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The supply of copper to the settlement of Leceia (Portugal) and the Estremadura region during the third millennium BC

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datacite.subject.fosHumanidades::História e Arqueologia
dc.contributor.authorValério, Pedro
dc.contributor.authorCardoso, João Luís
dc.contributor.authorAlves, Luis
dc.contributor.authorSoares, António
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-24T10:12:46Z
dc.date.available2026-07-24T10:12:46Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.description.abstractThe Chalcolithic settlement of Leceia (Portugal) has one of the largest collections of copper artefacts and metallurgical debris in the Portuguese Estremadura. However, the absence of ores and smelting remains suggests that local metallurgical operations were related to the production of artefacts. In fact, the metal assemblage includes several fragments of flat axes, most of them with traces of sectioning, which may have been used as ingots. In order to validate this hypothesis and to identify the copper sources used, elemental, microstructural and Pb isotope characterisation of five axe-ingots was undertaken. The assemblage turned out to be composed of copper with varying amounts of arsenic (0.08–2.94 wt%) and oxide inclusions (Cu2O and Cu-As-O). Some inclusions containing distinct contents of Bi, Sb and/or Sn were also identified, indicating the exploitation of different sources of copper ores. Pb isotope ratios displayed a cluster of four samples (206Pb/204Pb: 18.2378–18.3444) and one outlier with low radiogenic lead (206Pb/204Pb: 17.6625), signatures that compare well with those previously obtained for local artefacts and prills. Euclidean distances identified ore deposits in the Spanish provinces of Huelva and Cordoba as potential suppliers of copper, particularly the supergene copper ores from the mines of Rio Tinto, Cabezadas del Sandino, Preciosa and Quita Pellejo, all of which are located a considerable distance from the settlement of Leceia. Other probable copper sources are located in the mining districts of Linares-La Carolina and Los Pedroches, situated even further away from the Portuguese Estremadura. Consequently, the copper axe-ingots of Leceia, like the previously analysed local artefacts, provide evidence of long-distance trade relations with south-central Iberian Peninsula, which appear to be shared with coeval settlements in Estremadura, such as Vila Nova de São Pedro and Zambujal.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe work was financed by national funds from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FTC) in the scope of the C2TN Strategic Project UIDB/04349/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/04349/ 2025). The authors also thank for technical and human support of Pb isotope analyses provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU/ERDF, EU).
dc.identifier.citationVALÉRIO, P.; CARDOSO, J. L.; ALVES, L. C.; SOARES, A. M. M. (2026) - The supply of copper to the settlement of Leceia (Portugal) and the Estremadura region during the third millennium BC. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 74: 105960.
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105960
dc.identifier.issn2352-409X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/22282
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.hasversionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X26003950#bi005
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectIngots
dc.subjectElemental composition
dc.subjectPb isotopes
dc.subjectCopper trade
dc.subjectChalcolithic
dc.subjectPortugal
dc.titleThe supply of copper to the settlement of Leceia (Portugal) and the Estremadura region during the third millennium BCeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Archaeological Science: Reports
oaire.citation.volume74
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameValério
person.familyNameCardoso
person.familyNameAlves
person.familyNameSoares
person.givenNamePedro
person.givenNameJoão Luís
person.givenNameLuis
person.givenNameAntónio
person.identifierK-2149-2013
person.identifier.ciencia-id9512-7C72-C7AC
person.identifier.ciencia-id4916-6273-3F6C
person.identifier.ciencia-id1516-A662-E4DB
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-3726-6975
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2234-2266
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-5369-5019
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-7112-0649
person.identifier.ridK-1456-2013
person.identifier.scopus-author-id7003452715
person.identifier.scopus-author-id12791522900
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relation.isAuthorOfPublicationc6f6f01a-f706-4a21-903c-b3e585f1e98b
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication99010b01-b29d-4d73-af28-ea6e9a7bfb7a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery0912c9e0-9e69-44d1-afea-e36ed2b47a8d

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