Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity-Making in Copper Age Iberia

Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity-Making in Copper Age Iberia Miriam Luciañez-Triviño , Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher As a raw material, ivory has been used to manufacture a wide range of objects, normally associated with sumptuous material culture. In this article we explore the role played by ivory and ivory artefacts among early complex societies, and particularly its importance in the definition of identities among emergent elites. To this end, we make a thorough examination of the evidence from Copper Age Iberia, focusing on the mega-site of Valencina, in southern Spain. This site has provided what to date is the largest assemblage of prehistoric ivory in western Europe, with an estimated total of 8.8 kg, including finely crafted artefacts of unrivalled beauty and sophistication. Our study looks carefully at the technological, morphological and contextual dimensions of Copper Age ivory. As a result, we contend that the broad morphological variability together with the technological uniformity of this assemblage suggest that, while belonging to a common technological tradition, objects were deliberately crafted as unique and unrepeatable so that they could be used to create and maintain socio-cultural idiosyncrasies and ideological legitimation. Introduction Ivory is a special raw material, with a long history going back to at least the Upper Palaeolithic (c. 43,000–9700 BC, according to Walker et al. 2009) when it was used to make elaborate ornaments as well as remarkable zoomorphic and anthropomorphic (mostly female) figurines (e.g. Schwab & Vercoutère 2018; Wolf & Heckel 2018). Historically, it has been used to manufacture a wide range of mostly sumptuous objects, ranging from personal ornaments (bracelets, necklaces, combs), to art (sculpture, furniture) and a plethora of other artefacts, such as parts of musical instruments. Combined with its aesthetic and cultural appeal, its physical properties, which render it fairly resistant to diagenetic processes, make ivory a unique indicator in the study of ancient crafts, arts, exchange and socio-cultural organization. But what exactly is ivory? This term is often used to designate different types of large teeth in large mammals (as in the case of the hippopotamus: Ilan 2013; Krzyszkowska 1984; Tournavitou 1995), but in the vast majority of the literature, it is more specifically understood as synonymous with the dentine of the incisors evolved as tusks of the proboscideans and their evolutionary relatives, such as Elephas (Palaeoloxodon)antiquus,Mammuthus, etc., and not the rest of their teeth. In this paper, we will use the term in this sense. In the case of elephants, ivory is obtained from the second upper incisors in continuous growth (Virág 2012, 1406), called ‘tusks’. The dental formula is 1/0, 0/0, 3/3, 3/3. The upper incisor that remains on each side is the second (I2), which is replaced by the permanent tooth between 6 and 12 months of age when it is only about 5 cm long (Feldhamer et al. 1999, 314). Cambridge Archaeological Journal 32:1, 23–60 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial reuse or in order to create a derivative work. doi:10.1017/S0959774321000287 Received 10 Nov 2020; Accepted 26 Mar 2021; Revised 26 Feb 2021 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Ivory lies at the core of research on exotic resources in Iberian prehistory. Since the end of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth, ivory has been recovered from Late Neolithic, Copper Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age contexts, raising a great deal of interest among scholars (e.g. Camps 1960; Götze 1925; Harrison & Gilman 1977; Jodin 1957; Leisner & Leisner 1943; Poyato Holgado & Hernando Grande 1988;Serra Ràfols 1925; Siret 1913). This interest has increased in the last two decades, as reflected by a very substantial body of literature (for the third and second millennia BCE, see e.g. Barciela González 2007;2012;2015; Cardoso & Schuhmacher 2012; García Sanjuán et al. 2013; 2018b; Liesau Von Lettow-Vorbeck & Moreno 2012; Liesau Von Lettow-Vorbeck & Schuhmacher 2012; Liesau Von Lettow-Vorbeck et al. 2011; López Padilla 2012; López Padilla & Hernández Pérez 2011; Luciañez-Triviño 2018; Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016; Luciañez-Triviño et al. 2014; Morillo León et al. 2018; Nocete Calvo et al. 2013; Pascual Benito 2012; Pau et al. 2018; Schuhmacher 2012a,b;2013;2016;2017; Schuhmacher & Banerjee 2012; Schuhmacher et al. 2013a,b; Valera 2010;2020; Valera et al. 2015; Vargas Jiménez et al. 2012). The literature on Iberian late prehistoric ivory is so vast that it greatly exceeds the scope of this paper—for a recent synthesis, see Luciañez-Triviño (2018). Our aim here is not to review the existing literature but to present a discussion of the roles played by ivory in the crafting of social and cultural idiosyncrasies (understood here as cultural practices or patterns peculiar to an individual or group of individuals, who used them to differentiate themselves from others, thus creating a sense of identity) during the Copper Age. In this period, the use of this raw material witnessed a true ‘explosion’, undoubtedly in connection with wider social and cultural phenomena. This discussion is based on a completely new analysis of the evidence obtained at Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, southern Spain), a site that lies at the forefront of current debates on Chalcolithic Iberia and which, as recent analyses have shown, offers not only the largest bulk of ivory for that period in Europe, but also a unique assemblage of artefacts, including finely crafted objects and unworked tusks (e.g. García Sanjuán et al. 2013;2018b; Luciañez-Triviño 2018; Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016; Luciañez-Triviño et al. 2014; Nocete Calvo et al. 2013; Schuhmacher et al. 2013a; Vargas Jiménez et al. 2012). The Valencina material provides an excellent basis to examine the social and cultural roles played by ivory among early complex societies, including types of objects, manufacturing processes, consumption, social significance, as well as conservation. As will be described below, our approach is based on a multi-disciplinary methodology that combines archaeology, experimentation and conservation-restoration (Luciañez-Triviño 2018). The evidence The Copper Age mega-site of Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán (herein Valencina) is located about 6 km away from the historic centre of the modern city of Seville, in the north Aljarafe (Fig. 1). Activity at the site began c. 3200 cal. BCE and ended c. 2300 cal. BCE (García Sanjuan et al. 2018a). During the Chalcolithic, Valencina occupied a prominent place in an area of high strategic value for its proximity to several biotic and abiotic resources of great importance (García Sanjuán 2017; Vargas Jimenez et al. 2010). Research at Valencina has made significant advances over the last decade. This has led to a more qualified assessment of processes associated with early social complexity, such as economic intensification, metallurgical production, craft specialization and social inequality (contributions to these debates in English include Costa Caramé et al. 2010; Inacio et al. 2011; García Sanjuán & Murillo-Barroso 2013; Garcia Sanjuán et al. 2018a; Nocete Calvo et al. 2008; Rogerio-Candelera et al. 2013; Wheatley et al. 2012), based both on a stronger chronometric basis (García Sanjuán et al. 2018a) and a more precise understanding of exogenous raw materials, such as ivory, cinnabar, amber, gold, rock crystal and other lithic resources (e.g. García Sanjuán et al. 2016b; Hunt Ortiz & Hurtado Pérez 2010; Hunt Ortiz et al. 2011; Luciañez-Triviño 2018; Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016; Luciañez-Triviño et al. 2014; Morgado Rodríguez et al. 2016; Murillo-Barroso 2016a,b; Odriozola Lloret & García Sanjuán 2013; Rogerio-Candelera et al. 2013; Schuhmacher et al. 2013a). For a synthesis of the history of the research at the site, see García Sanjuán (2013) and García Sanjuán et al. (2018a). Our study includes all the ivory known to date from the site, that is, 384 artefacts, with an estimated total weight of 8.8 kg, from 12 different features belonging to 8 of its sectors (Fig. 2). Of course, the state of preservation is a major issue for the identification of the raw material and its technological analysis. Significant differences of preservation have been found between different sectors, or even between objects from the same structure or assemblage. In general terms, the evidence is highly Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 24 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press fragmentary, with few complete artefacts. The high degree of fragmentation has made it very difficult to obtain a ‘Minimum Artefact Number’. For that reason, sometimes it has been necessary to count groups of fragments as a single item. Tables 1 and 2provide a synthesis of the contextual data of the features studied in this paper. Here we provide a short description of the sectors of the site to which they belong. The Instituto de Enseñanza Secundaria (IES sector) is located roughly at the centre of the site. It was excavated in 2005–06, revealing over 150 negative features (sub-circular, circular, oval or polylobulated pits and shallow basins), mostly of prehistoric date (Vargas Jiménez et al. 2010). They seem to have served a variety of purposes, including metallurgical production, dwelling and burial (Nocete Calvo et al. 2013; Vargas Jiménez et al. 2010). Only one of those structures provided ivory items: Structure 402, an oval pit containing a single episode of filling. The DIA Sector is located barely 50 m to the west of the IES, neighbouring the Matarrubilla Partial Plan Sector (hereafter PP-Matarrubilla) to the south. Excavations carried out in 2014 revealed multiple negative Copper Age structures (Ortega Gordillo 2015). The finds from this excavation are still under study, so the results are provisional. According to our study, however, two features contained ivory: Structures UC5 and UC63, neither of which has been radiocarbon dated, unfortunately. The PP-Matarrubilla sector, located to the south of the DIA sector, was excavated in 2001, 2003 and Figure 1. Location of Valencina de la Concepción and other late prehistoric sites of the Guadalquivir basin showing the approximate coastline in the third millennium BC. (Source: García Sanjuán et al. 2018a:fig. 1. David Wheatley design from data courtesy of NASA EOSDIS LandProcesses Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), USGS/Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.) Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 25 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press 2004, revealing a total of 198 prehistoric features (Nocete Calvo et al. 2008, 718). From this sector, we had access to only one artefact, the lower part of an anthropomorphic male figurine (4.8 cm in length), about which unfortunately not much contextual information is available (Hurtado Pérez 2013, 313–14). The artefact is associated with the fill of structure #50, which according to its excavators is defined by the presence of a living space (max. 3.70 m long and 2.40 m wide) and an attached well (max. 2.90×2.70 m). It has not been possible to confirm in which of the structures excavated in this intervention the piece appeared (Manuel Vargas Jiménez pers. comm., 2018). The Montelirio tholos is located in the southeastern corner of the site, in the town of Castilleja de Guzmán. A major monograph (Fernández Flores et al. 2016) provides a detailed description of the architecture, finds and bio-archaeological record of this remarkable monument, dated to the twentyninth/twenty-eighth centuries BCE. A second monograph is currently in preparation (García Sanjuán et al. forthcoming). Montelirio is closely related both chronologically and socially to the neighbouring PP4-Montelirio sector, and particularly to tomb Structure 10.042–10.049, located barely 200 m to the north, where the so-called ‘Ivory Merchant’was found (García Sanjuán et al. 2013;2018b): see description below. Montelirio is one of the largest Copper Age monuments in Iberia and has provided a suite of evidence that has allowed debate on the site to broaden—for a discussion, see García Sanjuán et al. (2017;2018a,b,c). The PP4-Montelirio sector is located in the southeastern part of the site, barely 100 m to the north of the Montelirio tholos. Excavations undertaken between 2007 and 2008 revealed 134 Copper Age features, both megalithic and non-megalithic, of which 61 contained human remains (Mora Molina et al. 2013). Still unpublished radiocarbon dates reveal that this sector was used over a relatively short period of time between 3000 and 2800 BCE. Despite the large number of structures, osseous artefacts are few in number (n = 46) and almost the Figure 2. Sectors of Valencina with ivory. Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 26 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Table 1. Summary of Valencina sectors under study. Sector Structure Type/Measurement Material culture Description of ivory finds Date cal.BC (2σ)Reference IES Sector 402 Negative, oval 3.3×1.96 m Copper saw, ivory fragments, pieces of bone industry (fragments of pins and production wastes), a fossil seed, ceramic plates and vessels, flint and rock crystal fragments, ceramic crescents, two beads made of Trivia europaea Location: more or less concentrated at the centre of the structure. Description/Categories: Primary or secondary blocks and blanks were absent (these terms are explained in ‘Methodology’). Most of the items are fragments with varying sizes and shapes (fragments of slices and some fragments of prismatic shape), considered to be production waste (n = 12). An undetermined fragment was interpreted as a possible dagger hilt. Ivory identification: five chips of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) 2835–2580 Vargas Jiménez et al. 2010; 2012; Nocete Calvo et al. 2013; Luciañez-Triviño 2018; García Sanjuán et al. 2018a DÍA Sector UC5 Negative, oval Max. surface diam. 1.50 m Semi-complete ceramic plate (upside down and partially covered by a large stone), polished stone tool (chisel), bone ‘punch’fragment, flint blade fragments, an arrowhead, metal awl fragments, abundant malacofauna, abode with vegetal imprints, some ivory fragments Location: NA Description/Categories:A quarter slice of ivory and a flat square fragment. All the evidence points to production waste, although the small square piece could be an unfinished object. The largest ivory artefact is the quarter slice (16.18 g). Early-stage products such as large fragments of tusks (primary or secondary blocks) or blanks are absent. Ivory identification: NA NA Ortega Gordillo 2015; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 DÍA Sector UC63 Negative, oval 2.68×2.15 m Ceramic vessels, flint blade fragments, other remains of lithic industry,abundant remains of fauna, malacofauna, adobes, a boar tooth fragment, one ivory fragment Location: NA Description/Categories: Aflattened fragment of possible ivory with straight edges and abundant work marks. All the evidence points to production waste. Early-stage products such as large fragments of tusks (primary or secondary blocks) or blanks are absent. Ivory identification:NA NA Ortega Gordillo 2015; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 PP-Matarrubilla 50 Negative, irregular shape NA NA Activity started 2815– 2495 and ended 2570– 2425 end Hurtado Pérez 2013; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 Continued Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 27 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Table 1. Continued Sector Structure Type/Measurement Material culture Description of ivory finds Date cal.BC (2σ)Reference Montelirio tholos Montelirio tholos Tholos, double corridor and chambers, walls of slate slabs and sun-dried clay false-dome Total length: 43.7 m Passage: 39 m LC max. Ø: 4.75 m SC max. Ø: 2.7 m Large-sized ‘almond-rim’ ceramic plates with fat residues, bone artefacts (possibly hair pins), knapped lithic artefacts made of flint, mylonite and rock crystal, fragments of ostrich egg and gold foil, garments crafted with several tens of thousands of perforated beads made of marine shell, pendants made of amber, ivory artefacts. Location: in the chambers Description/Categories: LG: two acorns with perforations, one spiral-shaped object, two container lids, 10 perforated discs, one or two small D-section rings, one circular mouths (for composite containers), two combs with zoomorphic decoration, a plaque in the shape of a‘racquet’with a set of perforations in circle, a possible decorated handle of small size. SC: three combs (geometric decoration), one or two objects with zoomorphic decoration (only the decorations are preserved: possible suids), six acorns, one decorated small plaque, one small representation of a bird: possibly pin head. Thousands of ivory fragments, with no traces of work, including a large tusk segment: interpreted as resulting from a single elephant tusk (or maybe two). All the findings are finished objects or fragments of them, but the thousands of unworked fragments have been included in the ‘block’ category. Ivory identification:Loxodonta Africana africana (a comb and an acorn from the SC); Elephas antiquus (tusk segment from SC). c. 2800–2700 Altamirano García & Luciañez-Triviño 2016; Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016; Pajuelo Pando 2016; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 Continued Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 28 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Table 1. Continued Sector Structure Type/Measurement Material culture Description of ivory finds Date cal.BC (2σ)Reference PP4-Montelirio Sector 10.042-49 Tholos, double corridor and chambers, walls of slate slabs Total length: 20.1 m Passage: 13 m 10.042 max. Ø: 2.57 m 10.049 max. Ø: 2.1 m UE664: an ‘almond-rim’type plate, 21 flint blades, a flint dagger blade with, an amber pommel, ivory objects. Cinnabar was sprayed over the body and objects UE535: several ceramic plates, 38 whole flint blades and other lithic tools, including a flint arrowhead with very long barbs, ivory objects, discoid beads, an ostrich egg (currently lost), a rock crystal dagger blade Location:in the chambers Description/Categories: 10.049-UE664 an undecorated elephant tusk (laid above individual’s head), one vessel with diamond decoration, one vessel with diamond decoration and two appendages, one rectangular box, two combs (geometric deco). 10.049-UE535 a decorated elephant tusk, one or two small D-section rings, a composite dagger hilt, a plaque with V-shaped perforations in the reverse (sheath). 10.042-UE648 one rectangular box, one undetermined object. All the findings are finished objects or fragments of them, but the unworked elephant tusk from 10.049 has been included in the ‘block’category. Ivory identification: Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) (one cylindrical vessel from UE664; a decorated tusk, a decorated dagger hilt and a carved plaque/sheath from UE535); African elephant specimen (Loxodonta Africana africana) (the unworked tusk from UE664) c. 3000–2800 Luciañez-Triviño 2018; García Sanjuán et al. 2013; 2019 PP4-Montelirio Sector 10.076 Negative, oval 1.69×1.41m Globular ceramic vessel, one ivory object Location: near individuals Description/Categories: pointed element, finish object PP4-Montelirio Sector Decontextualized NA NA NA Continued Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 29 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Table 1. Continued Sector Structure Type/Measurement Material culture Description of ivory finds Date cal.BC (2σ)Reference Matarrubilla tholos Matarrubilla tholos Tholos (corridor and single burial chamber), masonry walls, stone false-dome Total length: 37.7 m Passage: 35.2 m Max. Ø: 2.5 m Large serpentine polished axe, a hemispherical bowl of marble limestone, red pigments, a fragment of a copper punch and several hundred fragments of gold foil. Location: central part of the corridor Description/Categories:53 barrel-vault beads, seven quadrangular beads with double perforation, a possible handle, a bracelet with herringbone decoration, a fragment of a plaque with perforations in circle, a possible pendant, a small scone and a tusk segment in a very poor state of preservation. All the findings are finished objects or fragments of them. The tusk segment has been included in the ‘block’category. Ivory identification:Elephas maximus (a pendant, four adjacent-barrel-vaults beads and a piece of ‘raw’material; Elephas antiquus (the tusk segment, two square-beads, two adjacent-barrel-vaults beads and a perforated object, perhaps a pendant). NA (Without Beaker) Obermaier 1919; Collantes de Terán 1969; Schuhmacher 2012a Luciañez-Triviño 2018; García Sanjuán et al. 2018c Depósito de Agua tholos Depósito de Agua tholos Tholos, double corridor and chambers, walls of slate slabs and sun-dried clay false-dome 212 discoidal beads, highly fragmented and unrecognizable ivory artefacts and bone elements, an ochre accumulation of more-or-less circular shape NA NA (Without Beaker) Santana Falcón 1991; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 Continued Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 30 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Table 1. Continued Sector Structure Type/Measurement Material culture Description of ivory finds Date cal.BC (2σ)Reference Sector ‘Urbanización Señorío de Guzmán-Divina Pastora’ T2 Tholos (corridor and single burial chamber), walls of slate slabs Passage: c. 4m Max. Ø: 2 m two globular vessels, two lithic blades, a flint scraper, bone tools, fragments of decorated gold foils, ivory artefact, red pigments Location: in the chamber? Description/Categories: one flat artefact with ‘oculus’motif (currently missing), one possible cylindrical vessel. All are fragments of finished objects, no evidence of early-stage and intermediate elements of the chaîne opératoire were found. NA Arteaga Matute & Cruz-Auñón 2001; López Aldana et al. 2015; Schuhmacher 2012a; García Sanjuán et al. 2013; Murillo Barroso 2016b; Luciañez-Triviño 2018 Sector ‘Urbanización Señorío de Guzmán-Divina Pastora’ T3 Tholos (corridor and single burial chamber), walls of slate slabs Passage: 1.3 m (long length) Max. Ø: 2 m two possible globular vessels, a vessel with straight and thin walls, one lithic arrowhead, one copper axe, two wild boar teeth, other faunal remains, red pigments and fragments of ivory plaques Location: in the chamber? Description/Categories:‘Ivory plaque fragments’(currently missing) Sector ‘Urbanización Señorío de Guzmán-Divina Pastora’ T5 Tholos (corridor and single burial chamber), masonry walls Passage: >4 m Max. Ø: 3 m two Bell-Beaker vessels (one continental style and one maritime style), two hemispherical vessels, two bowls, debris of lithic knapping, 600 limestone beads, some ivory fragments, beads made from gold sheets, one copper punch and slag Location: in the chamber? Description/Categories: a possible bracelet (currently missing), a cylindrical object. All are fragments of finished objects, no evidence of early-stage and intermediate elements of the chaîne opératoire were found. Ivory identification:Elephas antiquus (undetermined ivory fragments) Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 31 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press a possible pin (L.V); a small decorated plaque (L.III); six acorns (L.II); and three possible combs (L.IV). These last combs show different decorations: one of them shows the same decoration on both sides (herringbone pattern), while the other specimen has different decoration on each side (mesh patterning on one side and opposite zigzag motif on the other). To this we must add the thousands of fragments catalogued as raw material, which indicate the deposition of one or two tusks. In the Large Chamber of Montelirio, 23 objects were identified: two acorns with perforations (L.II); one spiral-shaped object (L.V); two semi-circular lids (L.III); 10 perforated discs (L.II); one or two small D-section rings (T.II); one mouth of a composite object (cylindrical form with external decoration of straight parallel lines) (T.I); another possible container’s mouth without decoration (T.I); two combs with zoomorphic Figure 7. Osseous raw materials by structure. Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 38 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press and ‘opposing canes’decoration (L.IV); a racquet-like plaque with a set of perforations in a circle (undeterminedobject, without parallels, L.III); and a possible small handle (L.I). In Structure 10.049 of the PP4-Montelirio sector, six objects were securely identified for the upper depositional level: a diamond-decorated elephant tusk (T.I); one or two small D-section rings (T.II); a composite dagger hilt with mesh decoration (L.I); a decorated plaque with mesh pattern on the obverse and V perforations on the reverse (possible sheath) (L.III); and a small plaque with diamond decoration (L.III). In the lower level of Structure 10.049, in direct association with the ‘Ivory Merchant’, six objects were identified: one oval-based vessel with diamond pattern decoration (T.I); an oval-based vessel with diamond pattern decoration and two appendages (Fig. 11) (T.I); fragments of a cylindrical object (T.I); one rectangular box with diamond-pattern decoration (T.I); and two decorated combs (L.IV). One of these combs has herringbone pattern on one side (the other is poorly preserved), while the other comb has mesh pattern decoration on both sides. In addition, as mentioned above, one unworked tusk divided into three segments was deposited. In Structure 10.042 only one small rectangular box with diamondpattern decoration (T.I) was identified (Fig. 12). For the Matarrubilla tholos we have identified 65 objects: 53 adjacent-barrel-vaults beads (L.II); seven double-perforated square beads (L.II); one small handle (T.I); a bracelet with herringbone pattern decoration (T.II); a fragment of a plaque with perforations in a circle (L.III); a possible pendant (L.III); and a small appliqué with a perforated tongue for its fastening (indet.). In addition, a segment of tusk (secondary block) was found. For Urbanización Señorío de Guzmán/Divina Pastora, we have recognized a cylindrical object (T. I) for Tomb 2 and another possible cylindrical object (T.I) for Tomb 5. Some materials from Señorío de Guzmán/Divina Pastora are missing and are known only from bibliographic references. According to these, T3 yielded ivory plaques and T5 a bracelet (Arteaga Matute & Cruz-Auñón 2001). The form and some technological marks observed on the surface of the material of Depósito de Agua Figure 8. Density map based on the total weight of the finds. Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 39 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press tholos point to the deposition of objects, but unfortunately no specific morphologies have been recognized. These data reveal six important points: (I) 75 per cent (n = 178) of the ivories studied here are finished objects or fragments of them; (II) in the site there are to date only 15 items of production waste; (III) in the pits interpreted in connection with production contexts, no blanks or blocks were found, which, however, did appear in some of the tombs: one or two in the Small Chamber of Montelirio, one in Structure 10.049 (lower level) and a segment in Matarrubilla (corridor); Figure 9. Distribution of ivory in Valencina according to the weight (g) of objects in each context. Figure 10. Distribution of ivory in Valencina according to the total weight in each structure. Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press (IV) there is a pervasive technical uniformity across the entire Valencina assemblage, with 72 per cent of the objects obtained by longitudinal exploitation; (V) most objects are unique; (VI) each tomb has a singular assemblage. Contexts of deposition As mentioned above, the vast majority of Valencina’s ivory was found inside megalithic tombs, either large or medium-sized. These are Montelirio, structures 10.042–10.049 and 10.076 in the PP4-Montelirio sector, Matarrubilla, Depósito de Agua and tombs T2, T3 and T5 in the Divina Pastora/Señorío de Guzmán sector. It is important to note that all of them are tholos-type megaliths. Four other structures where ivory was found, basically simple pits, appear to have been related to activities other than burial, possibly linked to craft and production tasks: these are UC402 from IES, UC5 and UC63 from DIA and Structure 50 from PP-Matarrubilla. However, the amount of ivory found in these non-burial features is tiny: 59.5 g. Altogether, Valencina hoards 8.8 kg of ivory. It is therefore verified that in Valencina ivory was, in fact, almost exclusively deposited in funerary contexts, specifically in tholos-type monuments. In structures related to activities other than ritual and/or burial (such as production, storage, dwelling), ivory artefacts do not show any specific pattern of deposition. By contrast, in those tholoi, ivory always was found in the chambers, with two exceptions: Matarrubilla and Depósito de Agua. In the case of Depósito de Agua, the discovery of the ivory fragments in the corridor may be due to the destruction of the structure, as occurs with the few remains found in the corridor between the chambers of the Montelirio tholos. However, in Matarrubilla the deposition of the ivory material in the corridor is clear. No ivories were found in the Matarrubilla chamber. This unusual location suggests that the Matarrubilla ivories were deposited at a later stage in the biography of the monument. The fact that ivory is found primarily in the chambers of these great monuments may have to do with their specific relationship with the people buried in them (Montelirio and Structure 10.049) 1 or with the role played by the chambers within the rituals staged inside the monuments—see, for example, the key role played by the stela in the Large Chamber of Montelirio. The ivories generally appear in connection with collective burials (Table 2), with two exceptions: the Figure 11. (Left) Oval-based vessel with diamond decoration and (right) oval-based vessel with diamond decoration and two appendages (PP4 Sector, Structure 10.049, UE664). Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 41 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press lower level in Structure 10.049, where the ‘Ivory Merchant’was found, and the upper level of this very same tomb, where no human remains were found. Thus, only in the case of this young male could we speak of an individualized set of grave goods, given that all the ivory objects appeared accumulated in front of his arms, and the tusk was placed ‘framing’his head (see Figure 3). Although badly disturbed by later activity, the bones of at least two individuals were identified in the SC of Montelirio, a chamber that shows a subtle connection with the ‘Ivory Merchant’buried in Structure 10.049: as mentioned above, one or two elephant tusks and several comb fragments with geometric decoration were deposited in the SC (the latter with herringbone, mesh and opposite zigzag patterns of decoration), as is the case with the grave goods of the ‘Ivory Merchant’. Conversely, all the ivory artefacts of the Large Chamber appeared around the clay stela (Fig. 13) and only a single piece was related beyond doubt to one of the 20 individuals buried there: an acorn-shaped pendant found under the left shoulderblade of individual UE343 (female, aged 24–32 years) (Fig. 14) (Díaz-Guardamino Uribe et al. 2016; Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016, 255). It is not possible to rule out that this acorn was a pendant used as part of an elaborate costume worn by this woman, and that it fell down with the decomposition of the body, being later located behind her back. Therefore, in the LC of Montelirio it seems that the ivories form rather an offering to the stela, or a collective set of grave goods, since they were not arranged in such a way that they could be associated with specific individuals. In addition, in Montelirio some ivory artefacts are pieces or parts of other elements. Two large containers were placed behind the stela (Bueno Ramírez et al. 2016; Fernández Flores & García Sanjuán 2016; Luciañez-Triviño& García Sanjuán 2016). One of them was decorated with ivory discs and the other had an ivory mouth (Fig. 15). Various other objects were placed in front of the stela, including a possible semicircular box (similar to a kitchen salt-shaker) with an ivory lid (Fig. 16). Thus, the Montelirio ivories seem to constitute a collective offering, as would be the case with the ‘treasure’or the furniture of a temple, rather than the expression of individual wealth. In fact, the human contingent found inside the Large Chamber of Montelirio was interpreted as a group of religious specialists (‘priestesses’) connected with a temple, sanctuary or oracle (García Sanjuán et al. 2016a, 544–5). Discussion We can summarize the results of the analysis presented above as a series of short points: 1. Since c. 3000–2900 BCE, elephant tusks were making their way into Valencina from Africa and the Near East. Figure 12. Small rectangular box (PP4 Sector, Structure 10.042). Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 42 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press 2. Together with this foreign material, fossil ivory also was being used. The origin of this fossil material is under study, and could have been equally imported or extracted from local sources: several remains of Elephas (Palaeoloxodon) antiquus and other megaherbivores are documented in the Las Jarillas terrace, c. 17 km from Valencina (Baena-Escudero et al. 2014). 3. Tusks were worked by highly skilled craftspeople who applied unrivalled expertise to produce artefacts unknown both in Iberia and western Europe. 4. While transformation debris has been identified in various simple pits (IES and DIA sectors), finished objects (and especially the most sophisticated ones) are only found in major megalithic tombs such as Montelirio, Matarrubilla and Structure 10.049. 5. Ivory was a high-end commodity, on account both of the intrinsic value of the raw material and the specialized and highly skilled labour invested into it. Thus, it was used by the local elites to sustain and reinforce their social position. This is Figure 13. Location of the ivories in the Large Chamber of Montelirio. In blue, the area with the highest concentration. (1) comb with six zoomorphs; (2) acorn; (3) semicircular lid; (4) unrecognizable remains; (5, 6, 7) discs with central perforation; (8) mouth of container. (Source: modified from a drawing by Juan Manuel Guijo Mauri.) Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 43 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Figure 14. Acorn embedded in the costume (UE344) of a female individual (UE343) in the Large Chamber of Montelirio. (Source: modified from photograph by David Wheatley and design by Marta Díaz-Guardamino Uribe and David Wheatley, in Díaz-Guardamino Uribe et al. 2016, 355–6, figs 8 & 11). Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 44 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press particularly clear in the case of the ‘Ivory Merchant’,thefirst of what appears to be a string of powerful local leaders using ivory (in conjunction with other exotica) in large-sized, lavishly furnished megalithic tombs. 6. Ivory was not used to make utilitarian objects, but showy personal objects for display, usually attached to someone’s body (combs, bracelets, pectorals, pendants and daggers). 7. Ivory was used to make distinct, unique and highly idiosyncratic artefacts which, apparently, were made only once, and for specific kinship units or corporate groups. 8. Tusk segments and whole tusks were seen as highly valuable elements per se, as demonstrated by the fact that they never appear in the simple pits that contain only production debris, but, on the contrary, feature prominently among the grave goods of high-ranking individuals, including, especially, the ‘Ivory Merchant’and the two people buried in the Small Chamber of Montelirio. Indeed, a striking characteristic of the Valencina ivory collection is that the exception appears to have been the rule. First, objects are unique; second, assemblages are singular and unrepeatable. Many of the objects found in Valencina are unique for this chronology, not only in the Iberian Peninsula, but, as far as we know, also in Europe and the western Mediterranean. The combs with zoomorphic decoration from Montelirio have no parallels in Valencina or in Iberia (Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016), nor do the container lids and mouths or the perforated discs; the possible pectoral found at Matarrubilla is also unique (Schuhmacher 2012a; Schuhmacher et al. 2013a), as are the ivory dagger hilt and sheath and the decorated tusk from Structure 10.049 (García Sanjuán et al. 2013) or the small rectangular boxes. In Structure 10.042–10.049, objects are larger and they are covered by profusely applied decoration, always using geometric and linear motifs (such as herringbone, opposite zigzags, or mesh, diamond Figure 15. Montelirio tholos, Large Chamber. Location of ivory elements around the stele: (a) ivory mouth or top for container; (b, c, d) ivory discs decorating a container; (e) semicircular lid. (Source: modified from a photograph by Alvaro Fernández Flores.) Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 45 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press and rhomboid patterns). By contrast, three generations later, the size of the objects in the Montelirio tholos decreases and those decorations become anecdotal, as they appear only in some small comb fragments in the Small Chamber (Luciañez-Triviño & García Sanjuán 2016, 254, fig. 5). In Montelirio the main motifs are plants and animals (possible suids, a bird and acorns), which did not feature in the earlier assemblage of Structure 10.049. Later on, the size of the Matarrubilla objects is even smaller and none of those decorative motifs appear. Here the artefacts are smooth and the only decoration motif is barrelvaults. Only two fragments of a bracelet in Matarrubilla have a herringbone-like decoration pattern, but their composition and execution have nothing to do with earlier items bearing these decorations. Therefore, we observe that in the oldest burials, more ‘traditional’decorations (geometric, diamonds, etc.) were present, but as time went on, they ended up disappearing. In this sense, Montelirio started a new and different decorative tradition inspired by natural elements, although other, more general cultural features were still present. The ivory objects from Matarrubilla, however, do not appear to display continuity with either 10.049 or Montelirio; decorations disappear and items become smaller (almost exclusively beads), which is in line with the general evolution observed in ivory objects from the middle of the third millennium BCE onwards. The clearly unique character of those three assemblages reveals the intention to create idiosyncrasies through the production and exhibition of original and unrepeatable sophisticated paraphernalia (Fig. 17). However, subtle coincidences point to a close relationship of the groups represented in each tholos with previous lineages, or individuals/groups buried in other structures. This relationship has already been suggested for Structure 10.042–10.049 and the Montelirio tholos (García Sanjuán et al. 2018b), in particular between two of the chambers of both these structures. In the Small Chamber of Montelirio and Structure 10.049, unworked tusks, objects with geometrical decoration and only one or two individuals were buried (García Sanjuán et al. 2018b, 44; Fig. 17). Another grave also located in the province of Seville presents important parallels with Structure 10.042–10.049: La Molina (Lora de Estepa). La Molina is an artificial cave, or ‘hypogeum’, where 10 individuals were buried. Among them, a young woman called ‘E1’, who probably was the last burial in the structure, had the only personalized set of grave goods, laid around her head (Juarez Martín et al. 2010, 66). Two ivory objects of La Molina’s woman E1 connect her with the material culture found in the upper level of Structure 10.049: a hollowed-out and carved, cornucopia-like elephant tusk and one ivory hilt for a flint blade (García Sanjuán et al. 2018b,c). The cornucopia-like object of La Molina is smaller (García Sanjuán et al. 2018b, 53, fig. 25) and is not completely decorated (only few lines in the open end) and the handle is completely different to the one from structure 10.049, but the similarities between these objects, both in shape or functionality, suggests some degree of temporal, cultural and social proximity between the tombs and a possible connection between the two individuals (the woman E1 of La Molina and the ‘Ivory Merchant’), which has been interpreted in terms of kinship or social bonds (García Sanjuán et al. 2018b, 52). Naturally, Valencina did not exist in isolation. In the early centuries of the third millennium BCE, ivory was being consumed at other sites of southern Iberia, notably in Los Millares (southeast Spain) or Perdigões (south Portugal), with which the Valencina ivories display very few but significant connections. Despite the striking innovations, Valencina was part of a common Late Neolithic/ Figure 16. (Right) ivory semicircular lid, with (left) a hypothetical interpretation. Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 46 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Early Chalcolithic tradition that is noticeable in some specific features of the ivories. In general, diamond and rhomboid decorations are found throughout southern Iberia. We see them in many different raw materials, such as bone, ivory, ceramics or stone (Leisner & Leisner 1943), and particularly in vessels or cylinders made from bone and ivory, which are also abundant in Portugal, for example in Pai Mogo (Laurinha) (Gallay et al. 1973) or in Perdigões (Valera et al. 2015). Although abundant acorn-shaped pendants are found only in Montelirio (plus a possible one in the Depósito de Agua tholos), there are other specimens in southern Spain, such as those from Cueva Antoniana (Gilena, Seville) (Cruz-Auñón Briones & Rivero Galán 1987), La Pijotilla (Badajoz), Los Algarbes (Tarifa, Cádiz) (Posac Mon 1975, 113) and El Toro cave (Antequera, Málaga) (Bueno Ramírez et al. 2016, 384; Camalich Massieu et al. 1987). There is also a possible example in Monte Abrão (Portugal) (Schuhmacher 2012a, 141, fig. 42.2, pl. 2.15). One of Valencina’s most important connections with other sites is one decorated ivory comb found in Structure 10.049 (upper level, UE535, no human remains), which is almost identical to an ivory comb from Los Millares Tomb 12 (collective burial, 12 individuals: Leisner & Leisner 1943, 25, and pl. 11, no. 26; Maicas Ramos 2007,122)(Fig. 18) and in which, in addition, an ivory plaque with V-perforations on the back was also found. This draws an interesting connection with the ‘Ivory Merchant’. A number of tombs at Los Millares stand out for the quantity and diversity of objects (Chapman 1990), including all those with ivory (#5, #7, #8, #9, #12, #16, #40 and #63, except for grave #71 of doubtful attribution: Schuhmacher 2012a, 47). Ivory must have played a significant role in the definition and exhibition of power at Los Millares and other sites too. Despite the meagre published contextual data, the anthropomorphic figurine of PP-Matarrubilla has special relevance for being the only human figure carved in ivory to date in Valencina. Other anthropomorphic figurines of the same style have been found Figure 17. Idealized drawing of the possible use of some of the ivory objects. (Above) Ornamental comb with zoomorphic decoration from Large Chamber of Montelirio. (Left) Rock crystal dagger with ivory hilt carried inside its ivory and leather cloth sheath (based on some depictions in Bronze Age stelae) from the upper level of structure 10.049. (Right) Pectoral of adjacent-barrel-vaults beads from the corridor of Matarrubilla. (Source: García Sanjuán et al. 2018c. Drawings by Miriam Luciañez- Triviño.) Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 47 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press Espinoza, E.O & M. Mann, 1993. 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Author biographies Miriam Luciañez-Triviño is a post-doctoral research fellow between the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU (Spain) and Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen (Germany). She specializes in the study of prehistoric osseous materials, particularly ivory, which she approaches Crafting Idiosyncrasies. Early Social Complexity, Ivory and Identity‐Making in Copper Age Iberia 59 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press through morphological and technical study, experimental archaeology and scientific analysis. Leonardo García Sanjuán is a Full Professor in Prehistory at the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Seville (Spain). His current research focuses on social complexity, burial practices, megalithic monumentality and landscape studies. He has carried out fieldwork throughout southern Spain, including major sites such as Antequera and Valencina. Thomas X. Schuhmacher is a Senior Research Fellow at the GermanArchaeologicalInstitute,Madridbranch.Hisresearch work focuses on the study of Iberian Later Prehistory, including an Iberian-scope analysis of ivory as well as ongoing fieldwork at the Valencina Copper Age mega-site. Miriam Luciañez‐Triviño, Leonardo García Sanjuán & Thomas Schuhmacher 60 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000287 Published online by Cambridge University Press