Elsa Luís

The Neolithic and Calcolithic communities of Eastern Trás-os-Montes region have left us evidence of a long continuity of their material culture, in which, the repeated reproduction of decorative motifs in the ceramic vessels throughout the IV and III millennia BC leads us to equate the mental mechanisms that condition said production. More than a mere artistic manifestation or aesthetic concern, these decorations are part of a style of their own, built through the repetition of conditioned gestures, which, among other possibilities, can infer a positioning of these communities towards the passage of time, distinguishing between long and short conceptions of time, each with different investments and based on continuities or changes.

Technological change has been usually correlated with complexity change. Namely metallurgical practice from the ancient peasant societies was for a long time perceived as an “engine” of social development. Such a perception revealed itself not only inaccurate but it must also be seen as largely varying according to geographical place and civilization characteristics.
Nevertheless, in ancient peasant societies technological development remains one of the most promising indicators of the growing of social complexity even if it is by no means the only possible one and such growth must always be analysed accordingly to regional constraints.
In what concerns the Iberian Peninsula, and particularly its western facade, first metallurgies seem to appear as a consequence of socioeconomic developments leading to first social elites coming into being. The metallurgical products can then be seen to fulfil the need to express social status, lacking real technomic significance. Development of metallurgical  technologies and products will, nevertheless, accompany and interact with parallel developments in social complexity from the Chalcolithic to the Early Iron Age when, for the first time, metals seem to assume a full technomic role.

During the Prehistory of peasant societies (from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age) the Tagus river basin constitutes simultaneously a cultural boundary and a cultural passageway between the northern and southern halves of central and western Iberia.
We are particularly interested in the role of this area in the transmission of metallurgical models and techniques, namely, in the case of the presence there of the first binary bronzes, as exemplified by the “hoard” of four “Bujões type” axes from Escaroupim (Salvaterra de Magos) which serves as a pretext for this paper.

The hilltop settlement of Fraga dos Corvos has provided a collection of metal artifacts of Mediterranean affiliation from its Rock-Shelter 2 on the hilltop Western versant, already published (Figueiredo, et al. 2009). The 2011 field season provided further stratigraphical and artefactual evidence from the newly opened Sector M, allowing us to renew the discussion on the how and why of such an early inland and Northern cultural presence of Mediterranean influences.

The habitat site of Ameal-VI (Carregal do Sal, Viseu) was the first of such sites to be discovered (in 1987) and linked to the apogee of Central Portugal Megalithism (Senna-Martinez, 1995/1996). The Sector B of this site, encompassing several structures of domestic character, was excavated between 1999-2001 and again in 2006.
We present here a first interpretative synthesis of the data obtained and discuss its place in the regional Late Neolithic.

The knowledge of our pre-history and ancient metal artefacts production methods can only be deeply investigated through the multidisciplinary approaches involving different analytical techniques including microscopy techniques. The present study concerns the elemental and microstructural characterization of pre-historic bronze artefacts from the Northwestern Iberia Peninsula. During Bronze Age an increment of metal artefacts production and its typological diversification is observed related to the development of metallurgical technology. Several artefacts have been found during recent excavations at the Bronze Age settlement of Fraga dos Corvos (Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal). The analysis of metallurgical remains points out to the existence of local metallurgical activities. Five bronze artefacts previously analysed by micro-EDXRF, an Acebuchal fibula fragment, two pendants and a riveted sheet (probably a fragment of a vessel or cauldron) with average concentration values of 10±1.1% Sn and ~2±0.5% Pb and a droplet (?) with ~5% Sn and ~4% Pb, were selected for optical microscopy (OM) and SEM-EDS analysis.Microscopy observations showed to be very important for the comprehension of pre-historic bronze metallurgy, allowing the identification of different phases, inclusions and thermomechanical processes applied during artefacts production. The fibula and the pendants show an equiaxed and twinned microstructure with slip bands (Figure 1 (a) and (c)). The characteristics observed are related to recrystallized and plastically deformed α-Cu structures. These features indicate that the artefacts were hammered and annealed (thermomechanical cycling), ending with a hammering operation. The pendants only exhibit slip bands near the surface, probably resulting from a finishing operation. Lead and Cu-S inclusions are frequently observed. The riveted sheet has an annealed microstructure with large α-Cu grains, undissolved (α+δ) eutectoid and few annealing twins. Elongated Cu-S inclusions, lead globules and pores were identified by SEM-EDS (Figure 1 (a)). Its microstructure indicates that shaping was obtained by just one or few thermomechanical cycles. The droplet presents a coarse and cored dendritic structure (Figure 1 (b)). Rounded Cu-S inclusions, lead globules and pores were also observed. Those are characteristics of a slow cooled as-cast alloy. Due to its low Sn content the (α+δ) eutectoid is absent. As a final note, microscopy techniques allowed establishing the manufacture processes involved in bronze metallurgy and to conclude that different thermomechanical processes were applied according to the typology of the artefact.Financial support received from the Portuguese Science and Technology foundation under the EarlyMetal project PTDC/HIS-ARQ/110442/2008 and the grants SFRH/BPD/73245/2010 (EF) and SFRH/BD/72369/2010 (EL). Financial support of CENIMAT/I3N through the Strategic Project LA25/2011-2012 (PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011) is gratefully acknowledged.

In this paper, we address the visibility of women in Portuguese archaeology and how that image is perceived
by the society, through the lens of the digital written press of the last ten years.
Considering sources found in archeology news as a representation of the distribution of women in different
areas of archaeological activity, and their respective positions, we’ve noticed a surprising disparity found in
male and female sources, especially at a time when we have reached gender parity in active archeology professionals.
This female invisibility contributes to the maintenance of gender prejudices and limits the examples
that we pass on to the new generations.

Plastic additions in ceramic sets of the 3rd and beginnings of the 2nd millennium b.C. are frequent, although with different morphologies and distinct cultural and regional representations. These plastic additions are traditionally called prehension elements and/or plastic decoration. They are usually referred as ribbons, nipples, wings and handles, being described in such ways that lack homogeneity and formal comparability, hampering comparisons between different archaeological sites. 
This paper aims to address and to contribute to the standardization of terminology for plastic additions through the comparison between specific artefactual sets, from geographically and chronologically different archaeological sites, namely the settlements of São Pedro (Redondo) and Fraga dos Corvos (Macedo de Cavaleiros).
We also intend to relate these plastic additions features with their usual functional and decorative interpretations.

In the context of Vieira Natividade interventions in the so-called "Grutas de Alcobaça" stands out the well described excavation of a Bronze Age burial in the upper level of Gruta das Redondas. Although known since then, the associated collection deserves a more current approach steaming from its review, and in particular from the study and dating of a sample of cereal contained in one of the pottery vessels and from the compositional analysis of the exceptional set of metal artefacts recovered.
We discuss the results obtained and their relevance for the characterization and under-standing of the Ancient Bronze in Atlantic Estremadura.