Pottery grave goods from funerary contexts at the argaric site of Peñalosa (Jaén). A methodological approach

Abstract

The need for interdisciplinary studies is the basis of ambitious research (ARCHEM Project) that is carried out in the argaric settlement of Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén), combining organic residues analysis and techno-typological studies of pottery found in funerary contexts. Manufacture and use of pottery could inform us about customs and traditions that remain hidden in time and in the archaeological record. Knowing the implications and decisions of potters as well as the functionality of those vessels deposited inside the graves can approach the idiosyncrasy of a society in the Bronze Age in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The methodology used to identify patterns of functionality is highlighted by the combination of cutting-edge analysis techniques in both fields such as the application of different chromatographic techniques (GC-MS, UPLC-HRMS and GC-CIRMS) that allow to identify the organic compounds in the ceramics and the application of analytical techniques from Earth Sciences (Stereomicroscopic, X-Ray Diffraction and Petrography), which allow us to characterize ceramic pastes and knowing the catchment of raw materials. This study highlights the Peñalosa site as a melting pot of new research and it brings us closer with the use of a complex methodology combined to the societies 4000 years ago.