On the edge of history? The Early Iron Age of southern Portugal, between texts and archaeology

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Early Iron Age of southern Portugal has often been considered a protohistoric period. Despite the development of local writing systems as early as the seventh century B.C.E., the so far undeciphered nature of local epigraphy meant the scarce and contradictory information recorded by Greco-Latin authors was considered the primary source for the analysis of this period. The growth of archaeological data since the 1970s resulted in attempts to harmonize it with the written records through a ‘source bricolage’ which hindered the understanding of the diversity and complexity of the history of local communities. Recent research has demonstrated the dynamic nature of this period, while also identifying evidence that the local communities built and manipulated specific narratives about their past and their history, particularly visible in their funerary record. Older funerary monuments seem indeed to have been used as material mnemonic devices underlying the construction of group memories and histories.