Ceramic productions and human interactions during the Early Bronze Age in northern Iberia

The Early Bronze Age ceramic collection found into the caves of La Llana and El Toral III in Asturias (Spain) presents common decoration such as that found in the centre of Cantabrian Spain from the same period, which resembles others found in the Ebro Valley and Atlantic Europe. Therefore, the main objective of this study it is to identify the raw material originand understand the pottery production process during the Early Bronze Age in the Cantabrianregion. A methodological approach based on the chemical and mineralogical analysis ofvessels and experimentally fired clay samples collected all over the centre of this region wasdeveloped. Furthermore, the post-depositional processes affecting the sherds composition was evaluated by employing the rare earth elements as markers. The results showed that the studied assemblage has important similarities with the raw materials of the surrounding area,which supports the hypothesis of a regional mobilityGianni Gallello acknowledges the financial support of the European Commission (project number H2020‐MSCA‐IF‐2015‐704709‐MATRIX) as well as from the Beatriz Galindo Fellowship founded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. This research was also performed as part of project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant number HAR2016‐5605‐R)