Megalithic shipping and trade routes

[Boreades]

The map you posted seems to have a dark spot round in north Spain, at Santander... San Sebastian?

Yes, that's were the Pasiegos are. In a valley all of their own. Very Welsh.

[Boreades]

Aside from speculation of North African or Egyptian migrants arriving in Ireland and Wales, there are some very practical reasons why people from the Med. were motivated to travel that far north.

At least from the late 9th century BCE onwards, an extended exploitation of the metal resources in the direct hinterland of Huelva, the Rio Tinto region, can be traced archaeologically. These opulent ore deposits were part of the so-called Iberian Pyrite Belt, a mountain range covering the northern part of the modern province of Andalucía. The Pyrite Belt carried copper, tin and lead in huge quantities, but also silver and gold in abundance and iron in lesser amounts.

The extracted ores were cupellated and cast, mostly in nearby indigenous villages, as excavated castings molds and slags prove. Afterwards the processed metals were brought to centers of distribution (ultimately the Phoenician city of Gadir, modern Cádiz) and shipped overseas. The extent of the extracted metals can only be guessed, but the ancient sources attest incredible abundance. Strabo mentions that even the lead or stone anchors of leaving ships were replaced by silver ones (Geogr. 3,2,8), and Diodorus adds that the Phoenicians had to cut down all of Sierra Morena’s forests to gather enough wood to heat the fires of the melting-ovens constantly (5, 35, 4-5).

(my emphasis)

http://www.ancient.eu/tartessos/

As had happened before with King Solomon's temples (using Lebanese cedar), and on the once-forested island of Cyprus, it was deforestation that was the limiting factor, not running out of the valuable ore.

No trees --> no charcoal --> no smelting --> no valuable metal.

So they would have to move north to places that still had both ore and wood.

Edit: I meant King Solomon's mines, not temples.

[hvered]

Yes, that's were the Pasiegos are. In a valley all of their own. Very Welsh.

Gallegos (galicians) are Spain's Welsh i.e. their accent is mocked by everyone who isn't gallego.

[Boreades]

A while ago I mentioned the El Campello peninsula site, near Alicante.

It turns out there's more to the area. Close to Alicante and its pre-Roman warehouses is another ancient town, Elche or Elx. Two kilometres south of there the "Lady of Elche" statue was discovered. It is

"generally believed to be a piece of Iberian sculpture from the 4th century BC"

(Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Elche), with no great details on who these Iberians were.





But only c.10Km south of there, at Cabezo Lucero in Guardamar del Segura, the "Lady of Guardamar" was discovered at an archeological site that is described as "Phoenician, dated c.400 BC"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Guardamar



By now an alert reader will have noticed the very unusual wheeled headgear.

It would be flippant of me to suggest they had these wheels attached to their heads to make it easier to wheel the statues around, like ornamental garden wheelbarrows. So what do these wheels symbolise? Has anyone seen anything else like this? If so, where?

[Boreades]

More details (In Spanish for Hattie)
http://arqueologiaalicante.blogspot.co. ... egura.html

There are more like this, e.g.
The Lady of Baza :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Baza
The Gran Dama Oferente : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dama_del_ ... los_Santos

Neither of those have the same wheeled headgear, but they are all described as "Carthaginian Iberian".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthaginian_Iberia

Or what we would call Phoenician.

[TisILeclerc]

The Phoenicians seem to have been in deepest Somerset if the Daily Mail is to be believed. And who wouldn't?



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... n-Age.html

The young lady on one side is supposed to be the goddess Tanit and the horse on the other side is er a horse. No sign of cartwheels though.

'The tiny copper coin, which is smaller than a penny, dates from the Iron Age almost 2,300 years ago and suggests there were links between the south west of England and the Mediterranean.

'The coin is thought to be the oldest dateable evidence of human activity found in Saltford and the West of England.

It suggests Iron Age links between the Mediterranean and the Bristol Channel, which the River Avon flows into around 15 miles (24km) away.'

The name Saltford suggests salt trading as well. And the existence of a coin gives us a clue that complex trading was involved. It is not barter but the acceptance of metal tokens in place of goods which assumes a certain amount of trust between traders.

[Mick Harper]

The Portal has just got round to wondering what the gold spirals might be:

Now this is weird. I can't imagine what they are for. 2,000 of them!

Could be a way of storing long strips of metal - winding onto an oval/round bar and then slip off. Same technique used for the various gauges shown. Trade the prepared gold to other gold smiths ready for the next stage of production perhaps?

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php ... erby=dateD

But note that such staggering quantities does not lead anybody over there to re-evaluate their view of Megalithia. That's what's truly weird.

[Boreades]

Those in the modern-day shipping business will be familiar with the Baltic Dry Index. It's an economic indicator issued daily, based on the cost of moving bulk raw materials by sea. For consistency, it's based on 23 particular shipping routes.

I'd like to propose a TME version of the BDI. Say, the Megalithic Trade Index (MTI). Bulk materials, like these gold spirals, are an excellent indicator of a high MTI.

The high volumes of amber still being found all over megalithic Britain are another Baltic trade indicator. An amber necklace was found only a few days ago at Marden Henge.

[TisILeclerc]

I wonder if the Hanseatic League was based on a memory of what had happened in the past.

Even if not I imagine the logistics must involve the same areas for ports, landing stages etc.

Perhaps a look at the expansion of the League could throw some pointers on to your Megalithic Trading Company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League







I imagine that the Norwegians would have had a greater input.

[Mick Harper]

Borry's suggestion is exactly what archaeologists should be doing instead of constantly digging up more and more stuff in ways and places that only confirm what they already believe. So no chance then.

Tis's point is equally well made. We never went into it very much in TME but the Hanseatic League is indeed a later flowering of the old salt route up the Elbe from the salt mines of Old Saxony to the Baltic and North Sea ports of New Saxony. [Saxa Salt, remember!] The main impetus for this trade is that the Baltic is too unsalty (two parts per thousand rather than the normal thirty-five of sea-water) to make salt in the usual way.