Pottery traditions, consumers’ choices and exchange networks at Late Bronze Age Cobatillas la Vieja (southeast Iberia)

Abstract

Cobatillas la Vieja is one of the main settlements for understanding the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (14th 13th centuries cal. BC) in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. After the macroscopic study of their ceramic assemblage, 30 representative samples were analysed by thin-section petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and binocular microscopy to address issues of provenance and technology. The characterization of four different fabric groups and several individuals reveals a more complex picture of production traditions, pottery exchange and consumption than often assumed for this period of supposed recession and socio-cultural transition. Potters’ choices in different production locations are discussed, with an examination on the nature of consumption in two households that suggest both regional and inter-regional exchange of ceramics in the Late Bronze Age.