0109 - Geology and enclosures

In the paper quoted in the last post I draw attention to the relation of the decorated Bell Beaker pottery contexts and the geology of South Portugal. At the presentation in the 2005 meeting I showed the following map that clearly shows the concentration of the sites within well defined geological borders.

The middle Guadiana basin, with its geological diversity and good soils and plains, and the poor littoral sandy platform and the schist with wavy topography at the south, making the north limit of the mountains that separate Alentejo from Algarve littoral platform.

Well this same situation can be observed in the enclosures distribution as we know it today (or for the megalithic or hypogeal graves). The line in the map of enclosures marks the same geological limit of the first map. And it speaks for itself: there is a strong connection between the structural geology of south Portugal and the structural aspects of its human occupation.