This monograph, the first of a set of three, presents the results of a collaborative German Archaeological Institute project undertaken between 2004 and 2006 to investigate early metallurgy and its societal context in central and south-central Portugal. This first instalment is a lightly revised version of Gauss’s PhD dissertation, submitted at the University of Tübingen in 2008, which focused on the analysis of metallurgical remains from a series of Chalcolithic settlement sites.

The three main aims are to identify the metallurgical processes attested at the sites of Zambujal, Vila Nova de São Pedro, Leceia, Fórnea, Penedo and São Pedro; to establish the probable provenance of the ores used in the production of metal artefacts; and to determine the wider socio-economic impact of early metallurgy on the Chalcolithic communities of the area.

Gauss’s approach is based mainly on a combination of trace-element analysis (XRF and NAA), and lead-isotope analysis using both MC-ICPMS (multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) and TIMS (thermal ionisation mass spectrometry) of finished products, production debris and ores (the latter from the aforementioned sites as well as from a variety of ore bodies across central and southern Portugal). This work has produced a considerable amount of fresh analytical data, but the author also draws on relevant legacy OES (optical emission spectroscopy) data from the Studien zu den Anfängen der Metallurgie (SAM) project of the 1950s–1970s. One of the undoubted strengths of this volume is the thorough assessment of, and comparison between, the results of different analytical techniques.

Where available from the study sites, metallurgical ceramics and slags have been included in the analysis in order to help determine the types of ore used, and to reconstruct production processes. This use of multiple techniques on a wide range of material, together with the careful analysis of contextual data, constitutes another strong point of the monograph, as does the resulting chronology for the development of early metallurgy in the study area, which provides a higher resolution than most comparable studies from prehistoric Iberia. It should also be stressed that, while archaeometallurgical research in neighbouring Spain has accumulated an increasing number of lead-isotope datasets over the last two decades, the examples presented in this volume are the first obtained for archaeological purposes from any Portuguese sites.

With regard to Gauss’s first two stated aims—identifying the metallurgical processes employed and establishing the probable provenance of the ores used—his study is largely successful, with the remaining gaps the result of a lack of available data in some areas. The author is able to dismiss several old ideas that are still prevalent in the literature. Notably, he can convincingly rule out that any of the frequently cited ore sources from the Portuguese Estremadura supplied the raw materials used at the study sites. Instead, he is able to identify the upper Alentejo or neighbouring parts of the Ossa Morena Zone as the most probable source area. He is also able to demonstrate that the material evidence from Cabezo Juré in south-west Spain is inconsistent with the furnace process hypothesised by the site's excavator.

Regarding Gauss’s third and final aim—determining the socio-economic impact of early metallurgy on Chalcolithic societies in south-west Iberia—the results are sketchier, mostly because of a dearth of information on many aspects of the social and economic context within which metallurgy was adopted in the study area. Also, the author's repeated recourse to A.J. Toynbee's ‘challenge-and-response’ theory does not really provide an adequate substitute for model building as an explanatory device, and a broader theoretical footing would have been helpful here.

Given the considerable time and effort that clearly went into the laboratory work and the interpretation of its immediate results, it is easy to see how the final part of the original PhD research was less developed. It is unfortunate, however, that this aspect was not developed any further during the time that elapsed between the submission of the dissertation and its eventual publication. One might equally have hoped for more thorough copy-editing to eliminate the occasional typos and frequent inconsistencies with the German Archaeological Institute's guidelines for authors. These, however, are minor caveats that do little to diminish the overall value of this study. It represents a significant leap forward in our understanding of early metallurgy in Iberia.