Death and burial during the Middle and Late Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula: Case Studies in the region of Lisbon (Portugal)
Mortuary practices during the Middle and Late Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula have been a focal point of great interest since the beginning of archaeology as a discipline of knowledge.
Combining the data collected by physical anthropologists and archaeologists, this lecture will discuss how these communities invested in mortuary practices over time and the possible reasons for these elaborate and reutilized collective tombs.
In the Iberian Peninsula, during the 4th and 3rd millennia B.C.E., which corresponds to the Middle and Late Neolithic period, the phenomenon of funerary megalithism occurred. This phenomenon is generally understood as being “a complex set of magical and religious rules that are related to death and not only strictly as a type of funerary architecture”. In this sense, in the region of Lisbon, we can find different types of structures (natural and rock cut caves, dolmens and vaulted chamber tombs) used to bury the dead where these magic rituals were performed. One explanation for this variety has to do with the geological composition of the area. Where soft spots existed, limestone and sandstone bedrock could be easily hewn, with the then available technology, into (rock cut) caves that provided ample space for burials. Naturally occurring caves were exploited as well. Nevertheless, it is possible to see an evolution in the use of such structures, beginning with natural caves, followed by dolmens and rock cut caves and finally with vaulted chamber tombs.
The symbolism and cultural importance of these burial spots will be discussed.Life and Death during the Late Neolithic in Central West of the Iberian Peninsula: An Overview
Despite the introduction of a Neolithic lifestyle in the late 6th, early 5th millennia BCE, the consequences of it in a large scale are not immediately visible in archaeological record until the end of the 4th millennium BCE. Then in the west and central part of Iberian Peninsula several signs are detected with implications in those communities – more stable settlements, apparent use of the dead to claim territories, increase of exchange of products and people, evidence of the secondary products revolution, namely dairy products, textiles, metallurgy, etc.
An overview between two main regions of south-central of Portugal, the regions of Estremadura (where Lisbon is situated) and the Alentejo (where Évora is situated) will be conducted, comparing two apparently different community lifestyles. However, despite such differences determined to a certain degree by environmental conditions, the exchange of products, ideas and eventually people, brought them closer together. This appears to be observable in the similar characteristics of settlement patterns as well as by the mortuary practices conducted by the communities, for their deceased.
Combining the data collected by physical anthropologists and archaeologists, this lecture will discuss how these communities from the 4th and 3rd millennia lived, ate, and interacted with other groups and, in the end, how they confronted death.
Return to previous page
