2015 IRON AGE SAUNAS OF NORTHERN PORTUGAL: STATE OF THE ART AND RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES (original) (raw)
Related papers
2014 The Iron Age Saunas of the NW Iberian Peninsula: an archaeoastronomical perspective
Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 14, No 3, pp. 133-141, 2014
In some of the Iron Age hillforts of the northwest Iberian Peninsula (“Gallaecia”, in an-tiquity), public buildings used as saunas have been found. So far some twenty examples are known, in different states of conservation. These are distributed between two sepa-rated regional clusters, northern and southern. The southern cases display a single pedra formosa (“beautiful stone”) to define the entrance to the sweat room. In some cases these are richly decorated with “astral” motives. This fact, and the longitudinal pattern of the layout of the buildings, invites a search for eventual astral alignments. 21 saunas (10 northern and 11 southern) were measured. The results confirm the regional difference also in this respect: Only three of the northern saunas show solstitial orientations, but four of the southern are oriented towards the southern lunar standstill and three others towards dates compatible with the mid-season Celtic feasts.
THE IRON AGE SAUNAS OF THE NORTHWEST IBERIAN PENINSULA: AN ARCHAEOASTRONOMICAL PERSPECTIVE
2014
In some of the Iron Age hillforts of the northwest Iberian Peninsula ("Gallaecia", in antiquity), public buildings used as saunas have been found. So far some twenty examples are known, in different states of conservation. These are distributed between two separated regional clusters, northern and southern. The southern cases display a single pedra formosa ("beautiful stone") to define the entrance to the sweat room. In some cases these are richly decorated with "astral" motives. This fact, and the longitudinal pattern of the layout of the buildings, invites a search for eventual astral alignments. 21 saunas (10 northern and 11 southern) were measured. The results confirm the regional difference also in this respect: Only three of the northern saunas show solstitial orientations, but four of the southern are oriented towards the southern lunar standstill and three others towards dates compatible with the mid-season Celtic feasts.
Protection and Purity: Symbolic Functions of the Iron Age Saunas of the Iberian Northwest
Cambridge Archaeological Journal
Iron Age saunas, unique to the Castro Culture of northwestern Iberia, have puzzled archaeologists since the nineteenth century. Initially interpreted as kilns, crematoriums, or ovens, their function has since been established as bathing structures; however, the social significance of these saunas has yet to be firmly established. This study provides a new approach to understanding the ways in which Castro communities utilized specialized buildings to serve specific needs related to ritual cleansing and protection. Through an analysis of their placement, structure and decoration, I argue that these buildings functioned to purify and protect people of Castro communities from spiritual and physical danger. Members of Castro society inhabited a world buffeted by the shifting political and economic powers of the Iron Age. The bath structures under study, covered in apotropaic symbols, functioned in liminal spaces to cleanse and prepare Castro people for the dangers that awaited them beyo...
Bronze Age funerary contexts in Northeast Portugal. Terraço das Laranjeiras (Sabor Valley)
CORPOS E METAIS NA FACHADA ATLÂNTICA DA IBÉRIA. DO NEOLÍTICO À IDADE DO BRONZE, 2014
As intervenções realizadas nos últimos três anos no vale do Sabor, no âmbito do Plano de Sal-vaguarda do Património (PSP) do Aproveitamento Hidroelétrico do Baixo Sabor (AHBS), permitiram a descoberta de importantes contextos da Idade do Bronze. Este tipo de sítios, caracterizado pela densa presença de estruturas negativas tipo fossa em amplas plataformas fluviais, era inédito até ao momento na região. No entanto, a identificação de contextos funerários nestes locais está já bem documentada noutros locais da Península ibérica não sendo o vale do Sabor exceção. Neste caso apresenta-se o resultado da intervenção no Terraço das Laranjeiras, onde se identificou uma ocupação com concentração de estruturas em negativo de tipo fossa e dois enterramentos: um em fossa, de criança, e outro em cista de um sub-adulto. Este último foi datado da Idade do Bronze Inicial.
Quaternary International, 2017
The construction of Baixo Sabor Dam (NE Portugal), led to the discovery and excavation of the site of Quinta de Crestelos, with a human occupation ranging from the Early Palaeolithic to mid-20th century. Its Iron Age phase, found at the site's hilltop, revealed an unprecedented large number of combustion structures, comprehending several typologies of ovens and hearths, as well as refuse deposits in which archaeobotanical samples were recovered. Given the number and interpretative importance of these structures to the general understanding of the site, a holistic approach to their study was devised. This research combines the analysis of archaeobotanical samples with the morphological study of archaeological features comprising typological analysis. Such corpus of data is finally compared with ethnographical examples. The objectives of this study were to identify the main firewood species used inside the ovens, to define patterns of fuel use, to evaluate the existence of firewood selection - including both taxonomic outcomes and dendrological attributes - and their possible determining factors, as well as these structures functional purposes and patterns of use. The analysis of the carbonized plant content in these combustion structures displayed a diverse range of 15 taxa, with the majority of the ovens and hearths revealing predominance of Arbutus unedo, Cistus sp., Fraxinus sp., Juniperus sp. or Quercus evergreen. Triticum estivum/durum is the main crop recovered in the studied samples, followed by Panicum miliaceum. Residual presences of Hordeum vulgare, Vicia faba, Vitis vinifera and Papaver sp. were recovered as well. The archaeobotanical results, together with the typology of the ovens and hearths, their spatial distribution and ethnographical examples, allowed the discussion of the structure's functionality, the identification of patterns and trends of their use according to different typologies and contexts and the recognition of possible firewood selection and storage practices. This study also provides a preliminary approach to the paleolandscape of the site during the Iron Age of NW Iberia.
UISPP - XV congresso (2006). Conceptualising Space and Place. On the role of agency, memory and identity in the construction of space from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Iron Age in Europe, 2010
This paper presents the site of Cividade, a Late Bronze/Iron Age settlement in the Arouca valley, while discussing archaeological data and research paradigms used in the study of these archaeological sites in the north of Portugal. Cividade is an enclosed hilltop site that yielded very few archaeological features of construction (e.g. postmolds, hearths or hut floors). We discuss the role of Cividade’s walled structures, considering its interpretation as an enclosure-type structure, and not as a conventional defensive wall.
Tereso, J.P., Vilaça, R., Osório, M., Fonte, L. Seabra, L. (2020) - Destroyed by fire, preserved through time: crops and wood from a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age structure at Vila do Touro (Sabugal, Portugal). Complutum, 31(2), p. 255-278., 2020
Archaeological excavations at Vila do Touro uncovered a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age occupation at the top of a prominent hill. It consisted of a structure built with perishable materials, supported by postholes, and a small subcircular storage facility made of stone. Abundant carbonized plant remains were visible throughout the excavation area during the field work suggesting a fire occurred prior to the abandonment of the place, sometime in the 9th century BC. Archaeobotanical sampling allowed the recovery of abundant wood charcoal as well as charred fruits and seeds. Analyses showed structures were built mostly out of wood from deciduous oak, although pine was also used. Evidence for growth suppression in oak wood suggests direct human management of wood resources, which agrees with other evidences from northern Iberia. Moreover, the storage facility was used to keep cereals, mostly naked wheat and common millet, but also barley. These were stored fully processed and ready for consumption. Faba beans were also recovered, outside the small storage facility. Results are similar to sites in northeast Portugal and the Central Meseta but contrast with hillforts from Atlantic areas where hulled wheats are staple crops, suggesting a West-East trend also reflected in environmental and cultural features. [es] Destruido por el fuego, conservado a lo largo del tiempo: cultivos y madera de una estructura de la Edad del Bronce Final / Primera Edad del Hierro en Vila do Touro (Sabugal, Portugal) Resumen. Las excavaciones arqueológicas en Vila do Touro detectaron una ocupación del Final de la Edad del Bronce/Primera Edad del Hierro en la destacada cumbre del monte. Se trataba de una estructura construida con materiales perecederos, sostenida por postes, y un pequeño espacio de almacenamiento sub-circular, construido en piedra. Durante el trabajo de campo se observaron abundantes restos de plantas carbonizadas en toda el área de excavación, lo que sugiere un incendio ocurrido antes del abandono del lugar, en algún momento del siglo IX a.C. 1