Luis Barros

Abstract The archaeological site of Almaraz is located in the old part of the city of Almada, in the south shore of Tagus River, region of Lisbon. The excavated findings and the radiocarbon dating of the contexts where these were found show an occupation that can in fact be dated from the 8th to the 7th c. BCE period, thus a very early stage of the Phoenician occupation in the Iberian Peninsula. Numerous amphorae sherds were found at Almaraz. A spectroscopic characterization of those ceramics was made and is presented here, to help us understand if they were produced locally, in Lisbon workshops, or imported. Sixteen sherds representative of the thousands found at Almaraz were studied with the use of non-invasive spectroscopies, namely by crossing information from micro-Raman and X-ray fluorescence emission data. X-ray diffraction experiments were also performed. In spite of the fact that no ceramic kilns were found at Almaraz until now, the results point to two major groups of amphorae of local origin: one which used clays of Miocene origin, found on the southern shores of the Tagus River, very close to the Almaraz site, at Palenca (with quartz, anorthite, diopside and hematite). Another group, remarkably different, made use of clays of Pliocene origin also from the Tagus Estuary, the Fontainhas clay source (where quartz, anorthite, muscovite and hematite were found).

RESUMO Dos finais do século XV aos inícios do seguinte, laborou em Santo António da Charneca, Barreiro, uma olaria que produziu cerâmica fosca e vidrada de qualidade, com pastas de argila vermelha e branca, locais. O reportório formal ali produzido, mostra-nos uma panóplia de peças que vão da cerâmica industrial, da qual já apresentámos um estudo sobre as formas de pão de açúcar, até à utilitária doméstica que agora tratamos mais pormenorizadamente. A proximidade de um dos esteiros do Tejo, a cerca de um quilómetro, possibilitava o escoamento da sua produção através da via fluvial e posteriormente marítima.

Humans have been burying or ritually disposing dead
dogs for a long time, sometimes they treat other animals
in similar ways, but not so often as dogs. That’s because
human and dogs have a unique relationship, which is
                                                            1 Universidade do Algarve
NAP – Núcleo de Arqueologia e Paleoecologia
*franciscomrcorreia@gmail.com
demonstrated by the number of breeds that exist today
and the important role that dogs have in human society.
The archaeological records show us that this relationship
began long ago, when groups of hunter-gatherers
domesticated the wolf (around 15.000 years ago).
During the excavation carried out in the 90s in Quinta do
Almaraz (by the Tagus River, in the municipality of
Almada) several dog burials were found, dating from the
8th century B.C., when the Iron Age Phoenician
occupation took place. Several skeletons of dog are
practically completed, suggesting that these animals have
unique histories and acknowledging them as distinct
“beings with soul”. These mortuary rites can only be
compared to those of their human counterparts. Four of
the burials have a minimum of two dogs, suggesting the
possibility that maybe we are present with four cases of
double burial. Of the entire collection only two
individuals (CF13 and CF14) were buried in the same
context. In this case, the fact that they are two individuals
of partial skeletons in same square at the same layer, and
the fact that both dogs have the same age suggests the
possibility of a double burial.
By analyzing the bones, we have determinate that the
collection contain a total of 1413 (NTR) fauna remains,
but only 957 belong to canis familiaris, corresponding to
a minimum of 13 individuals (MNI). According to the
pathologies and archaeological remains, they had various
functions in Phoenician society. During the analysis we
came across a clear absence of skulls, complete and/or
partial. We found that there were no signs of cutting in
the bones connected with the skull. This leaves to the
conclusion that skulls had been removed when there
weren’t soft tissue (e.g. when the dog was in the
skeletonization stage), revealing that there may have been
a ritual during the burial and removal of skulls.
Osteological studies of dogs often focus on issues of
taxonomy and as a result little is known about these
animals’ life histories. This work will be focus on
analyzing the dogs’ remains, and their associated fauna
remains. Based on this analysis with the correlation of the
data uncover by analyzing the pathology, discovered in
some dog bones, we suggested that this dogs were more
than companion and guard dogs, in fact they maybe have
had a more important role in the Phoenician society. We
think that these dogs may have help humans in hunting,
pastoralism, and even maybe in fishing.
Keywords: Dog Burials; Iron Age; Phoenician; Quinta
do Almaraz