8. M etallurgy and social dynam ics in the later prehistory of M editerranean Spain M argarita Diaz-Andreu & Ignacio M ontero Recent research on metallurgy in the Iberian Penin sula has dramatically changed our knowledge of this issue, potentially crucial for the understanding of later prehistoric social dynamics. New findings have led to a return1 to the hypothesis of an independent invention of metallurgy in the Iberian Peninsula in the 4th millennium be.2 Despite this, researchers agree in their consideration of 4th and 3rd millen nium be metallurgy as small-scale and largely irrelevant to the explanation of social change. How ever, interpretation of the role of metallurgy in the 2nd millennium be, i.e. the Bronze Age, has polarized researchers in a debate to w hich this essay aims to contribute. W hereas some scholars consider the control of metallurgical production to be a key factor in explaining social change, others regard the situation in the Bronze Age as basically a continu ation of the Chalcolithic period, and look for other reasons to explain the increase of social inequality, in particular in the case of the core area of south-east Spain. In this essay we propose that a study of the processes on the periphery of the core area3 of the south-east provides further reasons to stress the relative unimportance of metallurgy in the Bronze A ge as a cause of social change. W e suggest that it is only from the Late Bronze Age, i.e. from about 1300 be, that the control of metallurgy can be considered as a determining factor in the social dynamics of the Mediterranean area of the Iberian Peninsula. How ever, this position does not apply to the Atlantic area of the Iberian Peninsula, w here it seems safe to say that metallurgy had already acquired a principal role in the maintenance of social inequalities in the Early Bronze Age.4 The hypothesis of the independent invention of metallurgy in south-east Spain is based on several facts (Delibes de Castro et al. 1996b). 1) A distinct smelting technology, characterised by the use of ceramic bow ls as furnaces5 (Gomez Ramos 1996) and the lack of tuyeres and bellow s - these have, however, been recorded in other European regions as close as the Fontboui'sse area of France. 2) The different typology of crucibles, with none of the handled melting crucibles common in central and central southern Europe being found in the Iberian Penin sula; in the latter area crucibles are either rectangular or circular in shape with a pouring lip. 3) The common use of local ores in the Iberian Peninsula, which results in a wide range of natural alloys, including arsenical alloys, which, therefore, cannot be considered as intentional. 4) The fact that the first metal production in the Iberian Peninsula predates that of the surrounding areas by approximately half a millennium provides a final argument for an independent focus of invention. In south-east Spain slag remains found in typologically Neolithic layers at the site of Cerro Virtud in the province of Almerfa, dated to ca. 4000-3500 be or the first half of the 5th millennium cal be (Montero & Ruiz Taboada 1996, forthcoming), are currently the earliest evidence of metallurgical activity in the Iberian Peninsula, well ahead of neighbouring areas in chronological terms. Despite its autonomous invention, all scholars regard metallurgy as of secondary importance for the explanation of social change in the 3rd and 4th millennia be. In south-east Spain, in the Neolithic (ibid.) and Chalcolithic (ca. 2500-1800 be or ca. 3250- 2250 cal. be), metal ores were obtained from local sources situated in the immediate surroundings, and transported to the settlements where smelting and casting w as carried out. The metal w as manufactured at the household level at a very low production rate and with a very limited degree of specialization (Chapman 1990: 161 f.; 1996: 79). In addition, the types produced covered only a limited number of items which displayed an unimportant formal variation. A similar picture of metallurgy having little impact in social dynamics has been proposed for the south-w est area of the Iberian Peninsula, w here the earliest dates of metallurgical activities,