Abstract:
To access the role of mobility in the social
trajectory of Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies in the South of
Portugal (Southwest Iberia) a project was
design to address the human, animal and object/raw material flow
present at Perdigoes enclosure. Perdigoes,
located in the inner Alentejo region, has a long chronology from Late
Middle Neolithic to Late Chalcolithic/Early
Bronze Age (middle 4th and 3rd millennium BC). It is a large complex
of ditched enclosures (with at least 16
ditches), presenting several funerary contexts, an abundance of faunal
remains and significant concentrations of
exogenous materials in tombs. In this study human and animal mobility
are addressed through 87Sr/86Sr isotopic analysis.
69 individuals dating from Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic, with provenance from 9 different archaeological
contexts inside the enclosures (tombs, ditches and pits) were analysed.
Human data are presented along with
previously published strontium isotope ratios from fauna (n = 28; Canis
familiaris, Bos taurus, Sus sp., Ovis/Capra, Cervus elaphus, Equus sp.) from the same
chronological range and several contextual provenances (Zalaite et al.,
2018). Plant samples (n = 20) that cover local and peripheral lithologies were used for establishing local
bioavailable strontium isotope ranges. To compare with the Perdigoes results, 9 human samples from 3 megalithic monuments
(Cebolinhos 1, Comenda 1 and Vidigueiras 2) of the local settlement network were also analysed. The results show
a significant scaled mobility of humans and animals in Perdigoes, a contextual variation between the funerary
contexts within the site and a significant contrast with the individuals from local megalithic monuments. These
results, combined with other archaeological data at the site, agree with the interpretation of the site as a large aggregation centre integrated
in large scale interaction networks.
