First prehistoric imitation amber beads in the Iberian Peninsula
In the Bronze Age (2,500-1,500 BC), Iberian prehistoric communities created beads with fake amber by repeatedly coating these items with tree resin. This is stated in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, led by Carlos Odriozola, from the University of Sevilla, and the participation of the researchers Joan Daura and Montse Sanz, from the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the University of Barcelona.
In the Bronze Age (2,500-1,500 BC), Iberian prehistoric communities created beads with fake amber by repeatedly coating these items with tree resin. This is stated in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, led by Carlos Odriozola, from the University of Sevilla, and the participation of the researchers Joan Daura and Montse Sanz, from the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP) of the University of Barcelona.
Many studies have confirmed the ornamental and symbolic importance of amber to European prehistoric peoples. This study is the first one to describe the presence of imitation amber in the Iberian Peninsula and the continent, which would have been created by repeatedly coating the core beads with resin from trees. The authors of the study obtained the fake amber beads in gravesites in Spain: one of them in the cave La Molina, in Sevilla, where they found two pieces dating from the 3rd millennium BC, and the other in the cave Cova del Gegant, near Barcelona, where they found four beads from the 2nd millennium BC. The authors of the study studied the chemical structure and composition of the six beads and coatings using infrared spectroscopy, an electron microscope probe, and -ray diffraction.
The beads from Cova del Gegant were formed by a mollusc shell core, covered by a multi-layered coating with tree resin, most likely pine. The beads were also covered by a calcium-containing white deposit. A resin similar to amber also covers the beads found in La Molina, apart from two layers of cinnabar and calcite.
The authors of the study think these techniques served to cover several supports with tree resin and carbonate to imitate the shine and color of original amber, since during the Bronze Age that material was not common and there was a high demand in Europe. There were other materials found in both sites which are not common from that period, such as ivory, gold and cinnabar. Therefore, it is not clear why these people, having such exotic and rare materials, used alternatives to real amber.
The authors believe, mostly when it comes to Cova del Gegant -since the imitations coexisted with authentic amber beads- that those people who were buried with these beads could have been lied to by the traders, who sold imitation amber. The study also suggests that chemical analyses of the real amber beads could prevent erroneous identifications in the future regarding these materials in Iberian sites.
Odriozola CP, Garrido Cordero JÁ, Daura J, Sanz M, Martínez-Blanes JM, Avilés MÁ. Amber imitation? Two unusual cases of Pinus resin-coated beads in Iberian Late Prehistory (3rd and 2nd millennia BC). PLoS One, 2019 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215469