Mineralogical composition of ceramics from Garvao iron age votive deposit (Portugal)

Abstract

In 1982, a votive deposit was discovered in Garvão (SW Portugal) revealing an important Iron Age II holy site. The pottery recovered shows that during Iron Age this archeological site was a merging geostrategic point of the Iberian societies with strong influences of the Mediterranean world and the Iberia celtic influences. Raw materials used by these communities provide essential information to understand specific historical periods, particularly concerning the relationship of the societies with surrounding environment, eventual existence of trade routes and available technology. The geological resources are particularly useful for this purpose because even processed they can figure out identifiable signatures of provenance or technology used. Moreover, their intermittent occurrence and human necessity justify the existence of trade routes. Special emphasis will be given to the provenance of the pottery, the technological aspects and the relationship between populations and Garvão holy site. The study of geological raw materials applying and combining modern techniques of earth materials sciences and the principles of physical sciences (e.g. geology and chemistry) can provide answers and a better understanding of the Garvão importance in this area of the Iberian Peninsula. A multi-analytical methodology was setup using optical and electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction