0198 - Monday

0197 - This morning

When you excavate revolved geologic and find blades inside.

These blades.

 The phalange idol is from other context, next to this concentration of pottery and human bones (a femur is well visible).

0196 - Cruiser march

Another day with intermittent field work due to the rain. Even so, some possible bone connections (a hand) were identified. This mandible was fragmented in two parts by the ploughing, but they remount and have the teeth we need for Sr analysis.  

Regarding the materials, more pots, more blades, more Pecten, a phalange idol, and no arrow heads, no ivory items, no red pigments, no stone idols or pots, maintaining an interesting contrast with the neighboring Tomb 1 and Tomb 2.

When we are not at the field we go to work in doors, with the archaeological material.

And when we got home, we had this nice view just at the door step.

0195 - Between the drops of rain

Today the rain let us excavate a bit during the morning and a bit during the afternoon. And then presented us this fantastic “rainflat”, just in front of Perdigões. I wonder how this would have been seen 5000 years ago.

The periods of work, though, allow us to finish the definition of another alignment of pottery, fragmented and complete, just underneath the previous layer with the complete pot.

 In the middle of the fragments of pottery another green bead.

 And a hollow pot appearing in the mass of fragments.

 Here, the anthropologist was converted to the splendors of pottery.

 And another complete pot, escorted by two blades.

A nice day at Perdigões between the drops of rain.

0194 - What about the bones?

Well, in these layers affected by the ploughing the bones are not in good conditions, naturally.

This is an example of a skull. But important information may be retrieved, the remains may be dated and the teeth are there, to be used in the Sr isotopic studies to addressed human mobility.

Inclusively, a part of a foot was identified, suggesting that when we get to the preserved layers, anatomic connections might be present. This also shows that the ploughing displaced and upturned parts of the context, but didn’t disperse them in an absolutely incomprehensible way.

0193 - Pots

Continuing the excavation of the mass of bones, pottery and blades.

Today was a day of pots. Here are some complete in the mass of fragments. And note how a complete pot was covered by the geologic in a reverse stratigraphy. That is a result of the ploughing.

 And one of the pots came out today. And underneath several others appeared (but that is for future pots).

 For now, have a look of the copper tool: a saw.

0192 - Green Day

No, it’s not the band. It was a green day at Perdigões.

It is known that Perdigões has a strong connection to Sporting Lisbon. The grandfather of the owner of the farm was one of the founders of the club. The owner was president of the club and won the last two championship of Sporting. Era team is a bunch of supporters of Sporting Lisbon. In 2009, while excavating in the center of the enclosure, a watch with the club symbol was found, showing, behind any doubt, that this is the oldest club in Portugal and surroundings.

Well, last Sunday Sporting Lisbon lost against some guys dressed in blue. And Perdigões cheered us up with a green day (the colors of Sporting).

Of course, the stone blades continue to appear, but now green.

And the first bead, naturally green.

And the last, but not the least, a green copper blade.

Copper artifacts are rare in funerary contexts at Perdigões. But today was a compensation day. 

0191 - A first preliminary look…

… into the distributions of the reassembling fragments of the blades. It is clear that there is a short displacement towards South and an even shorter one to Eats. The northern pack looks like it was less affected. All together they were brought up by the ploughing but not much dispersed.

0190 - Shells as exotic items

A nice fragment of a Pecten maximus from tomb 3. An imported shell from the coast.

By the end of this moth it will come out a paper about the molluscs shells at Perdigões (A.C.Valera, Lino André, Views on the transregional interaction in Iberian Southwest Recent Prehistory: questioning the shells and molluscs from Perdigões. Estudos Arqueológicos de Oeiras, 23). There, we show that most of the mollusc’s shells in Perdigões are from sea or estuarine species (382 remains against 47 from freshwater), demonstrating that they are an important item in the transregional interaction where Perdigões was involved with. The Pecten maximus is the second most represented species (more than a hundred remains) and around 25% was present in funerary contexts. This is one more.

Only the convex valve is present at Perdigões. So, no Pecten molluscs were consumed. Only the shell arrived. For its shape, it was valued and used in ritualized practices and was part of funerary assemblages. It was an exotic item, to be analysed in the context of the approaches to mobility and interaction in Perdigões.

0189 - A tricky day.

A beautiful first blade (lâmina de crista).

Today we started to collect the blades. Each one was numbered in the image on the laptop in the field, so we can analyse the spatiality of the remounting between fragments and understand the movement of the ploughing and the displacement of materials.

But then it came a heavy rain, and we had to leave the field. So, in the afternoon the work was carried out in doors. The anthropologists cleaned the bones…

… and the archaeologists the blades. These are the blades from tomb 3, so far.

0188 - Pots and... blades

An apparently complete pot.

 And blades and more blades.

A detail of a pack, and all blades are of the same raw material. Who knows? Maybe they correspond to a knapping series. 

0187 - Lots of large blades

Two rows of accumulated materials (bones, pottery and large blades) brought up by the ploughing that affected the funerary feature are being defined. Tomorrow, after the recording procedures, we will start to collect them.

Here are some closeups for the main concentration of blades. 

0186 - Getting started

The tent is up and the stage is ready.

And, as expected, when we started to clean a bit the large blades started to appear just in the same area of the previous ones. It must have been a large pack (around 40 at the moment)

0185 - What is waiting for us

Next week we will start the excavation of Tomb 3. Well, not precisely start. In 2004, while we were excavating Tomb 2, a first approach to this feature was done. An assemblage of large blades were just appearing in the surface, together with some human bones, brought up by the ploughing. So a survey was done just to define the top of the structure (see publication).

Apart from some human remains, especially teeth (with an anthropological study already published – see here), a fantastic assemblage of large blades was collected (in a very small area, showing that they must have been deposited as a pack). A part from the blades, the top of the structure, affected by the ploughing, also provided some almost complete pots and a fragment of a phalange idol. It is a very promising context.

0184 - Back for the 20th campaign

Next Monday we will be back to Perdigões, to start a new campaign. It will be the 20th. Yes, the Perdigões research project commemorates 20 years, as does Era Arqueologia that runs it.

We are starting the excavation of Tomb 3, in the so called necropolis (doesn't make much sense anymore, for it seems that funerary contexts are all over the place). The human remains from this tomb will be integrated in the research project on mobility in Perdigões, financed by the Portuguese Science Foundation.

This campaign will cover four weeks in May and another four weeks in July, and will also focus in the central area of the enclosures. As usual, you may follow here the diary.

0183 - Último dia (2ª Fase)

Estava guardado para o último dia.

0182 - Dia 23 (2ª Fase)

Algumas imagens praticamente do final da campanha, que começou em Maio, com as papoilas.

É interessante verificar que na área principal em que incidiram os trabalhos estivemos a intervencionar estruturas e depósitos que cobrem toda a cronologia dos Perdigões.

Do Neolítico Médio dois troços de fossos com uma bifurcação.

Chamada de atenção para o preenchimento segmentado do troço C2. Uma vez mais o carácter segmentado de fossos e do seu preenchimento. Para quem quer ver.

E no topo do segundo segmento uma deposição central de pedras e grandes ossos, vários dos quais pertencentes a auroque.

Um pouco mais a Oeste uma grande fossa, com a escavação por terminar. Se os depósitos superiores nos falavam do calcolítico pleno, a partir de um empedrado tudo remete para o Neolítico Final com formas cerâmicas de catálogo.

E sobre os fosso neolíticos um conjunto de depósitos calcolíticos encimados por estruturas pétreas positivas que se situarão já na segunda metade do 3º milénio (educated guess).

Foi mais ou menos assim este ano na área central dos Perdigões. Muita, boa e nova informação para digerir.

0181 - 22º Dia (2ª fase)

Mais um recipiente neolítico quase inteiro, agora da Fossa 80, onde uma nova camada de argila ao centro se sucede à anterior.

No fosso 13, o André encontrava-se numa encruzilhada.

E num dos destinos dessa encruzilhada surgiram, já perto da base, carvões e um fragmento de Pecten maximus. Contactos com a costa já no Neolítico Médio nos Perdigões.

Finalmente, as estruturas pétreas anexas à estrutura circular atribuíveis à segunda metade do 3º milénio estão a revelar-se de grande envergadura e desenhando planos complexos.

A fase mais antiga a poucos metros da fase mais recente dos Perdigões, passando-lhe por baixo.