A anta dos Currais do Galhordas (Castelo de Vide, Alto Alentejo, Portugal): Arquitetura, cronologia e análise química de resíduos orgânicos de recipientes cerâmicos

Abstract

Recorrendo à cromatografia gasosa com deteção por massa, analisaram-se os conteúdos orgânicos extraídos de três vasos da anta dos Currais do Galhordas, monumento erigido na segunda metade do 4º milénio cal BC e reutilizado, pelo menos, no 3º e no 2º milénios cal BC.Ao que tudo indica, os três vasos relacionam-se com a reutilização mais recente do monumento megalítico, durante o Bronze Pleno (2º milénio cal BC). Em dois vasos identificaram-se vestígios de uva ou frutos vermelhos e peixe; no terceiro detetaram-se restos de gordura animal, possivelmente leite, associado a óleos de plantas. Os resultados obtidos a partir dos três recipientes cerâmicos estão em concordância com os observados por outros autores em amostras de época genericamente idêntica, recolhidas em áreas geográficas relativamente próximas da anta dos Currais do Galhordas.
 
 The megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas (Castelo de Vide, Alto Alentejo, Portugal): Architecture, chronology and chemical analysis of the organic content of ceramic vasesThe organic content of three ceramic vases uncovered in the megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas (Central Eastern Portugal) – a monument built in the second half of the 4th millennium cal BC and reused in the 3th and in the 2nd millennia cal BC – was analysed by gas-chromatography with mass detection. The vases are allegedly connected with the latest use of the monument, during the Bronze Age (2nd millennium cal BC). Two of them presented traces of grapes or red fruits, together with fish; the third vase exhibited animal fat remains, possibly milk, associated with plant oils. Our results are compatible with other data from Iberian archaeological sites of identical period, in some cases located relatively close to the megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas.
 Keywords: Anta dos Currais do Galhordas; Organic content in vases; Megalithism; Alto Alentejo.

Radiocarbon Chronology of Dolmens in the Iberian Southwest: Architectural Sequence and Temporality in the El Pozuelo Megalithic Complex (Huelva, Spain)

“…The oldest dates come from antas with a polygonal chamber and short passage, which originated in the second quarter of the fourth millennium, in about 3750 cal BC, as at Pedras Grandes (Boaventura 2009; Silva et al 2021) and Carrascal (Boaventura 2009; Silva et al 2019) in the Lisbon region, and Cabeceira 4 (Rocha 2005; Carvalho and Rocha 2016) in central Alentejo. The large antas with a polygonal chamber and longer passage have yielded slightly later dates, mostly in the middle or last third of the fourth millennium cal BC, as demonstrated by the antas of Pedra Branca (Soares 2010), Currais do Galhordas (Monteiro Rodrigues and Oliveira 2018), Horta (Oliveira 2006), Bola da Cera (Monge Soares and Peixoto Cabral 1993; Oliveira 1997b), Pardais 3 (Valera and Pereiro 2022), Santa Margarida 2 (Gonçalves 2001), Trigache 4 and Arruda (Boaventura 2009). Intense collective funerary activity has been documented in all of them although some of them might correspond to mortuary events with a short duration.…”

“…These tombs were reused in the second half of the third millennium cal BC. A first cluster of dates is concentrated in the third quarter, correlated with inhumations with grave goods or votive deposits consisting of Late Copper Age and/or Bell Beaker materials, like those dated in the dolmens of Currais do Galhordas (Monteiro Rodrigues and Oliveira 2018), Anta Grande de Zambujeiro (Soares and Silva 2010), Cebolinhos 2 (Gonçalves 2003b), Pardais 3 (Valera and Pereiro 2022), and Pedra Escorregadia (Gomes 1994). A second cluster corresponds to the last quarter of the third millennium and first two centuries of the second millennium cal BC.…”

“…Conceiçao dos Olivais (Rocha and Duarte 2009), Cabeçuda 1 (Oliveira 1997a) and Tapado do Castelo (Rocha 2021). The funerary reuse of passage graves continued during the period, as Middle Bronze Age individual burials have been dated to between 1700–1400 cal BC at the sites of Barrocal das Freiras 3 (Rocha and Duarte 2009), Currais do Galhordas (Monteiro Rodrigues and Oliveira 2018), Tesorillo de la Llaná (Fernández Ruiz and Márquez Romero 2008; Márquez Romero et al 2009) and Castelhanas (Rocha 2020).…”