Recycling Metal, Mobility and Connectivity. An Analysis of Rochelongue Underwater Site Assemblage (seventh–sixth BC) West Languedoc (France)

Abstract This article presents the rationale behind the material culture from Rochelongue underwater site assemblage. This site was located in the 1960s at Cap d’Agde (Languedoc-Rousillon, France) and dated to the last quarter of the seventh–beginning of the sixth century BC. The study is based on the characterisation of the metal finds linked to the so-called “Launacian” phenomenon. The results are applied within the context of mobility, connectivity and cultural interaction, showing metal as the central defining element of these archaeological contexts. The provenance and cultural affiliations of the pieces, determined from chemical and provenance analyses, help, in turn, to determine interactions between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe. In this context, the South of France is a nexus for direct contact sustained over a certain period, probably economic, although never free from other socio-political considerations. Thus, the article opens debate on the underwater site of Rochelongue and its Launacian material culture context, feeding discussion on its chronology, cultural attribution and typological characterisations, as well as reflecting a greater relevance of the coastal and maritime route and its impact on the Iberian Peninsula than previously considered.