The Silversmith's Workshop of Tira Del Lienzo (Totana, Murcia) In The Context of Iberian Bronze Age Metallurgy

The south-east of the Iberian Peninsula saw deep social and political changes at the dawn of the second millennium bce. The emergence of important economic asymmetries inside communities was apparently based to a large extent on control of the secondary metallurgical production process; namely, forging. In this sense, the recently excavated architectural complex at the Argaric site of Tira del Lienzo constitutes an exceptional finding. At this site a series of macrolithic artefacts were recorded, which were related to the forging of metals and, more specifically, to the working of silver, according to morpho-technological and functional studies (use-wear and residue analysis).