The methodological centrality of geo-archaeological surveys in ceramic provenance analysis: A re-assessment of El Argar pottery production and circulation

The abundance and variety of clay sources found in many parts of the world make the issue of prehistoric pottery provenance and circulation more complex than what purely petrographic characterisation studies often suggest. In this study we use a specific combination of petrographic analysis, geoarchaeological survey, and spatial analysis to determine the origin of the clays used in pottery production. Specifically, we focus on pottery production within the core area of El Argar, an archaeological entity that developed during the Early Bronze Age (2200-1550 BCE) in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Following the analysis of the natural conditions under which the identified El Argar clays had formed, an archaeological survey was conducted, locating the raw materials within geographically confined sedimentary deposits of the Inner Betic mountain range. By examining the distance between clay deposits and Early Bronze Age settlements, we conclude that the majority of El Argar ceramics were not produced locally. The spatial analysis strongly supports the idea of a specialized production, likely concentrated around specific clay deposits, with a high degree of productive standardisation. These patterns align more with regional and supra-regional political systems and exchange networks, than with a domestic mode of production. The proposed investigation shows how the combination of petrographic optical microscope analysis, systematic geological and geomorphological survey, and spatial modeling aided by GIS provides a powerful tool for identifying forms of economic and political organization of pottery manufacture and circulation. • A rigorous geoarchaeological methodology identified El Argar pottery provenance. • Survey of ∼5200 km 2 and >140 clay deposits compared with Argaric pastes. • Spatial models to reconstruct clay procurement and pottery circulation. • Experimental replication assessed workability of El Argar clays. • Evidence for supra-regional specialization in Argaric pottery production.