Bronze artefacts and Atlantic-Mediterranean interaction during the Late Bronze Age: from metal production to stelae iconography in western Iberia

The Iberian Stelae of the Final Bronze Age: Iconography, Technology and the Transfer of Knowledge between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean

Freiburg. Germany
Conference. 2023

Our contribution has a double aim. On the one hand, we will present the analytical studies of copper-based metal artefacts carried out within the framework of this DFG-project. These results will be contextualized in our current knowledge about the metallurgy of the Late Bronze Age of Atlantic Iberia, assessing whether some of them could have been used as tools for the production of stelae. On the other hand, we will analyze to what extent the bronze artefacts from the Portuguese territory and the information they provide - at a typological, compositional, isotopic and technological level - allow us to approach the long-distance interactions and relationships of these communities during the Late Bronze Age. Our current knowledge shows a complex panorama, which includes processes of technological transmission, as well as artefacts and ideas circulating in various directions.