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Bronze Age Balearic
Bronze Age Balearic
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World Archaeology
Abstract
This paper focuses on the study of the communication networks that linked the different Balearic
communities during the late Bronze Age. To achieve this goal, weather conditions, sea routes,
infrastructures of mobility, naval technology and navigational techniques associated with these
movements are reconstructed and analysed. It is argued that communication networks structured the
perception of space and time as well as generating a continuous social space, including both land and
sea. Finally, this paper examines how these aspects influenced the configuration of Balearic societies
in the late Bronze Age.
Keywords
Introduction
As with other Mediterranean islands (Berg 2010; Boomert and Bright 2007), the insular
character of the Balearic Islands has fostered the development of ideas related to their
isolation and, consequently, their cultural uniqueness (e.g. Pons 1999; Rosello 1979).
This analytical perspective on the islands has changed dramatically since the late
twentieth century, which saw the beginning of a paradigm shift rightly known as 'the
awakening of island archaeology' (Berg 2010). This new approach provides a more
dynamic account of island archaeology, emphasizing, among other aspects: the need to
accept that insularity, understood as isolation, is not rooted in geography and therefore
not a constant and intercultural element (Rainbird 1999) but instead a contingent and
O Routledge World Archaeology Vol. 43(3): 345-363 The Archaeology of Travel and Communication
!' Taylor & Francis croup @ 2011 Taylor & Francis ISSN 0043-8243 print/ 1470- 1375 online
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2011.605840
historically determined reality (Knapp 2007); and the concept of the sea as a significa
element capable of influencing the life of island communities to a large degree, no
merely as a medium through which goods and/or persons travel. In this sense,
communities' relationships with and attitudes towards the sea are dynamic and
constantly reinterpreted.
Under the aegis of this new paradigm, many studies are emerging that aim to review the
archaeology of islands (e.g. Antoniadou and Pace 2007; Berg 2007, 2010; Broodbank 2000;
Knapp 2007; Knapp and Van Dommelen 2010; Rainbird 1999, 2007). In parallel with this
activity in the international field, there is a renewed interest since the early twenty-first
century in re-evaluating the insularity of the Balearic Islands during prehistory and in re-
examining - from different theoretical perspectives - the relationships of late Bronze Age
Balearic societies with the outside world (Guerrero 2006a, 2006b; Guerrero et al. 2007;
Lull et al. 1999; Salva et al. 2002).
From this perspective, the concept of mobility and the role it plays in the structuring of
societies is undergoing substantial revision. These changes in perspective have been
synthesized in works that attempt to redefine mobility, from sociology (Kaplan 2002;
Sheller and Urry 2006) and cultural geography (Cresswell 2006, 2010) from a postcolonial
viewpoint. Within this general framework, certain authors within the archaeological
discipline have begun to contemplate the relationship between mobility patterns and the
shaping of identity (Knapp and Van Dommelen 2010; Phillips 2003; Sellet et al. 2006;
Tilley 2006; Van Dommelen and Knapp 2010) and the relationship between physical and
social mobility (Broodbank 1993; Vives Ferrandiz 2010).
In this context, the ways in which contacts are made between distinct societies, the
nature of such contacts and the technology and materials involved are important contexts
for conceiving and constructing the social environment. Mobility is an active element in
the territorial organization of communities and provides a mechanism for creating spaces
for dialogue and knowledge development in the long term (Broodbank 1993). Thus, the
ways and means used by individuals to move through territory influence the ways in which
people perceive themselves and other societies (Kaplan 2002; Sheller and Urry 2006; Tilley
1994).
In addition to affecting the conceptualization of humanized space and cultural identity,
connectivity and mobility facilitate the exchange of ideas and the generation of a
particular material culture. These processes, in turn, create a feedback loop that directs the
establishment and maintenance of networks of configured contacts, and all these dynamics
work together to form a particular social structure. These views have led to new theoretical
and methodological discussions that relate concepts concerning migration, materiality,
identity and connectivity to a phenomenology that closely interconnects them (Knapp and
Van Dommelen 2010; Tilley 2006).
The dynamics of individual mobility in a society are closely connected with the concepts
of space and time (Sheller and Urry 2006), both of which can change substantially from
one society to another (Skeggs 2004). This paper analyses the formation and maintenance
of a certain conception of space linked to the existence of multiple networks of mobility
and interaction, socially significant and historically contingent, which developed in late
Bronze Age Balearic societies. Specifically, it examines the many factors that shaped them,
such as weather conditions, existing naval technology, maritime courses, networks and
infrastructures. Finally, it addresses the close relationship between communities and the
sea.
The sea, far from being an open space that can be crossed in any direction, has its ways,
routes and paths that are determined by oceanographic conditions and by the level of
development of naval architecture, such as propulsion gear and its manoeuvrability
(Guerrero 2006a; Guerrero et al. 2007). Thus, sailors cannot travel in any direction: rather
than seeking the shortest distance between two points, they must pursue the safest course.
Winds and currents may facilitate one connection while making others difficult, if not
impossible, to navigate with contemporary naval technology. Furthermore, although
every voyage presumably intends to return at some time to the point of departure, weather
conditions that are optimal for the first leg may not be so for the return. Thus, sailors
needed to seek new routes for their return journey.
Of course, marine weather conditions are independent of human activity. However,
when analysing mobility patterns and seascape, we should contextualize these conditions
within the social space of the given society. The perception of weather conditions and the
technological and social strategies developed to face them can vary from one society to
another; therefore, the difficulties of seafaring and the perception of seaworthiness are
historical and contingent characteristics. In this section, we discuss the major geographical
and meteorological characteristics of the Balearic Sea.
Although they are not regarded as oceanic islands, the Balearic Islands are the farthest
from the continental coast of the western Mediterranean, about 50.27 nautical miles from
the mainland. The Balearic Archipelago is one of three island areas in the central- western
Mediterranean; the others include the Sicilian-Tunisian Channel Islands (Lampedusa,
Pantelleria, Malta, Sicily and archipelagos) and the Sardinian-Corsican group (Guerrero
et al. 2007). The Balearic Archipelago consists of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera,
Cabrera and more than 250 islets. This group of islands has a south-west to north-east
layout and forms the last stronghold of the Baetic Mountains.
Prehistoric navigation was strongly dependent on the prevailing wind conditions during
the sailing season, which determined the formation of breezes and the predominant wave
intensity. The drift of the Mediterranean mainstream had little impact on the Balearic Sea
and on the existing maritime routes, which are marked mainly by the surface currents
caused by wind patterns (Metallo 1955; Lacombe and Tchernia 1970). Although prevailing
winds and currents vary between warm and cold episodes (Guerrero et al. 2007), prevalent
winds in the Balearic Archipelago generally blow from the north, facilitating travel from
the Gulf of Lion and from North Catalonia (Hodge 1983). The predominant winds from
the north originate from the Balearic Sea with various cyclonic courses. The first course
starts from Reus, extending into the channel between Mallorca and Menorca. Another
starts around the Ebro Delta and extends into the channel between Mallorca and Ibiza.
Finally, the third one turns eastward from the zone of Denia, facilitating circulation from
Cape De La Nao to Ibiza and from there to the southern coasts of Mallorca and Menorca.
All these wind tracks are related to the Esperico Circuit (Metallo 1955), which facilitates
a counter-clockwise oval-circular track that begins in Cape Creus and ends on the western
coast of Menorca.
Along with the wind direction, the wind intensity ultimately forms the waves that affect
seagoing vessels. According to data derived from the paths (IHM 2003), these favourable
winds occur on no more than 83.4 per cent of the days in a year at a force of 4 knots, which
is a gentle swell (between a choppy sea and a slight swell), suitable for navigation using
prehistoric techniques (Tzalas 1995).
In the coordination of individual mobility, a varied material culture can participate, tied to
the exchange of certain technical and technological traditions between societies. These
technologies may include ships and the associated naval technology, navigation and
landing facilities, and sea guidance systems. As noted by Sheller and Urry, 'all mobilities
entail specific often highly embedded and immobile infrastructures
In recent years, the University of the Balearic Islands has developed a research
programme to document the existence of a complex system of maritime infrastructure that
created a functional network of maritime mobility (cabotage) during the late Bronze Age
in the Balearic Islands ( c . 1400-850 BC) (Guerrero 2006a; Guerrero et al. 2007). This
network of coastal settlements (Fig. la) is divided into two distinct categories (Fig. 2),
although these are combined in some cases, and all of them form part of the same
functional complex. The first category comprises the promontories or coastal reference
points, and the second category includes anchoring ports for ships, either on islands or on
piers directly overlooking small beaches and shelters. They can be characterized and listed
thus:
2. Anchorage sites (Table 2): settlements of a second type linked to this network of
maritime cabotage and mobility are located at low coastal sites with a pier and/or
beach. These settlements are related to ports of call that could provide storage and
shelter.
There is little archaeological evidence for the naval technology developed by Balearic
Islands communities during the Late Bronze Age: no wreckage or remains of ships from
this period have been found. However, certain rock carvings from the island of Menorca
are significant because many of them coincide with some of the coastal ports listed above,
such as Torre del Ram and Macarella Ravine (Guerrero 2006b; Guerrero et al. 2007).
Although in these cases we have no knowledge of the representation schemes of the late
Bronze Age societies, there are certain elements of nautical technology that inspire
credibility (Basch 1987; Guerrero et al. 2007).
Of these (Fig. lb), the grouping found at Torre del Ram best illustrates the ships that
provided maritime mobility through cabotage during this era. This site is a Bronze Age
funeral hypogeum from which the Mallorcan coast is visible. It is located halfway between
the anchorage of Cala Blanca and the Pop Mosquer coastal hill. One wall of the hypogeum
shows a group of three images that make up a nautical scene. The first boat form seems to
indicate a type of vessel more similar to a raft than to a keel boat or strake (Guerrero 2006b;
Guerrero et al. 2007). The two vertical lines, terminated on top by a horizontal line, may
represent the rigging to reef a sail. In the second, the apparent disproportion between length
and breadth would be more appropriate for a raft or ultimately for a single hollowed trunk
improved with planks. It is difficult not to identify the closed bow with a line appearing to be
tilted forward with a stem. This element can be related to keelboats, but also to boats with a
monoxilic hull and boards (Rausing 1984) or even to boats with flat holds and trunks for
Figure 1 A: coastal routes and archaeological sites during Late Bronze Age: 1) Cala Blanca; 2) P
Mosquer; 3) Cala Morell; 4) Macarella; 5) Llucalari; 6) Calescoves; 7) Cap de Forma; 8) Illot des
Porros; 9) S'Almunia; 10) Na Moltona; 1 1) Na Galera; 12) Puig de Sa Morisca; 13) La Cala; 14)
Murada; 15) Punta des Jondal; 16) Oropesa la Vella; 17) Cap Prim; 18) Illeta dels Banyets. B: l
Bronze Age boats from Cova del Ram (Menorca).
sides that may have ended with a bow (Greenhill 1976: 96). The riggings for a propuls
system also represented can be found in different categories of vessel, such as round-hulle
boats, rafts and monoxilic-hulled vessels (Kapitan 1987). In the third boat form, the li
Figure 2 Promontories as coastal sailing references: (a) Pop Mosquer; (b) Ilia Murada and (c) Punta
des Jondal. The coastal settlements of (e) S'Arenalet in Mallorca and (f) Cala Blanca in Menorca.
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that form the hull may be identified with round-hulled boats. This boat also appears to have
rigging for propulsion, with a mast and spar hoisted at the top. A wavy line immediately
below the yard can be identified as a square folded sail. In our view, this small image can be
interpreted as a representation of a light, round-hulled ship similar to those used during the
Bronze and Iron Ages in the Mediterranean, such as those of the Mycenaeans (Basch 1987
and the Nuraghic (Lo Schiavo 2000).
These carvings show light ships with a carrying capacity similar to those identified in the
Mycenean wreck of Pont Iria (Phelps et al. 1999) or the Mazarron boats (Negueruela
2004). The square-rigged propulsion systems would be effective in constant winds and
allow an average speed of 1.5 to 2 knots (Medas 2004). These kinds of boat would allow
inter-island and coastal shipping to the mainland.
In addition to boats, nautical technology includes different systems of navigation.
Control of a route depends on both sea orientation and the correct computation of trave
time. In the regional navigation discussed here, which entailed relatively short voyages,
such knowledge was established from the network of promontories and anchorages listed
in the tables. These structures provided continuous visual references to the coast that, a
visual and mental guides, pointed the way forward. This model, in non-literate societies,
requires prior knowledge, in a similar manner to mental maps, of the visual points and
that would allow sailors to reach their destination and to avoid dangerous stretches of
coastline and difficult navigations.
During the late Bronze Age, Balearic societies underwent an important process of change
and cultural confluence, largely as the result of the connections discussed in this work that
facilitated the existence of a common cultural space. This section reviews the main aspects
of the material culture, which allow us to understand the importance of maritime
communication networks and the close relationship with the sea in the development of
these communities.
Among the most characteristic and important elements of these societies were the
boat-shaped houses (naviforms or navetes), large buildings (average dimensions of 15m
long, ?>-4m wide and about 3m high) with a U-shaped floor, built from stone in a
Cyclopean technique (Fig. 3a). Unlike the previous period, where there is insufficient
data to articulate a clear discourse regarding settlement archaeology, from c. 1500 BC
until 850 BC these buildings were built both in Mallorca and Menorca, resulting in a
common pattern of construction. There is a consensus that the basic function of these
buildings was to serve as homes (Lull et al. 1999; Salva et al. 2002). Recently, however,
there has been progress in the interpretation of their meaning within Bronze Age
communities (Fornes et al. 2009). The monumentality and substantial collective effort of
the navetes derived from the Cyclopean technique are now interpreted as a symbol of
one of the main social structuring processes that identified the groups of people that
lived in them.
At a spatial level, the boat-shaped houses are found both individually, as at Naveta
Alemany, and in groups interpreted as villages, as at Closos de Can Gaia (Mallorca) and
Son Mercer de Baix (Menorca) (Fig. 3a). The villages were often built near the coast
(Salva 2001). In this regard it is interesting to notice the close visual relationship that these
villages had with other coastal sites examined in this study: Na Moltona island and the
settlement of S'Avall (Mallorca), and the promontory of Puig de Sa Morisca with the
settlement of Son Bugadelles (Mallorca).
Funerary archaeology provides a further significant element for analysing the cultural
confluence of the communities of Mallorca and Menorca in relation to maritime
connections. Burial evidence presents a wide diversity in terms of the structures that are
used (including caves, boat-shaped tombs and megalithic tombs), but there are also many
points of comparison (Salva and Javaloyas in press).
In terms of spatial distribution, we note a preference for funerary sites to be located in
ravines open to the sea or towards watercourses connected with it, such as at Cova des
Moro and Cova des Pas. These sites combine elements that create a sense that they are
opposed to the 'lived' environment and perhaps suggest a desire to separate the
experiences of life and death (Javaloyas et al. 2008). Burial rituals were also characterized
by communal interments without furnished graves, an aspect which points towards to the
importance of the group over the individual. This situation shows elements of continuity
with the previous period and ends c. 850 BC.
Regarding material culture, two examples are particularly interesting with regard to
the present discussion. First is the emergence of common types of ceramic forms on
both islands (Guerrero et al. 2007). Pottery technology is also standardized with the
widespread use of calcite as a temper, a tradition absent in earlier times (Garcia
Orellana et al. 2001) (Figs 3b, 2, 3, 4). The presence of large barrel-shaped vessels with
triangular rims (Figs 3b, 1) show significant concentrations at coastal sites and a
possible role as containers for shipping has been proposed based on their form
(Guerrero et al. 2007).
Second, bronze objects also underwent major changes, with a dramatic increase in metal
objects, a broader typology accompanied by more sophisticated and homogeneous
techniques and a shift in places of deposition of metal objects (Fig. 4). These features
indicate radical developments in the role of metals in Balearic Bronze Age societies. These
changes can be linked to their relations with the sea, especially as tin is not a naturally
occurring mineral on the Balearic Islands and new research suggests that some of the
copper used would also have come from abroad (Salva and Javaloyas in press).
archaeological data suggest that movement was more intense along the routes connect
Mallorca and Menorca than along the routes to and from the sparsely populated Ibiza
Formentera (Guerrero et al. 2007). The absence of systematic excavations and
prospections for late Bronze Age settlements greatly limits analysis. Furthermore, it
appears that the smaller Balearic Islands had relatively small populations that did not
exhibit cultural dynamics as clearly as those on the two largest islands, Mallorca and
Menorca.
This network of routes and voyages is associated with late Bronze Age settlements (Fig.
la) and shows a clear interaction between land and sea. This feature allows the Balearic
Islands to be understood not as four separate islands but as a complete archipelago, as
others have argued (Boomert and Bright 2007; Vannini et al. 2009), where the entire
territory, both land and marine, can be conceived and perceived as a single cognitive entity
with a common identity. Years ago, Tilley (1994) noted that spatial analysis should not be
conceived primarily in terms of geography but through a cognitive phenomenology that
can offer a more holistic picture of a culture, emphasizing the inherent symbolic aspects of
a society. In this sense, the concept of the archipelago favours a dynamic and integrated
social unit in which different locations and segments acquire significance in relation to
others (Berg 2010). From this point of view, the various islands that make up the
archipelago are not mere geographical units but are visualized social entities in which
representations, experiences and practices are articulated in a dynamic form. Mechanisms
of mobility and interconnectivity thus enable and enhance the transfer of ideas, knowledge
and practices to define a common identity.
Acknowledgements
This paper was developed under the scientific objectives of the research project Producir,
consumir, intercambiar: explotacion de recursos y relaciones externas de las comunidades
insulares balearicas durante la prehistoria reciente (HAR2008-00708), financed by the
Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Spain.
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Manel Calvo is Lecturer in Archaeology in the Department of Historic Sciences and Art
Theory at the University of the Balearic Islands. He undertakes research in the Balearic
Islands focusing on their prehistory and heritage management. Since 2009 he has been
developing ethno-archaeological research in north-east Ghana, funded by the Spanish
Ministry of Culture.