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14C Dating and Material Analysis of the Lime Burial of Cova de Na Dent (Mallorca, Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Guy De Mulder ,
Roald Hayen ,
Mathieu Boudin ,
Tess Van den Brande ,
Louise Decq ,
Magdalena Salas Burguera ,
Damià Ramis ,
Herlinde Borms  and
Mark Van Strydonck
Guy De Mulder*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Roald Hayen
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Mathieu Boudin
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tess Van den Brande
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Louise Decq
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Magdalena Salas Burguera
Affiliation:
Museum of Manacor's History, Carretera Cales de Mallorca km. 1,5, 07500 Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain
Damià Ramis
Affiliation:
Natural History Society of the Balearics, Margarida Xirgú 16, 07011 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Herlinde Borms
Affiliation:
Antwerp Society for Roman Archaeology (AVRA), Groenenborgerlaan 35, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Mark Van Strydonck
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Lime burials are a characteristic phenomenon of the protohistoric funerary tradition on the Balearic Islands. At Cova de Na Dent, a lime burial has been sampled for analysis. The lime burial was made up of lime and fragmented bones. Six layers were sampled and described in the laboratory according to their color, the consistency of the deposition, and the aspect and quantity of the bone fragments. Bone samples and lime were dated. The lime was analyzed by using petrographic analysis, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy, and simultaneous thermal analysis. The results show that the bones were cremated in the presence of crushed rock carbonate. The 14C dates on the lime suggest an earlier chronology for this ritual, starting in the Bronze Age, as generally is accepted.

Type
Balearic Islands: New Data for an Old Story
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , 2014 , pp. 387 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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