Cuando el vino impregnó la isla de Mallorca: El comercio púnico-ebusitano y las comunidades locales durante la segunda mitad del siglo V y el siglo IV a.C.

Abstract

In this paper the concepts of colonialism and colonization applied to the Balearic Islands are discussed, concluding that their use is totally inappropriate. Published and unpublished data from archaeological excavations and surveys, are analyzed from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. They show that some dynamics started in the 6th century BC and continued during the following centuries essentially with no changes, although during the 4thcentury an increase can be detected from a quantitative and somehow qualitative point of view in the arrival of foreign goods. Luxury ceramics remained attached to the coastal settlements establishing a diacritical difference between communities tied up to Punic traders and those inland. Mechanisms of exchange between different actors and feasible routes of trade are explored. The Carthaginian wars and the need for mercenaries were basically responsible for such a trade.