Echos from the Mediterranean...Living on the plains during the mid-1st Millennium, B.C.
Director Rui Mataloto, Archaeologist Township of Redondo, Portugal
Central Alentejo, Portugal. In the last years of archaeological research of the Iron Age in the Central Alentejo, new paths have been considered in looking at the human settlements in the rural environment as a means of understanding this productive side of Iron Age society. The now available data has allowed for a reinterpretation of a general picture that has, until recently, been followed. In this new reinterpretation, influences from the Mediterranean world are reflected in anything from the architectural styles to the daily commonware - although indigenous characteristics are still present.
This includes the consideration of new forms of social and spatial organization within the Iron Age settlements from this area.
The excavation will be accepting six new members to the crew who will be responsible for the excavating, recording, drawing, cleaning, inventorying and reassembling the archaeological materials taken from this site. Participants will be taught various skills in archaeological field methodologies as well as being given a seminar in accessioning and drawing archaeological finds
Therefore, there have been various excavations of architectural units, in rural environments that demonstrate the wealth and modesty of the people that exploited the plains in this area. This reveals to us a lesser-known side of those societies from the Interior Alentejo during the mid-first millennium B.C..
The excavations at Herdade da Sapatoa, conducted over the last five years, are situated along the river in the Vale de Vasco. Objectives for this season are to finish the excavation from the domestic space units excavated in 2004 (Sapatoa 2) and to begin a new campaign in an adjacent area (Sapatoa 3). Rooms and partitioned areas hope to be dated and their functions identified using the finds from the 2004 excavation as well as better understanding the extent of the settlement.
