Abstract
Torre Velha 12 is located in Serpa (Beja) and was excavated and directed by two of the authors (LB and SG), during an emergency intervention within the Alqueva Project. This site is characterized by negative structures filled with pottery sherds and other materials dating to the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. The aim of this paper is to publish the study of the faunal remains dated from Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE). The faunal assemblage is small and comes from non-funerary pits and from funerary hypogea. Other than a bone artefact and an undetermined shell fragment, all of the remains integrated in the pits were classified as mammals. Sheep/goat is was frequently found while other species such as cattle and swines had lower frequencies. Fragments of cattle limbs are the only faunal remains associated with human burials and reveal a clear taxonomical and anatomical pattern that may be an indicator of a careful and structured anthropogenic behavior. The aim of this paper is to understand the social relationship between animals and the Bronze Age communities.
Highlights
Torre Velha 12 is located in the municipality of Serpa, Beja district, in southern Portugal, in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Figure 1)
A total of 138 faunal remains were recovered from the negative structures of Torre Velha 12
The faunal remains integrated in funerary contexts are scarce and were only present in two funerary hypogea (n = 10)
Summary
Torre Velha 12 is located in the municipality of Serpa, Beja district, in southern Portugal, in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Figure 1). The site is established in a small hill in an extensive flat area with gentle undulations, typical of the Alentejo territory and of the lower Guadiana River Basin [1]. The main goal was the safeguarding of the archaeological heritage of Serpa’s municipality due to the construction impacts of the Brinches-Enxoé irrigation channels of Alqueva’s dam infrastructures. The site is composed by 71 negative structures dug out in the substrata that were dated from the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BCE. Most archaeological contexts were excavated, except for nine structures that were preserved because they were not directly affected by construction works. Most of these structures were distributed, in a higher concentration, at the top of the hill.
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