Late central towers at Porto das Carretas (left);
stone huts at Mercador (up right); late central stone hut at Monte do Tosco 1
(down right). See how dimensions are quite similar.
There
are some Portuguese walled enclosures that, according to their excavators, present
central towers in the latest phases when the wall are no longer functioning and
enclosing. That is the case of Monte da Tumba, S. Pedro or Porto das Carretas.
In general, these structures just present some rows of stones, are circular and
tend to date from the Late Chalcolithic (some associated to Bell Beaker).
However,
it is never clearly explained why they are interpreted as towers. In fact, similar
structures, with the same width and high and with identical diameters, are
interpreted as huts. That is the case of the two huts of Mercador. They have
the same dimensions of the so called towers of Porto das Carretas, they are
from the same general period as the later, they dist just 1,5kms and they even
are united by a short wall like the structures at Porto das Carretas. So structurally,
how can we distinguish the base of a stone hut from the base of a stone tower,
when we do not have enough information to estimate the vertical development of
the structure?
The
larger hut at Mercador has a central post hole. But a two floors tower would
probably have one also. And not all structures considered huts present internal
post holes. At Mercador or Monte do Tosco, huts present internal fire places and
areas of storage. But couldn’t towers present them also. During the Late
Chalcolithic, what could be inside a hut that couldn´t be inside a tower? So,
internal context also doesn’t help much in establishing a difference.
So,
in what bases do we call towers to the late central structures in Porto das
Carretas, S. Pedro or Monte da Tumba? Or are they really stone huts, associated
to late occupations of these sites? We need criteria and solid evidence to name
these structures.
