Iron Age Connectivity Revealed by an Assemblage of Egyptian Faience in Central Iberia

Research concerning transactions in the early first millennium BC in the westernmost Mediterranean has tended to focus on colonial coastlands occupied by scattered Levantine outposts, whereas cross-cultural interactions in hinterland regions have remained ill-defined. This article presents an assemb...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Padilla-Fernández, Juan Jesús, Chapon, Linda, Dorado Alejos, Alberto, Blanco González, Antonio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/164564
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/164564
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Iberian Peninsula
Iron Age
Egyptian imports
Mediterranean connectivity
Faience
Vitreous materials
5504.05 Prehistoria
5505.01 Arqueología
Descripción
Sumario:Research concerning transactions in the early first millennium BC in the westernmost Mediterranean has tended to focus on colonial coastlands occupied by scattered Levantine outposts, whereas cross-cultural interactions in hinterland regions have remained ill-defined. This article presents an assemblage of Egyptian vitreous artefacts, namely beads, a Hathor amulet, and further items from the seventh-century BC rural village of Cerro de San Vicente (Salamanca) in the interior of Spain. Macroscopic and chemical analyses demonstrate their likely manufacture in Egypt during the Middle and New Kingdom (second millennium BC), attesting to a far-reaching Phoenician maritime network that connected both ends of the Mediterranean. The authors interpret the items as liturgical objects, rather than mere high-status trinkets, that formed part of a widely shared Mediterranean world view and associated ritual mores. They consider the impact of cultural syncretism, which reached even remote and allegedly isolated peripheral settings in Iberia.