Repositório RCAAP

In this article we present the Late Neolithic occupation of Carrascal’s settlement and discuss its functional feature. We conclude that it is a settlement with mixed carachteristics, corresponding to a specialized lithic workshop, located nearby the raw material resources, simultaneously with important evidence of semi-permanent, or even permanent, human occupation evidenced by the ceramics and polished stone industry.

In this article we present the results of the archaeological excavations at Travessa das Dores, Lisbon, that were performed before the construction of a new building for this location approved by the Lisbon city council. The excavations were limited to the area occupied by the new building. A significant number of pits were excavated during Late Neolithic in a cretaceous marly limestone platform. Soon after, an important defensive ditched enclosure was installed in the same place. Until now it is the first ditched enclosure excavated in Lisbon and North of Tagus River. The recollected artefacts typology from these two construction phases point out to a domestic occupation, with special emphasis to the abundant indented edges fragments, that points out to the same cultural phase. During the Chalcolithic this site knew had others less important domestic occupations; several fireplaces were identified in the ditch filling associated to Early and Full / Late Chalcolithic ceramics. Travessa das Dores settlement may be considered the most important prehistoric site identified and excavated in Lisbon city, according to the results we present now.

The site of Alto de Santo Antão was found and excavated during the building works of a water pipe. The site is located in Óbidos, at about one kilometre north of the Medieval village, in the top of the Penedo das Gralhas hill near the chapel dedicated to Santo Antão. The material recovered during the archaeological works revealed a human occupation dated from the Middle Chalcolithic with parallels with layer 2 of Leceia, Castro da Fórnea, Castro do Zambujal, Pedra do Ouro and Outeiro da Assenta. The small faunal assemblage, despite being small and not very well preserved, allowed the identification of wide diversification of mammals – such as equids, cattle, cervids, ovicaprines, carnivores, leporids, and suids –, as well as chelonians and fish. A small invertebrate assemblage was also collected with predominance of oyster shells. Considering the total of 80 studies related to archaeological assemblages dated from the Chalcolithic from the Portuguese Estremadura, and the scarce faunal analyses within this framework, the results of Alto de Santo Antão are an invaluable contribution to the available research from this chronology.

The full excavation of the fortified Chalcolithic settlement of Moita da Ladra by one of us (J.L.C.) has shown the existence of a single archaeological layer corresponding to the occupation of the site during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Among the archaeological remains collected during the field campaigns there is a bead, with a spheroid shape, longitudinally fractured, presenting a black matrix with numerous whitish spots. The fracture presents a vitreous greasy surface, and exposes a suspension cylindrical bore. Various techniques were used to identify the material that was used in the manufacture of the artifact, including CHN elemental analysis, EDXRF, μ-PIXE and XRD, conducted by the other authors. It was found that the material is not organic (carbon is absent), presenting significant amounts of the elements Si, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Sr, Zr, and Sb. The X-ray diffraction spectra indicates that the material has na essentially vitreous nature, being the whitish particles dispersed in the vitreous mass identified as quartz. μ-PIXE results show a chemical composition that is consistent with an artificial glass, which implies a much more recent chronology for the bead than that of the Chalcolithic archaeological layer where it was recovered. Thus, although the bead was recorded from a Chalcolithic context, its provenance must be ascribed to the Late Bronze Age occupation recorded nearby and resulting from the early Phoenician trade.

In January of 1958 four rectangular graves with inhumations were identified through rural works carried out in Vale da Palha (Sesimbra). Eduardo da Cunha Serrão came in the field and was informed that all the skeletons had a vase with them. These data were published in 1974, and the necropolis was dated in the late roman times, IV century AD. This chronology was based in a graffito incised in one of the vases that was assimilated to a M of the Latin alphabet. Only two of the three vases recovered are now available to study. They are hemispheric bowls and they could be included in Iron Age Grey Polish Pottery category. In morphologic terms, they correspond to the most frequently form of this pottery, present in almost every orientalised sites of the Iberian Peninsula. Both graffiti could be also related with a Mediterranean tradition. The presence of an Iron Age necropolis in the area isn’t a surprise, because in the Estuary of Sado’s river the remains of communities with a Mediterranean origin are well known.

According to lost roman inscriptions, a legatus provinciae Lusitaniae honoured Sol et Luna at Sintra, near Olisipo, perhaps with a temple over the Ocean’s coast, and ancient written traditions also give us the idea that his initiative could be interpreted as a rivalry between Colonia Scallabitana and Olisipo, at the emperor Augustus’ reign. Therefore, the actual archaeological research gives us the opportunity to discuss not only the very problematic authenticity of these epigraphic texts but also the real context in what the XVII and XVIII centuries’ authors wrote their stories.  

The folklore of Western or Atlantic Iberia retains a consistent propitiatory and divination ritual consisting in tossing 1 or 3 pebbles at the summit of certain big rocks; if the stones do not fall to the ground, you will get a wish, usually to be married within the year. These rites come from pre-Roman traditions, related to “sacred rocks”. It is analyzed the history of research, the ritual types (a propitiatory ritual and a divination one), and its origins, parallels and survivals. These “sacred rocks” were numina loci in which these rites were held as umbilical points or axis mundi. These rites extended over the territories of the Atlantic Celts and they are related to the oldest divination rites documented in Greece, Italy and Germany, whose roots back to animist beliefs related to the “external soul”. These “sacred rocks” constituent an essential key to interpret the Celtic “sacred landscape”.  

The majority of works concerning vandalism against cultural heritage combine two features: the inventory of vandalism cases (e.g. by country, region, or city, over a given period of time), and the inventory of the correspondent causes of destruction. This article has emerged within the scope of an on-going research about the subject of vandalism against cultural heritage in Portugal. This comprises three steps: 1 – to recollect some of the major contributions regarding the study of this topic; 2 – to inquire into the range of causes ascribed to vandalism throughout the nineteenth century in Portugal; 3 – to evoke the hitherto unknown contribution of Luís Chaves in cataloguing these causes.

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Com o Rui desapareceu um arqueólogo de excepção, que, em poucos anos, contribuiu como poucos para o progresso dos conhecimentos da Arqueologia e, em particular, do Megalitismo do sul do território português, introduzindo novos métodos de investigação, sabendo que o sucesso só seria possível com o aprofundamento da informação disponível em campos científicos inexplorados, requerendo o envolvimento da comunidade arqueológica internacional ao mais alto nível, que soube cativar e mobilizar em proveito de todos nós. Antítese do investigador cioso dos seus dados, oportunista e prepotente, com ele desapareceu um ser humano excepcional, generoso e idealista como poucos, cordial e disponível, empenhado na defesa de causas colectivas, características a que somou uma rara coragem na adversidade, sustentada por uma força de vontade admirável, que nos incute a prosseguir o mesmo caminho, animando-nos sempre, com a sua boa disposição, como se continuasse, sorridente, ainda ao nosso lado… Cabe a todos nós, e especialmente às novas gerações de arqueólogos tomá-lo como exemplo!

The study of the megalithic phenomenon practically follows the development of Archeology as a Science, since the mid-19th century. During this time, one can recognize several stages of analysis, from the first normative readings, that consider this phenomenon as an univocal episode (explaining its different nuances by essentially contemporary cultural factors) to the formulation of the first evolutionary sequences, mainly by Manuel Heleno based on his field works of almost a decade in megalithic monuments in Alentejo. These evolutionary diagrams, conditioned by the historical-culturalist thinking of their Time, result in linear, overly simplistic explanations for a theme as intricate as the origin and development of Megalithism. Basically they advocate, in general lines, a sequential evolution from simple to complex, with the universal, reductionist “shelving” of architectures and votive sets. The basic lines of this approach have remained in use until quite recently. New analyzes, mainly drawn since the 1980s, have presented alternative readings. Some plead for the total reversal of the simple – complex evolutionary sequence, almost like an “involution”; others consent the contemporaneity of several architectural solutions, admitting the cultural and chronological coexistence of simple and complex monuments. The works conducted by Rui Boaventura, mainly dedicated to the Megalithism of Alentejo and the Portuguese Estremadura, sought to order, filter and compile all the available information, as means to provide solid bases of analysis, grounded on critical readings and on the non-biased evaluation of data. In this regard, and as strictly as it was permitted, Rui Boaventura sought to characterize and define the key issue in the study of Megalithism: its actual origins and its various evolutionary levels. In this task, he recognizes the fallibility of linear readings and substantiates his analyses unconditionally on what data demonstrate, in terms of architectures, votive sets and absolute chronologies (preferentially on human samples). In this paper, the authors intend to present a series of small simple megalithic monuments, excavated in collaboration with Rui Boaventura in the areas of Redondo and Monforte, under the projects he directed (COMONPH and MEGAGEO). These are small megalithic monuments, with simple artefactual sets and simple architectural features, of the type that is traditionally assumed to be the representative of a first moment of Megalithism. With an exclusive focus in the Southwestern Iberia, the authors seek to insert these monuments, with all the questions they raise, into the chrono-cultural levels of the megalithic phenomenon in this region, trying as well to define their evolutionary sequences, with regard to the architectural features of monuments, their funerary contents and available absolute dates. It is acknowledged that, taking into account the currently available data, a simple evolution scheme could not be so applicable to the reality under consideration: even if one can accept that a substitution of architectural models had occurred, it would not have been as linear nor as chronologically detailed as normally assumed. In fact, rather than this instantaneous substitution, it seems that a gradual replacement, considerably expanded in Time, of simple monuments by complex monuments takes place, with the coexistence of tombs with various architectural features still during a full moment of the 4th millennium BCE. In this scope, one must also consider the funerary uses of natural caves and artificial caves, apparently contemporary and culturally comparable, according to the generic characteristics of the votive sets. Megalithism is thus a multi-faceted phenomenon, balanced by its own dynamics. Most of the ideas presented herein were widely discussed with Rui Boaventura, and the authors sought to remain faithful to his line of reasoning, which, in general terms (with the elementary personal nuances, of course), they shared.

This article intends to make a systematization of the several archaeological sites with rock art known in the territory between the Atlantic and the Maciço Calcário Estremenho, that is, in the Portuguese Extremadura. Analyzing the dispersion of the sites, it is clear that the geological characteristics totally condition the existence of sites with rock art, being notable its absence for example in alluvial regions, as well as the type of limestone in the region of Lisbon and the West that make it impossible the preservation of paintings or engravings. Although there are three references in the region of Lisbon (Magoito, Anta da Pedra dos Mouros and Laje das Insculturas), only when we move to the north we find archaeological sites in the Macico Calcario Estremenho (Lapa dos Coelhos, Vale do Lapedo and Gruta da Moeda), and continue to the region of the Macico Hesperico where there are numerous rock art sites (Pego da Rainha, Vale do Tejo, Ocreza and Erges). We emphasize the chronological uniformity of the studied archaeological sites, essentially framed in the recent Prehistory, with few contexts with paleolithic art, which corresponds to different strategies of symbolic anthropization of the territory.

In face of an insufficient research of the circulation and consumption of molluscs and shells in transregional interaction networks, the present paper questions the presence of these faunal remains in the ditched enclosures of Perdigões, not in terms of subsistence (in this case irrelevant), but rather in an ideological perspective of consumption in the context of the social role played by exogenous products in large aggregation centres of inner Alentejo region. An inventory and taxonomic classification are presented and a diachronic and contextual analyses is developed, highlighting the scarce, but growing, consume of molluscs and the importance conceded to the use of some shells, underlining the preponderance of the imported material. The comparing with other regional available collections shows the specific character that these faunal remains may represent in Perdigões in the context of the interregional network integrated by this site. Keywords: Ditched enclosures, Interaction, Molluscs, Recent Prehistory, Shells.

Numerous human bone collections from old excavations lie "forgotten" in various museums and private collections. The exhaustive analysis of these forgotten prehistoric assemblages began in the 1990s, framed by new methodological and interdisciplinary approaches that allowed a better interpretation of these tombs. This type of collaboration happened between the authors of the present text and the archaeologist Rui Boaventura for the review and study of several anthropological collections of tombs from central and south Portugal, dated from the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. In the scope of this work, the analysis of the collections studied during the annual Mega-Osteology program, promoted by Portanta, Iberian Archeology Association, and developed in the Geological Museum and the National Archaeological Museum between 2004 and 2015, and the analysis of the human remains recovered from the Lugar do Canto cave must be highlighted. In this essay, the potentialities of the analysis of human bone remains for the biological and social characterization of these prehistoric communities and the main difficulties faced when studying such collections will be underlined. Finally, a summary of the data obtained by the present team through the “re-visitation” of these ancient collections will be presented.

We present the results of the archaeological excavations at the fortified Chalcolithic settlement of Outeiro Redondo, Sesimbra in 2013 and 2014. These two campaigns continued the excavations performed there between 2005 and 2008. The defensive and housing structures were identified. The defensive structures corresponds to two constructive phases belonging to the Full / Late Chalcolithic. The housing structures corresponds also to two constructive phases, one of the Early Chalcolithic, the other of the Full / Late Chalcolithic. Thus, we may conclude that the first moment of this chalcolithic site corresponds to an open, unfortified settlement. An abundant and diversified set of artifacts were recovered during the excavations, pointing out to this settlement’s economic activities and the intensity of the human successive occupations of the place. Copper metallurgy stands out as a main economic activity in this site. A large entrance devoid of functional characteristics facing the sea, suggests the existence of ritual practices. In fact, the importance of the sea is confirmed by a foundational ritual, with the concealment, in a small cavity excavated in the substrate, of a mussel shell of exceptional dimensions. This shell seems to emphasize the importance of marine resources in the economy and daily life of the first community installed there, during the transition from the first to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.

In this article we publish and comment the correspondence sent to José Leite de Vasconcelos by twelve eminent Spanish archaeologists. Two exceptions (Georg Leisner and George Bonsor) are justified since they developed his main archaeological research in the Iberian Peninsula. The correspondence shows the high scientific and personal appreciation given to his Portuguese colleague, due not only by his scientific merit, but also by the resources he mobilized for international collaboration, with the projection of his own work, namely the journal O Arqueólogo Português and the Museu Etnológico Português, of which he was the first Director. The correspondence provides a reliable picture of the archaeological research then carried out in Spain, with interesting information about excavations then under way, with relevant information about institutions and publications, and shows the great interest of the Spanish archaeologists for reliable and up-to-date information on Portuguese Archeology.  

Approach to the absolute chronologies of the Neolithic in Lisbon region, considering two large units: 1. Neolithic process (Ancient and Middle Neolithic) and 2. The consolidation of peasant societies (Late Neolithic). Dates and contexts of all domestic contexts dates in the Lisbon region are discussed, thus complementing Rui Boaventura’s proposal for the chronology of the Megalithism in the same region.

Recent advances in radiocarbon dating have come to facilitate the successful processing of cremated bone samples, a material previously deemed unsuitable for this purpose. This opens up the possibility of obtaining scientific dating evidence from find contexts which have produced little other organic material and of revisiting the chronological issues they raise. In presenting a radiocarbon determination obtained from a Late Bronze Age cremation burial at Monte de São Domingos, here we take the opportunity to illustrate the potential of this relatively new technique, but also to discuss possible pitfalls and problems with its application.

In this paper we present Late Bronze materials recovered at the Historic Center of Oeiras. This large assemblage of plain and decorated containers, the last with the technique of “burnished ornaments” is associated with denticulated sickle’s flint flakes and an ivory comb. These findings are discussed within the framework of the Late Bronze Age society of the region on or of the north bank of the mouth of the Tagus, dating from the earliest trade contacts with the Central and Eastern Mediterranean of the beginnings of the first millennium BC.

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