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The Bom Santo Cave (Lisbon, Portugal): Catchment, Diet, and Patterns of Mobility of a Middle Neolithic Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

António Faustino Carvalho*
Affiliation:
University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
Francisca Alves-Cardoso*
Affiliation:
New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
David Gonçalves*
Affiliation:
University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Raquel Granja*
Affiliation:
University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
João Luís Cardoso*
Affiliation:
Open University, Lisbon, Portugal
Rebecca M. Dean*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota-Morris, Morris, MN, USA
Juan Francisco Gibaja*
Affiliation:
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Barcelona, Spain
Maria A. Masucci*
Affiliation:
Drew University, Madison, NJ, USA
Eduardo Arroyo-Pardo*
Affiliation:
Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Eva Fernández-Domínguez*
Affiliation:
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Fiona Petchey*
Affiliation:
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
T. Douglas Price*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, NJ, USA
José Eduardo Mateus*
Affiliation:
Terra Scenica, Lisbon, Portugal
Paula Fernanda Queiroz*
Affiliation:
Terra Scenica, Lisbon, Portugal
Pedro Callapez*
Affiliation:
University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Carlos Pimenta*
Affiliation:
Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Lisbon, Portugal
Frederico T. Regala*
Affiliation:
Associação de Estudos Subterrâneos e Defesa do Ambiente, Torres Vedras, Portugal

Abstract

The study of the Bom Santo Cave (central Portugal), a Neolithic cemetery, indicates a complex social, palaeoeconomic, and population scenario. With isotope, aDNA, and provenance analyses of raw materials coupled with stylistic variability of material culture items and palaeogeographical data, light is shed on the territory and social organization of a population dated to 3800–3400 cal BC, i.e. the Middle Neolithic. Results indicate an itinerant farming, segmentary society, where exogamic practices were the norm. Its lifeway may be that of the earliest megalithic builders of the region, but further research is needed to correctly evaluate the degree of this community's participation in such a phenomenon.

L’étude de la nécropole néolithique découverte dans la grotte de Bom Santo (Portugal central) révèle un scénario social, économique et démographique complexe. Les analyses des isotopes, de l'ADN ancien et de la provenance des matières premières ainsi que l'examen des variations stylistiques du mobilier et des données de la paléogéographie donnent un aperçu du territoire et de l'organisation sociale d'une population datant du Néolithique moyen, soit entre 3800 et 3400 cal BC. Nos résultats indiquent la présence d'une communauté agricole itinérante et segmentée où les pratiques de l'exogamie étaient en vigueur. Ce mode de vie était peut-être aussi celui des premiers constructeurs de mégalithes de la région mais cette hypothèse devra être testée par des études ultérieures ayant pour but d’évaluer le degré de participation de notre communauté au phénomène mégalithique. Translation by Madeleine Hummler.

Die Untersuchung der Betsattungsstätte in der Höhle von Bom Santo (Zentralportugal) ergibt ein komplexes soziales, wirtschaftliches und demografisches Bild. Die Auswertung der Isotopen, der alten DNA (aDNA), der Herkunft der Rohstoffe, sowie auch der stilistischen Variationen in der materiellen Kultur und der paläogeografischen Angaben verdeutlicht wie eine mittelneolithische Gemeinschaft wischen 3800 und 3400 cal BC räumlich und sozial organisiert war. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass es sich um eine wandernde, segmentierte Bauerngesellschaft handelte, die wahrscheinlich Exogamie ausübte. Die ersten Megalithbauer der Gegend haben vielleicht auch solch eine Lebensweise gefolgt, aber weitere Untersuchungen müssen noch unternommen werden, um das Ausmaß der Beteiligung der Bom Santo Bevölkerung am megalithischen Phänomen richtig zu bewerten. Translation by Madeleine Hummler.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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