Estudos do Quaternário Quaternary Studies

Archaeological Landscapes as Literary Landscapes

Mara Beatriz Agosto — 2025-07-07

Rather than being a self-evident concept/entity, the existence of Landscapes has to be theorised instead of assumed as an a priori category. In one unifying concept, Landscape becomes the common ground needed to cross disciplinary areas, but does not constitute a self-evident reality or concept. Hence, an inquiry into Literary Landscapes and an archaeological approach to them needs both the conceptual bases offered by Philosophy and the mechanisms of engagement offered by Landscape Archaeology. Conceptually speaking, Literary Landscapes offer some difficulties in their ontological definition. There is also no difference between the simulated and the real in read descriptions, which further invalidates its existence as such. To counter these ideas and affirm the existence of Literary Landscapes we turn to a constellation of Deleuzian concepts in their conjoined potential: immanence, virtuality and the power of the false. This will come to show that not only do Literary Landscapes exist but that there is also a significant overlap between them and the archaeological ones, rendering the former as eligible for archaeological deconstruction.

Gigantes nas alturas: uma reflexão sobre os assentamentos fortificados indefinidos 'altomedievais' no noroeste peninsular

Mario Pereiro Fernández — 2025-09-29

In recent years, research on the Early Middle Ages in the northwest Iberian Peninsula has made significant progress, particularly with regard to early medieval castles. Nevertheless, many fortified sites remain undetermined owing to the scarcity of archaeological or documentary evidence that would allow for a clear chronological and functional framework. These sites are often assigned generically to the Early Middle Ages (fifth–eleventh centuries), based frequently on assumptions about what they are not, rather than being grounded in concrete evidence. The absence of direct evidence complicates the formulation of a unified hypothesis for this type of fortified settlement, making it essential to deepen archaeological research and explore new approaches that enable a more precise individualized framework. This article examines four paradigmatic cases as an initial sample, with the aim of reflecting on this problem and outlining lines of enquiry that may lead, in the future, to a more comprehensive study.

A chronological reassessment of Panicum miliaceum and Triticum spelta at Crasto de Palheiros (Murça, Northeast of Portugal) during the first millennium BCE

Maria de Jesus Sanches — 2025-10-07

Two AMS dates are published here, one on Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn millet) and another on Triticum spelta. The first confirms that Panicum cultivation at Crasto de Palheiros occurred only during the Iron Age, remaining unconfirmed its possible Late Bronze Age origins. The second provides the first direct dating of this wheat species at this archaeological site. Attention to post-depositional processes and sample infiltration has led to a contextual reassessment of previously published dates from nearly two decades ago, particularly those of Panicum miliaceum, warranting a more detailed publication of these and other related contexts. Given the difficulty in recovering broomcorn millet grains without employing bulk sediment sampling, this study revisits the significance of storage and consumption of both this cereal and Triticum spelta within the agro-pastoral economy of Crasto de Palheiros.

Contextualização geoarqueológica preliminar da indústria Acheulense da jazida do Canal Intercetor de Esposende I (NW de Portugal)

Sérgio Monteiro-Rodrigues — 2025-12-02

The archaeological site of the Esposende Interceptor Canal I (EIC I) was discovered in 2021 following the opening of the “Esposende City Flood and Risk Management Interceptor Canal”. Subsequent archaeological excavations took place at the site in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The presence of handaxes, unifaces, and cleavers among the collected artefacts allowed them to be associated with the Acheulean technocomplex. As with other sites on the Portuguese northern coast, these artefacts resulted from expedient knapping sequences, related to the recurrent use of quartzite pebbles of marine morphometry.

Regarding chronology, the stratigraphic position of the lithics indicates that they are later than the formation of the marine terrace identified at the archaeological site, which lies at an altitude of ~8-13 m asl. According to research carried out along the coastal strip between the mouth of the river Neiva and the mouth of the river Minho, immediately north of the municipality of Esposende, this terrace likely dates from MIS 9. The fluvial deposits that overlay the terrace and which contain the Acheulean industry can, in turn, be associated with the next marine isotopic stage, i.e., MIS 8.

Net fishing in the central Mediterranean. An ethnoarchaeological research on the immaterial culture of the societies of the past

Claudio Giardino — 2025-12-11

This paper explores how ethnoarchaeology can help to rescue the intangible cultural heritage of Mediterranean net-fishing from the threats of technological modernisation. Using the Salento peninsula (southern Italy) as a case study, we integrate ethnographic fieldwork with archaeological, historical and comparative data from Spain and the Greek Ionian Islands to reconstruct the operational chain of traditional net-fishing. Ancient tools such as netting needles and sinkers, although rarely preserved in the archaeological record, can be interpreted through living practices still observable in Salento. Roman and Bronze Age finds from Apulia were re-contextualised by present-day usage, showing remarkable technological continuity since at least the 2nd millennium BC. Cross-Mediterranean comparison reveals broad congruence in net types, tools, dyeing recipes, and social rules for resource management, suggesting either shared Greco-Roman and post-medieval heritage or convergent responses to comparable coastal ecologies.

El sitio de As Portas/Fragas do Mourão (Carrazedo de Montenegro, Portugal) en el contexto del arte esquemático del Noroeste Peninsular

Beatriz Comendador Rey — 2025-12-11

The north-west of Iberia is a particularly interesting region to study the convergence of different prehistoric rock art traditions, an issue that has been reinforced over the last years both due to the increasing number of sites that have been filling in the distributions map of Schematic Art paintings in north-east Portugal and to the paradigmatic findings of similar evidence in south-eastern Galicia, where this reality was unknown.

In this context, this paper brings the first news of the discovery of prehistoric rock paintings belonging to that artistic tradition at As Fragas do Mourão, one of the westernmost sites identified to date in northwestern Iberia. It is a distinctive assemblage that brings together the typical imagery of the Schematic Art repertoire, rather unusual iconographic compositions, and a considerable amount of cup-marks scattered throughout the rock surfaces of a conspicuous quartzite crest that structures the landscape. At present, the rock paintings occupy a circumscribed space of great visual and sensory impact due to the immanent presence of water and distinctive geoforms.

Uma falcata ibérica do castro de Frades (Montalegre, Norte de Portugal)

Francisco Manuel Veleda Reimão Queiroga — 2025-12-15

This paper presents two iron implements originating from the hilforts of Frades and Donões, which are located on the outskirts of Montalegre city, in the north of Portugal. None of the settlements has had to date any archaeological interventions, and surface finds indicate an occupation dating to Iron Age, in addition to ceramic materials of roman fabric. Both implements were accidentally found as protruding from the soil surface of the sites. While one of the implements can inequivocally be classified as an Iberian falcata, it is scrutinized whereas the other is a part of a similar weapon, or just of any other tool. Further discussion drawn upon the circumstances that may enabled the presence of such finds into these hillforts, while emphasizing the movements of warriors in late Iron Age Iberia.

Aeolian dynamics: mineralogical composition and source of Dakhla dune sands (Southern Morocco)

Smail Harchane Harchane — 2025-12-26

As in many arid regions worldwide, wind-driven sand transport removes large quantities of sediment from multiple sources, thereby intensifying desertification processes in southern and southeastern Morocco. In this region, desertification is particularly evident through the active movement of dune sands.The study of wind dynamics in southern Morocco seeks to elucidate the environmental conditions and geomorphological processes that drive desertification, from bedrock erosion to the transport and deposition of diverse sand deposits. In this context, the present research provides a detailed petrographic and mineralogical characterization of the Dakhla sands, enabling the identification of their provenance and transport mechanisms

The Dakhla dune sands consist primarily of quartz grains and accessory minerals, including oxides, heavy minerals, and sandstone fragments, with smaller amounts of feldspars, micas, and calcite. This mineralogical composition reflects erosion, transport, and depositional processes associated with crystalline and sedimentary formations from the Anti-Atlas and Saharan domains, which supply the study area through both hydrological and aeolian pathways.

The quartz grains of the Dakhla dune sands, accumulated predominantly by wind action, are mainly rounded and dull grains of aeolian origin. However, a significant proportion comprises glossy, abraded grains of aquatic (mainly coastal or fluvial) origin, together with angular, locally derived grains. The mineralogical associations identified three main types of sand stocks:

1) Aeolian sands - dominated by rounded, dull quartz grains enriched in accessory minerals, primarily wind-transported and of likely crystalline origin.

2) Mixed alluvial–aeolian sands - characterized by glossy, abraded quartz grains enriched in accessory minerals, resulting from alluvial transport followed by aeolian reworking, with both crystalline and sedimentary sources.

3) Coastal sands - composed mainly of glossy, abraded quartz grains poor in accessory minerals, indicative of a highly quartzose composition of coastal origin.

Overall, the results clarify the complex interplay between aeolian, alluvial, and coastal processes in shaping the Dakhla dune sands, and underscores the importance of sediment provenance analysis for assessing the evolution of desert landscapes in southern Morocco.