Micro‐Raman spectroscopy on Iberian archaeological materials

Abstract

The knowledge and dissemination of the Iberian culture (6th to 1st century BC) have made great progress within the last three decades, so much so that it is now one of the main fields in the study of the Protohistory of the Iberian Peninsula. Even so, certain topics remain which need further research in Iberian Archaeology, such as the processes of manufacturing and decoration of various kinds of materials, and the choice of raw materials, including pigments. This piece of research presents micro‐Raman spectroscopy analysis of a set of materials dated between the sixth and the third century BC. The typology of these materials includes ceramics and coverings with and without decoration. All of them are located in various archaeological sites of the Spanish provinces of Jaén, Granada, Málaga and Ciudad Real. The use of micro‐Raman spectroscopy together with energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray diffraction helped identify gypsum as the main raw material used for the inside coverings of houses and tombs, as well as for storage structures. Less frequent raw materials are calcite, dolomite and quartz. As to decoration in ceramics, the origin and elaboration of black decoration are here identified for the first time in the history of Iberian culture. Black decoration can be classified as two periods: the older period used manganese oxide and the later period used magnetite. Cinnabar has also been identified in the red decoration of ceramics retrieved as grave goods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.