CHAIA / Archaeology

In this article, we present the results of excavations conducted in 1998 and
2001 in the nucleus of menhirs of Lavajo I and Lavajo II, respectively, located 250 m from
each other in the NNE direction and separated by the small valley of Lavajo. At present, the
sites are intervisible, owing to the strategic location on the terrain: Lavajo I is situated on
the top of a hill while Lavajo II is located on a slope, conferring visibility to the location
both on the south as well as on the north side.
Currently, Lavajo I is made up of three monoliths, all of greywacke: one, almost complete,
of a phallic appearance, and currently the largest greywacke menhir known in Portugal,
reaching a maximum length of 3,14 m; another, almost complete, broken in three large
blocks, with a stela-like appearance; the third, very incomplete, of which is preserved only
a piece of its front side. It is possible, however, that there once were more monoliths, considering
that abundant fragments of greywacke were found at the site, all with fresh fractures.
All the menhirs of Lavajo I are decorated, with the largest one decorated prominently
and strictly related to the morphology of the lithic support. This was the only one it was
possible to determine its original location, which corresponded to a small pit of circular
plan and flat bottom. The pit was partially damaged by work carried out in 1994 to re-erect
the menhir, which was unfortunately conducted with little care and incorrectly, as it was
placed in reverse position. Be that as it may, in the highest zone of this small hill were placed
three decorated menhirs, which cannot be seen in isolation as they articulated directly with
the group at Lavajo II, which can be seen from the other side of the Lavajo valley.
In this second location, four undecorated stela-menhirs, all of greywacke, were discovered,
of which only one, represented by a small fragment, was found in situ. It was, nevertheless,
possible to reconstruct the relative positions of the remaining ones, through the excavation
of their respective sockets, associated with an elongated groove, oriented east-west,
and cut into the bedrock made up of finely foliated Late Carboniferous schists. In this way,
we concluded that the stela-menhirs were arranged in a line and constituted a continuous
lithic panel. Within the pitholes were recovered diverse artifacts ritually placed there during
the construction of the monument, whose typology points to the Late Neolithic and whose chronology is compatible with that of the megalithic group at Lavajo I, based on the
iconography of the menhirs.
Although the settlement pattern of the Late Neolithic in the region is not well-known, these
two megalithic nuclei could be interpreted as territorial markers and/or sacred spaces; of note
is the existence of year-round water sources in their immediate proximity, water being a scarce
and precious resource which would have aided in horticulture. On the other hand, the nature
of the raw materials used in the manufacture of artifacts found (flint, amphibolite), in addition
to other material acquired through extensive transregional trade (fibrolite), is evidence
for regular interaction between populations in both the interior of the Baixo Alentejo
(Ossa/Morena Zone), as well as along the Algarve or Andalucian coast, consistent with the
level of economic development of the Late Neolithic of the southern Iberian Peninsula.
In a vast region, corresponding to the entire Eastern Algarve, where non-funerary megaliths
were until now totally unknown, the sites of Lavajo I and II are interesting and significant
expressions of the South western Iberian megalithism.

A Pedra das Cruzinhas, tomando a designação que lhe foi atribuída por um informante local, é uma ocorrência arqueológica, identificada, em Março de 2008, no decurso da elaboração do estudo de incidências ambientais (EincA) (1) do Parque Eólico da Benespera, projecto constituído por dois conjuntos de aerogeradores, espacialmente desconexos (2), situados nos concelhos de Sabugal, Guarda e Belmonte.
A singularidade desta rocha, profusamente gravada, maioritariamente com figuras cruciformes, e a circunstância de se conhecerem pouco arqueossítios deste tipo no concelho do Sabugal (AA VV, 2008), motivou o convite que nos foi gentilmente dirigido pelo arqueólogo Marcos Osório para elaboração do presente texto. Trata-se de uma notícia, cujo maior interesse reside na apresentação do método utilizado para “iluminar” os grafismos que cobrem a maior parte da superfície daquela rocha, trabalho executado por um dos signatários (HP).
A Pedra das Cruzinhas mantém-se preservada no interior do Parque Eólico da Benespera, cuja obra decorria em 2011, à data da elaboração deste texto. Reconhecendo-se como positivo o facto deste projecto ter contribuído para a identificação do monumento em apreço, considera-se conveniente, na linha do que é preconizado nos estudos ambientais que antecederam aquela obra, garantir a sua salvaguarda para o futuro, dado estar sujeito a maior risco com a nova acessibilidade instalada naquela área.

Some rock carving cases located in
the modern-contemporary period, are disclosed,
since they are identified outdoors, with the
purpose to participate in studies concerning the
environmental impact of certain projects located
in the limestones massifs of Sicó-Alvaiázere
and of Estremadura. Researchers are then
motivated to consider the presence of such rock
carvings in limestone holder, namely, the cases
mentioned before, but also with the possible
association with windmill exploration.

The apiary-walls (“muros-apiários”) and the pitfall-traps for wolves (“fojos do lobo”) are two types of rural constructions poorly represented in inventories related to cultural heritage, in spite of their protective function of goods economically important in rural areas. The pitfall-traps are permanent traps built in stone, used in the war against the wolf motivated by livestock depredation. The apiary-walls are stone or stucco-made enclosures, which constitute a strategy for protecting beehives by from predators, such as brown bears. These rural buildings are open to multiple approaches covering biological, archaeological and anthropological sciences as they illustrate a strong relation to the environment, both biotic and abiotic, and to rural economy. This study conducts an inventory and characterization of these constructions in Portugal and their context in terms of structural characteristics, building areas and potential for rural development. Methodology was based in a literature review, a research of historical documents and a field prospection of material vestiges.

Since 2002, within the context of the Wind Farm Project in the Pinhal Interior (Generg Group), systematic archaeological surveys have been undertaken in upland areas of the central massif, south of the River Zêzere in the Tagus river basin.
The area in question (in the county of Oleiros, district of Castelo Branco) takes in the upper valley of the River Sertã, and is bordered to the south by the Serra do Cabeço Rainha (Serra de Alvélos), to the north by the Serra de Vermelha and to the east by the Serra do Moradal.
This paper presents the results of findings made in the context of environmental studies for the Wind Farm Project, focusing upon sites that could possibly be from Recent Prehistory. These include circular structures of various shapes and forms, built upon artificial mounds (tombs), and rock engravings.
Special attention is given to the results of the already completed excavation of a small structure (Vale de Mós I). Mounds at two other sites (Selada do Cavalo and Feiteiras, also located in the Serra Vermelha) are still undergoing excavation.
The archaeological intervention at Vale de Mós I has revealed a circular constructed mound in a reasonable state of conservation, consisting of an outer embankment (outer ring) made of earth and small fragments of calibrated quartz. Next to this embankment is an inner ring formed of a series of schist slabs laid out radially, mostly lying down and leaning slightly towards the centre. Inside the monument is a broad cairn, consisting of two levels of schist slabs and blocks, mostly laid out horizontally in an orderly fashion, and filling the central space. A small ceramic fragment was collected from the base of the outer ring, corresponding to a handmade vessel, possibly dating from the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age periods. From the slabs of the inner stone ring, we also collected earth, charcoal and a seed, which have been submitted for palaeoenvironmental (pollinic and carpological) testing and radiometric dating.
The results of these tests are still pending.

In 2000-2001, archaeological excavations were carried out at the mound of Charneca das Vinhas, on the initiative of the
Portuguese Archaeology Institute. The immediate motive was an alert issued by the Upper Tagus Study Association that the monument was at risk of destruction due to afforestation schemes.
The monument is located at an altitude of 359 m overlooking the Tagus valley, at the edge of a stretch of land that culminates in the table-shaped Falagueira formation. This consists of sandstone and Placencian (Pliocene conglomerates) deposited on rocks of the
Beiras Group (Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian).
The tumulus at Charneca das Vinhas is a small tumulus of around 11 metres in diameter and less than 1 metre high. The archaeological excavation revealed a tumulus constructed mostly in clay-sand material, topped with a carapace of metagreywackes, phyllites, quartz and quartzite, a peripheral contention ring and an inner chamber of indeterminate ground plan, of which the only thing that remains is a single complete standing stone and what is probably a passage with its final stretch in the open air.
The artefacts collected during the course of the intervention, which were numerous and diverse in type, were found mainly in the chamber, at the end part of the corridor and in the area adjacent to the entrance, facing southeast. Ceramic objects were most prevalent, followed (in quantitative terms) by arrowheads, which were exclusively concave-based. The ceramics, though scattered widely over the excavated area, seem to have been concentrated in the chamber, while the flake stone tools, particularly arrowheads and other blades, were found predominantly in the sectors adjacent to the entrance. Stone tools, are scarce and occur mostly outside the monument.
These remains suggest that this monument was built quite advanced in the Chalcolithic. Moreover, it also provides evidence of transregional commerce mostly with the Lower Tagus region, and Upper Alentejo, further indicating that this territory occupied a key position in the river route of the Tagus, communicate the Estremadura region, in the western part of the Peninsula, with the south meseta region.

This paper presents the results of an archaeological prospection conducted by the Upper Tagus Study Association along a
portion of the River Erges located between Segura and the position corresponding to the Portuguese bank at Arroyo Boqueron
(Spain), some 2 km upstream from where the Erges joins the Tagus. The aim was both to continue the extensive archaeological
cartography project begun in the region in 1977, and also to identify prehistoric rock carvings, following an unsuccessful
incursion in the 1970s at the time when the so-called Tagus Rock Art Complex was discovered in Vila Velha de Ródão and
Nisa.
With this work along the River Erges, it was possible to identify various groups of motifs: symbolic-geometric (simple and concentric
circles); anthropomorphic, some of which are anchor-shaped; possibly zoomorphic; pecking (dispersed or in patches), and filiform
shapes. Although the carvings were limited in number and diversity, most of these motifs may be correlated with the schematic art of
the Tagus. Indeed, the discovery provides evidence of the expansion upstream of the limit of the Holocenic rock art complex detected
along the River Tagus and its tributaries during the 1970s.
Current knowledge concerning the distribution and quantities of these prehistoric rock carvings on the River Tagus suggests that the
core of this symbolic complex would have been located on the banks of the great river, and that there would have been less
expression, and more marginal in nature, along the tributaries. However, the discoveries made on both banks of the River Erges
reinforce the hypothesis that the International Tagus contains clusters that are as expressive as those of the Portuguese Tagus.
Unfortunately, though, this will only be provable with deactivation of the Cedillo dam.
The rock carvings identified on the River Erges clearly result from the dense prehistoric occupation of the International Tagus at
that time, as identified in the surrounding area, both in Portugal and in Spain. This context includes various types of megalithic
monuments, particularly burial sites (in some of which were also identified rock carvings in the area of Cáceres) and habitats on the
detrital platforms around Rosmaninhal (Idanha-a-Nova).
The anthropomorphic representations, which are the most expressive and chronologically reliable of that group, may be slotted into
the Final Neolithic-Chalcolithic (IV and III millennium BC), in accordance with the periods suggested by António Martinho Baptista
(Stage II, megalithic) and Mário Varela Gomes (southern period).

Vila Velha de Ródão has five documents with the characteristics of archaelogic inventory. In this communication we do a
preliminary presentation of the results of the most recent inventory wich the final report is in preparation. The first one dates from
1910, and his responsable is Francisco Tavares de Proença Júnior and it integrates a most vast inventory named “Archeologia do
Districto de Castelo Branco”. The second dates from 1980 and their responsables are Francisco Henriques e João Caninas
(Contribuição para a Carta Arqueológica dos Concelhos de V.V. de Ródão e Nisa). The third dates from 1986, and it’s a following
resumption of the previous inventory, it includes the same geographic area wich responsibility belongs to the same authors. The
fourth contribution, from 1993, unpublished, also from Francisco Henriques e João Caninas, melts the two previous documents in
one and it was made for the Municipality of Vila Velha de Ródão when it was elaborated the first P.D.M. (Municipal Director Plan).
The field labour to the fifth contribution, also elaborated on the request of the Municipality of Vila Velha de Ródão in scope of the
revision of the P.D.M. ocurred between 2004 and 2006. It contains 420 registers of sites and monuments with archaeological
interest. It identifies 120 archaeological sites to the recent Pre-History, about 29% of all the registers numbers from this updating
inventory typologically classified in the following way:
– 24 occupation spots (20%);
– 23 sites with Rupestral Art (19%);
– 45 megalithic graves, dolmens, mamoas and tumuli (37%);
– 26 isolated remains (21%), with evidence for the polished stone tools;
– 3 others or uncertain (3%).
The occupation spots are implanted from short distance of the Tagus river, above detrital platforms and terraces with spread
occupation for several hectares and mostly associated to the larger nucleus of Rupestral Art of the Tagus river. This model of
occupation is equal to the other border of the Tagus river (that belongs to Nisa) and to several Kms upstream (that belongs to
Idanha-a-Nova). From the sites with Rupestral Art we put in relief the Complex of Rupestral Art of the Tagus river, very well known.
The other sites with rupestral engravings out from that context, suit almost exclusively to engraved rocks with little holes.
The graves (Megalithic and none megalithic) are divided by all this area of Vila Velha de Ródão and occurred in terraces and
detrital platforms, in reliefs schist-grauwackes and even in an alluvial plain. They are absent above quartzitic ridges although
occurred on the sediments of declivity of those kind of reliefs. The strong special co-relation between graves, engraved rocks and
habitat sites appears as a relevant clue to this investigation.