Petrographische Untersuchungen an spätchalkolitischer Keramik aus Valencina de la Concepción (Sevilla, Spanien)

Vorläufige Ergebnisse und ihre archäologische Interpretation

Abstract

This study deals with the archaeometric analysis of Late Chalcolithic ceramics from Valencina de la Concepción, located about 6 km northwest of the city of Seville, in Southwest Spain. The site is considered one of the most important reference sites for the understanding of Chalcolithic societal development in the South of the Iberian Peninsula. Forty ceramic samples of different typologies, and 61 natural clay samples were examined through petrographic thin-section technique, with the objective of obtaining information regarding the source and the exploitation pattern of the raw materials, as well as their relation to the ware’s typology. The petrographic results indicate the use of different clay resources in the production of Late Chalcolithic ceramics from Valencina. Some of the ceramics that were analysed in this study seem to be produced from clay sources available in the vicinity of the site, while a larger part, mainly composed of plates, seem to be imported, possibly from 15 km South or 30–40 km East and Northeast of Valencia.