mainz, financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Bonn, we tried to register all the ivory objects found on the Iberian Peninsula and in the Maghreb dated from the beginning of the Chalcolithic until the end of the Early Bronze Age (aprox. 3000–1650 a. C.). Thanks to this work we could increase drastically the number of known objects and publish for the first time a complete catalogue of these pieces. The detailed study of the ivory objects and their context delivered new data about their chronological and geographical distribution and social importance. New excavations and the study of pieces and their contexts not only led to the identification of raw material and halffinished products, but also of real workshops for ivory. For the first time INCENTIVS analyzed ivory from the Iberian Peninsula and was able to identify a big variety of different raw materials. Among this we could detect ivory from the African and the Asian elephant. The combination of these results with archaeological methods led to new hypothesis about the provenience, the routes and modes of distribution and working of ivory.