Considerações sobre a Pré e a Proto-história da serra do Montemuro e seu aro (centro-norte de Portugal): artefactos metálicos e seu contexto

Abstract

This article provides a thorough review of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age metallurgy from the Montemuro range and its adjacent area, located between the Rivers Douro and Paiva and on the central high plateau. The known repertoire is made up of 13 artefacts, which are studied here paying particular attention to the problems of their identification, contextualization and chemical composition. We present new analyses of a socketed axe and we review the analytical results available for another three objects. The several metals and alloys can be explained, to some extent, by the chronological differences between the artefacts, as well as to cultural factors. Socketed axes with both binary and ternary alloys are detected in the study area, which is considered a transitional or border zone between those located to the north (socketed axes with leaded alloys) and those to the south (socketed axes with binary alloys). The finds of two metallic moulds, one of them in the adjacent area, points to the local production of several types of axes during the Late Bronze Age. Aiming at a future chrono-cultural contextualization of these communities, we attempt to integrate the archaeological information into a wider framework, that of the regional late prehistory. Key words: bronze axes; archaeometallurgy; Chalcolithic; Bronze Age; serra do Montemuro; Beira Alta