RCAAP Repository

Este trabalho destina-se a dar conhecimento dos resultados obtidos nas quatro campanhas de escavações realizadas entre 2005 e 2008, envolvendo a caracterização das estruturas, as estratigrafias, e a totalidade dos materiais arqueológicos exumados, com carácter exaustivo.

A Lapa do Fumo (Sesimbra) é uma cavidade cársica aberta nos calcários jurássicos da serra dos Pinheirinhos, pertencente ao maciço da Arrábida, ocupando posição culminante na crista de relevos que dominam a encosta meridional daquela linha de relevos, debruçada directamente sobre o Oceano, a cerca de 217 m de altitude. O seu interesse arqueológico foi reconhecido por Eduardo da Cunha Serrão em Agosto de 1956, e, ainda nessa década, ali se realizaram diversas campanhas de escavação, que se prolongaram pela seguinte, com um interregno entre 1960 e 1964, tendo sido asseguradas por diferentes equipas, mas sempre dirigidas por Eduardo da Cunha Serrão. O Arq. Gustavo Marques teve actuação predominante a partir de 1964, progressivamente independente do primeiro, o que explica a existência de um assinalável espólio que conservou em sua posse. Este foi depositado pela família, depois do seu passamento, no Museu Nacional de Arqueologia. Foi ali que o signatário J.L.C. iniciou o seu estudo, que prossegue actualmente no Museu Municipal de Sesimbra, para onde tais espólios foram recentemente transportados, juntando-se aos que já ali se conservavam, das primeiras escavações da década de 1950. No decurso do referido estudo, surgiram fragmentos cerâmicos da Idade do Ferro, alguns deles de assinalável raridade, que corporizavam uma ocupação cuja importância permanecia por caracterizar e valorizar como merecia. Impunha-se, assim, o seu estudo tipológico detalhado, para o qual foi solicitada a colaboração da signatária A.M.A.. É o resultado desse trabalho conjunto que agora se apresenta.

Este trabalho corresponde ao desenvolvimento de um contributo sobre as escavações realizadas no povoado calcolítico fortificado de Vila Nova de São Pedro (Azambuja) entre 1937 e 1967, que tratou especialmente os aspectos administrativos e logísticos que presidiram às escavações realizadas, no quadro da investigação arqueológica desenvolvida em Portugal entre os finais da década de 1930 e os finais da década de 1960, abarcando, deste modo, a quase totalidade do Estado Novo. Importava, contudo, prosseguir o trabalho encetado com a caracterização dos principais resultados científicos obtidos em tão prolongados trabalhos, que abarcaram mais de trinta ininterruptos anos de escavações, bem como conhecer o efectivo impacto que tais trabalhos tiveram na comunidade científica da época, aquém e além fronteiras. É esse o desígnio do presente contributo.

Exceptuando actividades desenvolvidas por escassas associações locais e de carácter mais abrangente – caso da Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (AAP) –, os estudos pré-históricos circunscreviam-se, em Portugal, ao Ministério da Educação Nacional e à vontade de quem, como Manuel Heleno, os introduzia nas esferas universitária.

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This paper presents a set of coins recovered during diving activities in front of São Julião da Barra (Oeiras) fortress and that are now deposited in Direcção Geral do Património, Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (National Museum of Archaeology) and Museu de Marinha (Marine Museum). From this set of 507 coins, the authors could classify 119 coins and only 25 of the classified coins are Portuguese. This set came from a shipwreck or most probably several shipwrecks that happened in Lisbon’s inlet mainly during the seventeenth century. The majority of the studied coins, both Portuguese and Spanish can be dated between 1620 and 1700. The Spanish set of coins most of it in silver, were coined in Bolivia (Potosi), Mexico (Mexico city) and Peru (Lima) has “reales de a ocho”, “de a cuatro”, “de a dos” and “de a uno” and its metrological study demonstrates that the silver valorization during Philip IV reign also applied in the colonial mints of Spanish America.

An evaluation of Carlos Ribeiro’s (1813-1882) work regarding the excavation of four dolmens in the outskirts of Belas (Sintra, Portugal) is presented here. These excavations were initiated in 1875 and extended intermittently until 1878. The results were exemplarily published in a monograph in 1880 containing rigorous descriptions of the monuments and its respective findings (portrayed by beautiful charcoal drawings of the tombs and its findings). The quality of graphic recording is accompanied by a discussion regarding the importance of observing: the construction techniques adopted; how the terrain and geologic background conditioned its construction; as well as the type of raw materials used in the making of artifacts and its meaning. Thanks to Carlos Ribeiro’s own manuscript notes it was possible to complement his published work. These notes are comprised of preliminary parts of the published work together with field observations conducted during the excavations. Also, they were intersected with notations from other publications compiled by Carlos Ribeiro which he used in the discussion of his own results. These documents illustrate how based on a scientific method the author built his archaeological discourse, emerging as one of the pinnacles in his field of knowledge in Portugal, together with his colleagues of the Geological Commission, Francisco Pereira da Costa and Joaquim Filipe Nery Delgado. Besides illustrating the production of scientific discourse, based on data collected in the field, and then in the lab until its final result, this paper also provides information regarding the number of field work days and respective participants in the last phase of excavations conducted during most of the Summer of 1878 at the monuments of Monte Abraão, Estria and Carrascal/Agualva.

Engraved slate plaques from the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula are embedded into the funerary context of the Late Neolithic–Chalcolithic farming societies. They appear in the funerary structures, mainly megalithic, within archaeological deposits dated between 3500-2750 BC (calibrated age). Beyond its mere presence in these tombs, the symbolic and social role of this material culture is a historic dilemma widely discussed by archaeologists. Indeed, interpretations over these objects are numerous and diverse, but rarely have used methodological tools to test the hypotheses. This paper applies phylogenetic methods to check empirically one of the most recent hypotheses, that the plaques are ancient mnemonic devices that record genealogies of different lineages or clans. The results reported here come from four different samples representing the overall set of known and published plaques today, and they demonstrate that this hypothesis cannot be maintained. Finally, a discussion on the most plausible interpretative lines that should be tested in future studies is made.

Lapa da Galinha (literally «The chicken’s cave»…) is a typical small cave of the portuguese Estremadura. Located near Alcanena, it was excavated more than a century ago and, at the time, the numerous human remains therein identified have already been removed to the local cemetery and are not available for study and dating. A first note about this cave, very insufficient for the importance of the site, have been presented to the 1st National Congress of Archaeology (Moreira de Sá, 1959). Lapa da Galinha revealed, for the cultural milieu in which it is included, a considerable amount of engraved schist plaques and a rather peculiar «crosier», morphologically resembling an axe. If the «crosier» is so peculiar and unique, also the plaques form a very bizarre ensemble. Most of them are double faced, the motifs and decorative patterns are also peculiar and some present unusual shapes for the area of Estremadura – disclosing possible cultural influences of other regional areas. The «PLACA NOSTRA» Project shows, for the first time, drawings of all the available plaques and presents some new perspectives on the meaning of the «Lapa da Galinha connection»...

The remains collected by Hipólito Cabaço in the 1950s, following the exploration of the cave of Pedra Furada 1 are presented here. The review of the archaeological and osteological material, the later human and faunal, showed that the cave has been visited and used intermittently between the transition from the fourth and third millennia BC; in the middle and second half of the same millennium, as well as during the second millenium BC. Finaly a specific context was atributed to the Sixteenth Century. Of those periods, the first was associated to a collective funerary use, evidenced by radiocarbon dating of an individual’s bone, but it is plausible that the second period also have been mortuary. However the funerary practice in the second millennium BC is not as certain and might be associated with cavernous cults. And this doubt extends to the modern case. The anthropological study estimated globally a minimum of 34 individuals, 10 adults and 24 not adults of both sexes deposited in this cave.

In this article we present an individual grave found at the entrance of Ponte da Laje cave in 1958. The data discussion points out to the cultural meaning of the existence of an individual grave dated from early Chalcolithic, in the context of the collective graves of that period. The presence of two superimposed vessels, placed upside-down on the ground has a ritual meaning, which was valued and compared with other known examples.

In the sequence of a project designed to detect and characterize new ditched enclosures in Alentejo region (South Portugal) two new sites were identified through Google Earth and submitted to geophysics (magnetometry). The results revealed two ditched enclosures of different size and complexity. One, Montoito 2, with surface material from Chalcolithic, has a relatively simple plan with a larger double ditched enclosure with an elliptic layout and a small sinuous ditch inside. The other, Monte da Contenda, is an extraordinary complex system of ditched enclosures, with diverse dimensions, layouts and times of construction / use. It has a long chronology, from the Late Neolithic to the Chalcolithic. A first survey of one of the ditches provided two radiocarbon dates from the last third of the 4th millennium BC. Archaeological material and faunal remains are characterized for each site and their relation to other nearby enclosures is discussed, underlining the need for establishing the temporalities of these kind of sites in order to adequately approach the reconstruction of local settlement networks.

The Chalcolithic fortified settlement of Moita da Ladra is located on the top of a high volcanic chimney that dominates the Tagus estuary. The archaeological site was entirely excavated due to the exploitation prosecution of a basalt quarry. The identified archaeological structures are both defensive and residential. The remains of an ellipsoidal wall with 80 m length and 44 m width including two massive towers and na entrance facing the Tagus estuary on the southern side. This settlement’s builders wanted it to be easily seen from the river and at a long distance. Besides its defensive function this archaeological site is intended to be a landmark in this landscape. The implantation of this Chalcolithic settlement is related with the access control of the large inner basin of Loures lowland, related with Sizandro river basin flux in which Zambujal fortified settlement is located. The site has only one occupation phase with few but diversified archaeological remains characterized with both decorated ceramics of “folha de acacia/crucífera” group and bell beakers ceramics represented by maritime vases and vases with geometric decoration. Radiocarbon dating points out to the occupation of this site during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, the same of other high fortified settlements of this region, such as Penha Verde (Sintra) or Leceia (Oeiras). The coexistence of both bell beakers ceramics and non beaker’s ceramics of “folha de acacia/crucífera” group has an important cultural meaning that is valued in this article.

A survey of Bell Beaker manifestations in the Portuguese territory is presented here. Main conclusions are highlighted: 1) Concerning absolute chronology, the most ancient beaker productions can be situated between 2800-2600 BC, either in the North region of the Douro river, or in the Estremadura; 2) Most part of archaeological sites present stratigraphic coexistence of different ceramic productions with decorative patterns and techniques. This is in contradiction with the traditional periodization of the Bell Beaker manifestations that are based upon those stylistic characteristics. On the other hand, in some regions we can observe the almost absolute dominance of diferente styles in some domestic sites that are synchronic, in spite of its spatial proximity, as in the case of eastern region of Alto Alentejo. 3) In the Estremadura, the typological differences observed between the productions from walled sites and open sites, both contemporaneous, suggest that the first ones are the local residence of emergent elites. Open sites were occupied by the segment of the community dedicated intensively and extensively to agro-pastoral activities. 4) Finally, the nature and characteristics of the Ferradeira Horizon and Montelavar Horizon, which corresponds to the transition to the Bronze Age, are discussed.

This article presents the study of a ceramic vessel of the “Bronze do Sudoeste” culture (Southwest Bronze Age Culture) recovered during archaeological excavations in a settlement in Lisbon’s historical center. This vessel is related with several other occurrences from burials and/or ritual depositions in Southern Estremadura region during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The most ancient of these productions coexist with the last beaker vessels both in this region as in Southwest Portugal, according to the available radiocarbon data.

This paper presents and discusses the results, some of them previously published, of two Late Bonze Age sites at the Sintra mountain range, Penha Verde and Castelo dos Mouros. The late was object of recent excavations witch results are preliminary published in the presente article, namely a recipient which decoration characteristics are unknown in the Portuguese territory until now, witch has affinities with the Western Mediterranean, and a ritual deposition of a vessel, intentionally fragmented, probably related to the sacred connotation of Sintra’s mountain range documented since the Chalcolithic.

Chões de Alpompé was recognized as an archaeological site only during the 50´s, the time from which it was extensively and intensively surveyed, in several times and in several contexts. The artifacts gathered during those fieldworks where frequently published, stating the existence of an important roman republican occupation which was early associated with Decimus Junius Brutus military campaign, in 138 BC. The same association also allowed its match to Strabo´s Moron, considering the existence of some artifacts that indicated an Orientalizing Iron Age affiliation. A collection of unpublished materials that remained deposited in Casa dos Patudos (Alpiarça) since the 70´s deserved a proper analyzes, enabling an overall characterization of the site that take into account the available data.  

Outurela I and II are to two small Iron Age settlements, located in low altitudes, separated by only 500 m, apparently focused in agricultural and husbandry activities. The archaeological fieldwork that took place during the 80's allowed the recovery of a significant set of artifacts, mostly ceramics. The thorough study of these materials and its comparative analyses with data available from other sites in the Tagus estuary, enable us to verify a strong connection among them (both with similar low altitude sites and with main riverside settlements as, for example, Lisbon). The existence of a considerable dense settlement network during the 5th and 4th centuries BC becomes evident, even if its origin may be related by links of either cooperation or subordination. On the other hand, the available data seems to indicate a relative antiquity of Outurela II in view of Outurela I, even if its contemporaneity is clear during the 5th century BC.

In this article we present a selection of the most relevant data that A. M. Cavaleiro Paixão presented in 1970 in his graduate thesis he defended at Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa (Lisbon Faculty of Letters) about his archaeological fieldwork at the Iron Age necropolis of Olival do Senhor dos Mártires. This text was never published and 45 years later the important scientific interest of these excavations and its results remains and is even higher, due to the fact that in the last decades there has been an increasing knowledge of the Iron Age necropolis in southern Iberian Peninsula. Although the necropolis area excavated between 1966 and 1968 was small, the importance of the identified incineration graves and the recovered archaeological remains, carefully registered and characterized give to this work a major importance to the study of Iron Age, both in the Portuguese territory, as in southern Iberian Peninsula. This necropolis was first excavated during late 19th century and can be dated from the 7th to the 4th century BC, with influences from hinterland and Mediterranean as Cavaleiro Paixão already mentioned in his graduate thesis.

Analysis of the word “pala” and derivative voices kept alive in Spanish and in Galaico-Portuguese language and in the place names of the Galician-Lusitanian region and of the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca (Spain). Its meaning as “rock” is confirmed, as its origin in the i.e. Lusitanian language. It thus provides an interesting example of survivals of longue durée in words of prehistoric origin preserved in the western lands of Iberia.