Unidade de Arqueologia

The present work concerns the study of geological raw materials obtained from an excavation site located in Serra da Cabreira (NW Portugal). The majority of the artifacts are made in quartz varieties (with minor occurrences of flint). Milky quartz is dominant, being similar to diverse occurrences of quartz veins in the immediate neighborhood. There are diverse other quartz varieties, indicating the possibility of locations farther away from the shelter. The study of geological raw materials can be seen as an important source of archaeological information, illustrating the evolution of past relationships between humans and geological resources, and also providing relevant information for the present and future, considering namely the extremely low environmental impact of the processing of raw materials.

The most significant results of the Miño-Minho project after four years of fieldwork (2016-2019) are presented. The main sites – Pedreiras 2 and Bela, Monção, and Carvalhas (loci 1, 2, 3 and 4), Melgaço –, associated with fluvial deposits of the Minho River or with formations derived from them, provided lithic assemblages that can be connected with the Acheulean techno-complex. Taking into account data obtained in the region, more specifically on the right bank of the Minho River (Galicia), these assemblages may date from different moments within the Middle Pleistocene

A crescente realizacao de trabalhos arqueologicos em jazidas paleoliticas permite atualmente uma melhor compreensao do tecno-complexo Acheulense a escala peninsular, e a sua integracao no contexto africano e euroasiatico. No presente trabalho pretende-se aprofundar a discussao em torno das caracteristicas tecnologicas das industrias liticas peninsulares da segunda metade do Pleistocenico Medio, atraves da analise da industria litica da jazida de Pedreiras 2 (Moncao, Alto Minho). Da realizacao de trabalhos de campo no local, no contexto do Projeto Mino-Minho, resultou a recolha de materiais associaveis ao tecno-complexo Acheulense, que testemunham a ocupacao da regiao numa area onde ate recentemente se conheciam achados isolados de materiais coevos, e cujos dados cronometricos permitem enquadrar a sua cronologia na segunda metade do Pleistocenico Medio.

In the 1990’s set of field surveys took place in the mountains of NW Portugal, leading to the discovery of the archaeological site named ‘Rock Shelter 1 of Cerdeira Valley’, situated in Cabreira Mountain (NW Portugal, max. alt. 1,262 m). The evidences recovered from the archaeological excavations established the shelter occupation between the end of the VI / beginning of the 5th millennium BC. Since 2017, within the context of an ongoing Phd project, the stone tool assemblage of the shelter is being analysed, in a double perspective. The first one relates to the complete techno-typological, identifying the objectives of the stone tool production and the second concerns with the classification and characterisation of different raw-materials exploited by the prehistoric communities

In the 1990s, a research project was developed to identify, in the mountainous areas of the Northwest (NW) of Portugal, the existence of an occupation model associated with the last hunter–gatherer prehistoric communities in the region. Therefore, a set of consistent and detailed field surveys took place in the mountains of NW Portugal, leading to the discovery of the archaeological site named “Rock Shelter 1 of Cerdeira Valley,” a granite rock shelter situated in Cabreira mountain. The campaigns of excavations undertaken permitted the identification of two combustion structures, from which charcoal samples provided two C-14 dates, as well as a significant stone tool assemblage (around 30,000 pieces), that established the prehistoric occupation of “Rock Shelter 1 of Cerdeira Valley” between the Late Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic. This archaeological site and its body of evidences are being analysed within the context of an ongoing PhD project developed by one of the authors (P....

Geological raw materials are an important component of the archaeological record in the Prehistory (namely due to their persistence under buried conditions) and pinpointing their original position on the geological context could give important information about activities of ancient human groups. However, archaeological lithic artefacts impose strict restrictions on analytical procedures due to the need to preserve features with cultural meaning, which might affect the effectiveness of the analytical procedure. We attempt here a critical overview of non-destructive techniques for the search of the source of geological raw materials used to make prehistoric lithic artefacts, highlighting issues involved in the interactions between techniques and study objects. It is emphasized that the success of provenance studies will strongly depend on the sensitivity of the analyses undertaken to the characteristics of the sample, as well as the geological information available.