Marco António Andrade
My research guidelines currently travel by several paths, regarding specifically the ancient peasant communities of southwestern Iberian Peninsula:
1 - Megalithic monuments and megalithic communities in Alentejo, centered in Ribeira da Seda region (Portalegre district);
2 - Early Neolithic settlements in Estremadura, centered in the late cardial settlement of Freixo (North region of Estremadura Limestone Massif) and Meso-Neolithic settlements of Zibreira (Lisbon Peninsula region);
3 - Neolithic-Chalcolithic cave burials in Estremadura, centered in Serra de Aires and Candeeiros moutain-ranges region (Lapa da Galinha and Buraca da Moura caves);
4 - Neolithic flint procurement sources in Estremadura, centered in the sites of Pedreira do Aires and Monte das Pedras (lower Lisbon Peninsula region);
5 - Early Neolithic – Late Neolithic knapped stone industry comparison, centered in the lithic assemblage from Early Neolithic site of Zibreira and Late Neolithic site of Vale de Lobos (low Lisbon Peninsula region).
Although apparently dealing with different themes, they all come together and complement each other in the range of a better definition of the Prehistory of the ancient peasant communities of the 6th to 3rd millennia Cal BC.
Recently, my research interests turned to the study of human communities of late Upper Palaeolithic (terminal Magdalenian sites of Cortes, Telheiro and Cruz da Areia) and Mesolithic (sites of Valongos 1 to 4) in the Portuguese Limestone Massif, a complex but exciting subject.
Currently I'm developing my Ph.D Dissertation on the following subject: «Geometries of the megalithic territory on the left bank of Ribeira da Seda: times and spaces of Megalithism in the southernmost area of North Alentejo.»
Supervisors: Victor S. Gonçalves
1 - Megalithic monuments and megalithic communities in Alentejo, centered in Ribeira da Seda region (Portalegre district);
2 - Early Neolithic settlements in Estremadura, centered in the late cardial settlement of Freixo (North region of Estremadura Limestone Massif) and Meso-Neolithic settlements of Zibreira (Lisbon Peninsula region);
3 - Neolithic-Chalcolithic cave burials in Estremadura, centered in Serra de Aires and Candeeiros moutain-ranges region (Lapa da Galinha and Buraca da Moura caves);
4 - Neolithic flint procurement sources in Estremadura, centered in the sites of Pedreira do Aires and Monte das Pedras (lower Lisbon Peninsula region);
5 - Early Neolithic – Late Neolithic knapped stone industry comparison, centered in the lithic assemblage from Early Neolithic site of Zibreira and Late Neolithic site of Vale de Lobos (low Lisbon Peninsula region).
Although apparently dealing with different themes, they all come together and complement each other in the range of a better definition of the Prehistory of the ancient peasant communities of the 6th to 3rd millennia Cal BC.
Recently, my research interests turned to the study of human communities of late Upper Palaeolithic (terminal Magdalenian sites of Cortes, Telheiro and Cruz da Areia) and Mesolithic (sites of Valongos 1 to 4) in the Portuguese Limestone Massif, a complex but exciting subject.
Currently I'm developing my Ph.D Dissertation on the following subject: «Geometries of the megalithic territory on the left bank of Ribeira da Seda: times and spaces of Megalithism in the southernmost area of North Alentejo.»
Supervisors: Victor S. Gonçalves
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Books by Marco António Andrade
Located in a depressed area between São Mamede and Ossa, and strongly shaped by the relief of this two important mountain ranges, the area of Ribeira Grande presents an important diversity in a geological and orographical level, diversity that is reflected, obviously, in the morphology and distribution of megalithic monuments and in the settlement patterns of the communities that built and used those monuments.
Starting with concrete situations, the «megalithization» of the landscape phenomenon is herein analysed, based on the specific implementation of the monuments and the chrono-spatial relationship between them, placing them in the morphology of the relief, in the water resources (in wich the course of Ribeira Grande plays an important role), in the land-use capacity and in the geological context. Thus, it is noted an interesting variety that is reflected in the patterns of implementation of the monuments (from the top of hills to the bottom of valleys), the integration of the monuments in the landscape (in terms of visibility and invisibility) and in the morphology of the monuments (from the small monuments of schist areas to the large monuments of granite areas) – expressing each pole their own expressiveness.
The question of settlement places of the builders and users of megalithic tombs is also discussed based on the currently available data. Thus, to the apparent concentration of megalithic monuments, which seem to group forming small clusters well located on the landscape, defining areas of necropolis, it seems to match a modular space occupancy, with scattered population and a low archaeological representation – typical of communities with an economical super-structure based on transhumant pastoralism and small-scale agriculture.
Therefore, we may be facing a scenario in which the communities prefer mobility, with short spectrum settlement systems and where there is no clear investment in durable housing structures – which was not, however, impeditive to that large monuments were built.
Key-words: megalithic monuments, megalithic communities, «necropolization» of the landscape, North Alentejo.
Papers by Marco António Andrade
Located in a depressed area between São Mamede and Ossa, and strongly shaped by the relief of this two important mountain ranges, the area of Ribeira Grande presents an important diversity in a geological and orographical level, diversity that is reflected, obviously, in the morphology and distribution of megalithic monuments and in the settlement patterns of the communities that built and used those monuments.
Starting with concrete situations, the «megalithization» of the landscape phenomenon is herein analysed, based on the specific implementation of the monuments and the chrono-spatial relationship between them, placing them in the morphology of the relief, in the water resources (in wich the course of Ribeira Grande plays an important role), in the land-use capacity and in the geological context. Thus, it is noted an interesting variety that is reflected in the patterns of implementation of the monuments (from the top of hills to the bottom of valleys), the integration of the monuments in the landscape (in terms of visibility and invisibility) and in the morphology of the monuments (from the small monuments of schist areas to the large monuments of granite areas) – expressing each pole their own expressiveness.
The question of settlement places of the builders and users of megalithic tombs is also discussed based on the currently available data. Thus, to the apparent concentration of megalithic monuments, which seem to group forming small clusters well located on the landscape, defining areas of necropolis, it seems to match a modular space occupancy, with scattered population and a low archaeological representation – typical of communities with an economical super-structure based on transhumant pastoralism and small-scale agriculture.
Therefore, we may be facing a scenario in which the communities prefer mobility, with short spectrum settlement systems and where there is no clear investment in durable housing structures – which was not, however, impeditive to that large monuments were built.
Key-words: megalithic monuments, megalithic communities, «necropolization» of the landscape, North Alentejo.
Em termos estritos, o Campaniforme é a súmula de um estilo decorativo cerâmico com formas cerâmicas específicas. Surge em toda a Europa e Norte de África em finais do Calcolítico, na segunda metade do 3º milénio a.n.e. Contudo, em termos mais abrangentes, a presença desta cerâmica tem profundas implicações no estudo do modelo de sociedade, de eixos de troca e de mudanças tecnológicas das comunidades agro-pastoris.
A temática do Campaniforme tem um longo historial de investigações em toda a Europa. A quantidade e diversidade de campaniforme na Península Ibérica desde cedo levou a colocar esta área no centro de debate da origem e difusão de um estilo cerâmico.
Ciclicamente, têm sido efectuados balanços sobre esta temática, sobretudo a propósito de estudos monográficos de sítios com dados especialmente relevantes quanto à estratigrafia, cronologia absoluta, tipologia.
Apesar da extensão da bibliografia disponível, escasseiam as leituras transversais e actualizadas reflectindo as recentes descobertas das últimas décadas: os recintos de fossos, os hipogeus do interior da Península, as novas análises arqueométricas. Estes novos dados permitem colocar em perspectiva os contextos «clássicos», alguns dos quais com trabalhos arqueológicos do século 19.
O presente workshop constitui um encontro científico especificamente direcionado para a temática do campaniforme à escala peninsular, reunindo um conjunto selecionado de investigadores, com dados relevantes. Para além do conjunto de oradores convidados, será ainda aberta a inscrição para posters, alargando-se assim o leque de participações.
Procura-se fazer o levantamento do estado da arte e, simultaneamente, estimular a discussão das diferentes perspectivas teóricas.
12 a 13 de Maio.
http://www.uniarq.net/workshop-sinos-e-tacas.html
By the analysis of the recovered assets (exploitation and debitage debris, briefly formed nodules, core preforms, few finished instruments and few fragments of ceramic vessels), as well as by the definition of the geological context in which they are inserted – namely, upper Cenomanian limestones (Cretacious), rich in siliceous nodules –, both sites were interpreted as spaces dedicated to a specific activity in the Prehistory of ancient peasant communities (Neolithic and Calcolithic).
Apparently, these are flint «mines» at open air, where there is registered the exploitation of raw materials in the exposed limestone benches and the occasional production of flaked stone instruments – using exclusively flint stone.
Pedreira do Aires is located in the bottom of a hill, at the confluence of two watercourses, close to limestone outcrop. The recovered artefacts can be related to a Neolithic period, without further specification. The immediate archaeological context includes several megalithic monuments (dolmen type) and a height settlement poorly characterized. Monte das Pedras is located in the extreme of a large platform, on a limestone bench, in which was identified possible areas of surface exploration and production of artefacts. The recovered artefacts are related to Early Neolithic, Late Neolithic and Calcolithic periods. The immediate archaeological context includes several megalithic monuments (dolmen, rock cut caves and tholos type) and several neolithic and calcolithic settlements.
Thus, they can be characterized as small seasonal campsites located in the sphere of influence of a larger settlement – fact that is more evident in Monte das Pedras – included in a complex population network, outlining specific models/patterns of space occupation and resources exploitation.
By so, it is established the relationship with other contextually similar sites, setting up the strategies for the flint exploitation during the fourth and third millennia before our Era in Lisbon peninsula.
As a typical votive artefact of the megalithic communities of the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic in Southwest Iberia, the engraved schist plaques can be found mainly in funerary contexts during the last centuries of the 4th millennium and the firsts of the 3rd millennium BCE. However, these artefacts are also present in residential spaces, being found in open settlements, fortified settlements and ditched enclosures, with radiocarbon dates that fall between the last quarter of the 4th millennium and the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Using several sites of the region of North Alentejo as case studies, the authors intend to put forward some interpretive lines about the presence of these artefacts in residential contexts – debating questions such as the existence of actual production areas within the settlement space (workshops) or the recovery and reintroduction of these artefacts in residential areas (as relics, understood in the context of new symbolic concepts), possibly recovered during the reuse of megalithic monuments, a practice widely known in the Southwest Iberia throughout the whole 3rd millennium and even in the 2nd millennium BCE.
The engraved schist plaques are perhaps one of the most original artistic manifestations of the Iberian megalithic communities, with their diffusion focus apparently centered on the area of Alentejo – being assumed to be the element that characterizes the megalithic group that develops in the Southwest Iberia since the last centuries of the 4th millennium BCE onwards. More or less naturalistic, more or less schematic, one single idea seems to influence the design of the engraved schist plaques: the depiction of a symbolic entity related to a conception of death/regeneration/fertility. They are usually engraved with geometric decorative patterns, although there are also specimens which present some attributes clearly anthropomorphic, related to the distinguishing symbolism of the Neolithic Great Goddess. Thus, despite some new interpretative readings about the significance of these artefacts, the consensus seems to be held still on the fact that they depict a representative female deity of the magical-symbolic culture of the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic communities of Southwest Iberia. And, in this case, using a well-known adagio from Gallic lands, if something is not as obvious as it should be at first glance, the answer lies on one single imperative: cherchez la femme!
Introdução ao Desenho Arqueológico, ano lectivo 2014-2015.
Primeiras Sociedades Camponesas da Península Ibérica, ano lectivo 2013-2014.
a functional meaning that stretches beyond its utilitarian feature. It points out a series of
specific activities that could be exclusively economic, but could be symbolic, ideological,
aesthetic and ritual as well – being also assumed as an expression of prestige and social
distinction. It is an element that reflects for itself a set of daily actions and behaviours of a
community, inseparable from the modus vivendi of the First Agro‐Pastoral Societies (from the
Neolithic to the Bronze Age) – inclusively accompanying the agents of a human group in the
funerary contexts.
Right from its first productions in Early Neolithic, pottery corresponds to the archaeological
remain better represented in the artefactual record. Its practical inutility once broken, its
resistence and preservation capacity confers to pottery sherds an almost “ubiquitous” part of
the archaeological record. As archaeographical data, this artefacual category is traditionaly used
in research to establish chrono‐cultural sequences, although it can offer other perspetives
throughout a detailed process of analysis, classification, ordination and interpretation.
Even if we can attend to the construction of new and renovated questionnaires for Material
Cultural analysis over the last years, they were not yet enough to overlap some of the
methodological limitations inherent to the studies of pottery in prehistoric contexts in Iberia,
such as:
– In the archaeological speech, pottery elements are usually used as means for chronological
definition, conditioning their whole informative potential, particularly in what concerns the
purpose of artefact’s production, as well as the entire subsequent Technological Process;
– The criteria for the Sample Selection not always are illustrative, their suitability to the
different kinds of contexts and their representativity in the totality of the ceramic set in study
are not so evident;
– The need for Normalize methologies and criteria of analysis, enabling the procedure of the
indispensable comparative studies, even if one can recognize that each pottery set has an
identity related to the chrono‐cultural and geographic scope in which it was produced and with
the archaeological context in which it was identified;
– The predominance of macroscopical analysis, disclosing generic readings about pastes (temper
and firing) and rarely resorting to tools from another disciplinary fields such as Archaeometry,
mainly due to its costs, but also to the unawareness about the informative potential to which
we can accede;
JIA 2015
VIII YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE
Between science and culture: from interdisciplinarity to the transversality of archaeology
– The frail expression of Experimental Archaeology, a tool that allows a more complete
approach to the production process of the pottery elements and their functionality, providing a
high coefficient of information;
– The studies that look for elements to understand and explain the processes of Archaeological
Site Formation in pottery sherds are still very inconsistent, as well as for the definition of the
possible functionality of a site (resorting to the analysis of preservation condition of artefacts
and in the dimension of sherds, together with their spatial distribution in the excavated areas.
With the organization of this session, we intend to promote an extended reflection about the
issues listed above and in the presentation of new data framed by the following subjects:
– Analysis of the Chaîne Opératoire models (areas of raw‐material procurement; technological
modalities of artefactual production; functionality; manipulation; contexts of use, deposition
and discard);
– Typological Classification;
– Decorative Processes and Systems (social, functional, artistic and/or cultural dimension);
– Pottery as an element of Chronological Definition and evaluation of the
importance/pertinence of eventual “chrono‐cultutal indicators” in the scientific speech in terms
of their precision;
‐ Identification of Continuities and Ruptures in the pottery production in Time and Space;
‐ Analysis of eventual Exchange and Circulation Networks;
‐ Interdisciplinarity, resorting to studies in the fields of Archaeometry, Anthropology and
Ethnography.
The choice for pottery as the principal focus of this session is justifiable by the fact that ceramic
studies are one of the main subjects of the archaeological research of the First Agro‐Pastoral
Societies. It is also substantiated because the category/type of archaeological data in which
pottery is included, in its material dimension, constitutes a privileged link between the fields of
the Natural Sciences and the Social Sciences, where the study of Material Culture has now
acquired special importance over the last years.
Therefore, beginning with an essentially, but not exclusively, archaeological overview, our
proposal, with the organization of this session, is to discuss the adoption of an in‐depth analysis
frame, crossing contributes from different disciplinary areas that, with specific perspectives,
work on the fields of Material Culture (namely, of prehistoric pottery). From the Natural
Sciences, in their most analytic aspect, to the Social Sciences, Anthropology in particular, we
assume this session as an opportunity for dialogue and establishment of broad connections and
collaborations in Material Culture studies.
The dolmen of Monte Serves, located in Vila Franca de Xira (Lisbon peninsula), corresponds to a small megalithic tomb with a trapezoidal plan built using limestone slabs. It was identified in 1972 by Octávio da Veiga Ferreira, being excavated that same year under the direction of Christopher Thomas North. In 2014, within the scope of the project MEGAGEO – Moving Megaliths in the Neolithic, this monument was the subject of new archaeological works, directed by Rui Boaventura and João Luís Cardoso, intending to define its specific architecture and the respective construction sequences, mainly regarding the Tumulus and the Atrium areas. Despite the practical absence of votive materials, it was possible to collect human osteological samples, thus allowing to perform radiocarbon dating – whose average result places at least one use episode of this tomb (not necessarily its first) in the transition from the first to the second quarter of the 3rd millennium BCE (median probability: 2706 cal BCE 2σ; mean: 2715 cal BCE 2σ). Indeed, this result differs greatly from the chronological framework established for this type of small tombs in Southwestern Iberia (mid‑4th millennium BCE), but is close to the chronology (relative and absolute) documented in the contiguous funerary contexts of Casal do Penedo and Verdelha dos Ruivos, as well as in the settlements of Moita da Ladra and Pedreira do Casal do Penedo, culturally included in the typical Chalcolithic of Portuguese Estremadura. This paper thus intends to present the results obtained with the excavation of this small tomb, in terms of its architecture and chronology, framing it within the socio‑cultural dynamics documented in Lower Extremadura during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic, mainly regarding the origin and development of the megalithic phenomenon.