@misc{10481/112813,
year = {2026},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/112813},
abstract = {The polymetallic origins and non-linear development of early metallurgy have only recently attracted attention. Within this framework, we present the earliest direct evidence of lead smelting in Iberia, dated to the first third of the 2nd millennium cal. BC at Minferri (Catalonia). More widely, we identify a lead-making tradition transmitted from Southern France that emerged alongside copper metallurgy in the late 3rd milennium BC. Abandoned after ca. 500 years, this constitutes a rare instance of early innovation failure. This research contributes to broader debates on divergent paths of socio-technological development and brings overdue attention to early lead-smelting practices.},
organization = {The Cambridge Trust (Vice Chancellor’s Award), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (DTP2113448) and the Cambridge University Fieldwork Fund funded JML PhD work, on which this paper is based. MMT’s contribution to the write-up was supported by an ERC grant under the Horizon 2020 programme (GA101021480, REVERSEACTION). The Oficina de Suport a la Iniciativa Cultural (Generalitat de Catalunya, CLT009_22_00057) funded the radiocarbon dating.},
keywords = {slag},
keywords = {lead smelting},
keywords = {Iberia},
keywords = {polymetallic ores},
keywords = {Chalcolithic},
keywords = {Early-Middle Bronze Age},
keywords = {Minferri},
title = {An early lead-smelting tradition in Northeast Iberia: A short-lived innovation of the second millennium BC},
author = {Montes-Landa, Julia and Moya, Andreu and Alonso, Natàlia and Martinón-Torres, Marcos},
}