The Ceramic Production and Distribution Network in the Ancient Kingdom of Navarre (Spain) during the 12th–15th Centuries

Abstract

The Kingdom of Navarre was a Christian kingdom located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its location on the west of the isthmus between the Iberian Peninsula and the European continent allowed an exchange of cultural currents. The main pottery production centres were in Estella, Lumbier, Pamplona, Tafalla, and Tudela. Ceramic pastes from various mediaeval sites were analysed for both elemental and mineralogical composition determination. The results were evaluated using Principal Component Analysis and allowed us to identify each production centre. Each manufacturing centre showed a different and characteristic composition of raw materials. Ceramics from Tudela were Ca-, Mg-, Na-, and Sr-rich. Ceramics from Estella were richer in Al, K, and Ti. Ca, Sc, and Sr contents were higher in Tafalla ceramics. Lumbier ceramics stood out for being enriched in Si, Mn, Fe, and Zr. Pamplona ceramics showed intermediate values. The analysis of samples from other Navarrese locations allowed us to begin to define what the commercial ceramic network in the Kingdom of Navarre was like during the Middle Ages. Therefore, two aims were defined for this paper: to characterise the ceramic pastes for each of the producing centres and to know where the ceramics were exported to.

Keywords

• pottery
• Middle Ages
• provenance
• principal component analysis