Once the Minoans had succeeded in sailing the Mediterranean, it was surely only a matter of time before they discovered Iberia, one of the most heavily mineralised places on earth. We explore the Iberian coastline, discovering the abundant mineral wealth up the coastal rivers – the Guadlaquivir, Tinto, Guadiana, Tagus, Douro, and Minho. The glittering prizes of this land – not only copper – but gold and silver, alongside a high density of Bronze Age cultures and settlements.
Further reading:
Beatriz Comendador Rey, The Leiro Hoard: http://webs.uvigo.es/beacomendador/index_archivos/LEIRO.pdf
F. Nocete, ‘The smelting quarter of Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain): the specialised copper industry in a political centre of the Guadalquivir Valley during the Third millennium BC (2750–2500 BC)’, Journal of Archaeological Science, 35:3
http://www.valencinaprehistorica.es/opencms2/export/sites/valencina/galerias/descargas/2008_Nocete_Calvo_y_otros_Valencina-JAS.pdf
Concepcion Martin et al., ‘The Bronze Age of La Mancha:’
http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/067/Ant0670023.htm
W.Sheppard Baird, The Early Minoan Colonization of Spain: http://www.minoanatlantis.com/Minoan_Spain.php
