GEOGRAPHY AND (PRE)HISTORIC FRAMING. Anta (or dolmen) da Serrinha is located on the left bank of Ribeira Grande at Monforte. It was excavated ...
Come on baby, light my fire: Funerary rituals on Alentejo’s Megaliths and the case study of Anta da Serrinha (Monforte, Portugal)
Daniela ANSELMO1; Leonor ROCHA2; Paula MORGADO3 1 Antropóloga Biológica. Mestranda de Arqueologia. Universidade de Évora/ECS/ Lab. De Arqueologia Pinho Monteiro 2 Universidade de Évora/ Escola de Ciências Sociais. Investigadora do CEAACP/UALG 3 Arqueóloga na Câmara Municipal de Monforte
GEOGRAPHY AND (PRE)HISTORIC FRAMING Anta (or dolmen) da Serrinha is located on the left bank of Ribeira Grande at Monforte. It was excavated between 2014 and 2016 with the purpose of recovering and studying grave goods. Since 2015 new sites were identified and funerary and non funerary rituals were inferred through excavating others megaliths. Anta da Serrinha was identified much earlier. The main chamber was excavated by W. Carrisso and A. Sardinha in the 20th century and it is possible they found it already damaged by tomb raiders searching for grave goods. Romans may also have disturbed the site and in some cases reused these megaliths as funerary chambers themselves (Rocha, 2009). The excavation was intended to better understand the location of the corridor and further the study of grave goods.
Figure 2 – Burial showing probable articulation from Bola da Cera’s dolmen, Marvão.
Although in this particular dolmen there were not found any articulated bones or prior articulations, in Marvão two dolmens, Bola da Cera [4360±50 BP (ICEN – 66)] and Castelhanas, excavated by professor Jorge Oliveira had primary burials (figure 2) cremated in loco, but also in Anta de S.Gens II, from Nisa (Oliveira, 1997). The presence of small bones from hands and feet and the presence of a base stone to produce fire by friction at Anta da Serrinha suggest that the primary inhumantions were also cremated in loco. Only one phalange (figure 3) shows evidence of pigments use. There was no ochre or cinnabar clods in other material or in the soil, which can be due to the damage of the dolmen. Others dolmens showed high concentration of pigment use, particularly in bones (Oliveira, 1997). The reuse of dolmens is well documented (ex.: Rocha, 2016; 2009) and in this case can be noticed by the glass eyed bead found inside the chamber. Most of the Anta da Serrinha’s grave goods document a primary use of the chamber in the Neo-Chalcolithic but through that find also its reuse in Iron Age. Figure 1 – Archeologic procedures at the corridor of Anta da Serrinha, Monforte, Portugal.
MATERIALS AND METHODS The first layers of the domen’s corridor were highly damaged with most of the fragments smaller than 1cm. We couldn’t separate any stratigraphic layer of different moments of burial, therefore not only the chamber were perturbed but also the rest of the monument. Even though mainly lithic materials (e.g. silex arrows and blades) were recovered, pendants in greenstone and quartz arrow heads were also found. The most significant finds were a silex halberd and a glassy eyed bead. All bones were cremated, and their color (Shipman et al., 1984) and fracture patherns (Baby, 1954; Binford, 1963) analyzed. We estimated age at death (Scheuer and Black, 2000) and minimal number of individuals (Herrmann, 1990). Pathological signs were also recorded.
RITUALS FROM ANTA DA SERRINHA Most of the cremated bones had a white coloration, suggesting temperatures between 285º-525ºC, however, some had black or blue color evidencing the lack of fire managing. Fractures were mainly horizontal suggesting cremation of fresh bones. Although there are 6086 bone fragments, we only found 2 teeth. At least 9 adults and 2 non adults (about 4 years old and 7 years) were inhumated but not proportional to the richness of the grave goods found. Halberds have only been found in monuments rich in grave goods (ex.: Cruz and Oosterbeek, 1998), being rare in Portugal, and until its discovery was absent in the Monforte Municipality.
Figure 3 – Colored phalange by reddish pigment (ochre or cinnabar) and blue and white color from the cremation.
CONCLUSION Every detail on prehistoric funerary rituals is important. The beginning of cremation rituals and their reason are still uncertain. It could have started due to cultural trades or only to accelerate burial decomposition after a rapid population increase. Anta da Serrinha might help understanding prehistoric funerary rituals by performing carbon dating as well as comparing chronologies with other osteological material from different prehistoric funerary monuments.
REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS Baby, Raymond S. 1954 Hopewell Cremation Practices, Ohio Historical Society, Papers in Archaeology, No. 1 Binford, L.R., (1963). An Analysis of Cremations from Three Michigan Sites, Wisconsin Archeologist, 44, pp. 98–110. Cruz, A. R., Oosterbeek, L., (1998). Anta 2 do Rego da Murta (Alvaiázere). In Techné. Tomar. 4:103-108 Herrmann, B., Grupe, S. G., Hummel, H., Piepenbrink, H., Schutkowski, (1990). Prähistorische Anthropologie. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Oliveira, J. M. F., (1997). Monumentos Megalíticos da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Sever. Ibn Maruán, Edição Especial, Tomo I. Scheuer, L., Black, S., (2000). Developmental juvenile osteology. London: Academic Press. Shipman, P., Foster, G., Schoeninger, M.(1984). Burnt bones and teeth: an experimental study of color, morphology, crystal structure and shrinkage. Journal of Archaeological Science 11, 307-325. Rocha, L., (2009). A Anta de Santiago Maior (Alandroal): Recuperação de um monumento destruído. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia 12, 1: 35-52. Rocha, L., (2016). Relatório arqueológico Anta da Tapada do Castelo, Marvão.
