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In the past few years, deeply colored black-appearing glass has garnered a growing interest in the context of research on Iron Age glass technology and trade. The numerous ‘black’ glass beads found in Early Iron Age contexts of Southern Portugal have not however been considered in this discussion, and they remain largely unsystematized. In this contribution, a typological survey of these objects is presented which highlights their unusual concentration in a well-delimited area of Southern Portugal and their relatively circumscribed chronological setting. This is particularly striking when compared with other groups of beads, namely blue beads of various types, which are much more widespread and long-lasting. The global position of these beads is also considered, with typological comparisons and the few available compositional data suggesting that they may be the product of Punic, and perhaps specifically Carthaginian trade with the Western Iberian Peninsula. Finally, the possible specific historic context in which these beads arrived in Southern Portugal is considered.

In the necropolis of Olival do Senhor dos Mártires (Alcácer do Sal, Portugal) the transition to the Late Iron Age was marked by an important transformation both in burial rites and in material culture which seems to point to significant ideological, social and political changes. These changes can be compared to those documented around the same dates in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean basin. It is in fact possible to track the emergence of warrior elites in the funerary record, a trend that could be part of an overall transition towards aristocratic political forms. The development of this new political statu quo seems to be accompanied by a reorientation of the supra-regional relations of the community of Alcácer do Sal. This is particularly reflected in a number of convergences with the social representation formulae of the Iberian elites of the Southeast and the Levant.

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