Between the end of the 4
thand the third quarter of the 3
rdmillennia BC, significant
changes were noticed in the interaction of human groups with the environment, which
justifies a new chronological and cultural period called Chalcolithic.
In a physical environment increasingly colder and drier than in the Neolithic (Fá-
bregas et al. 2003; Lopéz Sáez & Cruz 2002/2003; Martínez-Cortizas et al. 2009), the
occupation of lower areas becomes more frequent. These are now observed in plateaus,
granite cavities or truncated spurs, of medium altitude, or in the hills in alluvial valleys
or in the coastal platform. Although they could obey to factors of symbolic order, such
settlement strategies will also be interrelated with the possibility of the development of
a wide diversity of subsistence activities. They also suggest higher occupational density,
longer occupation time in each place and an increase in the way of life of the tributary
agro-pastoral activities, without excluding the gathering and use of river and coastal
resources (Bettencourt 2007, 2009a).
In granite spurs associated to rock shelters and/or to chaotic masses, settlements
were discovered, namely: in Monte da Madalena, in Ponte de Lima; in S. Julião, in Vila
Verde; in Santinha and in Chã da Joubreia, in Amares; in Santa Marta da Falperra, in
Braga; in Castelo de Lanhoso, in Póvoa de Lanhoso; in Castelo de Faria, in Barcelos
(Bettencourt 2007, 2009a); and in Cova da Bouça, in Esposende (Bettencourt 2005a).
This type of occupation is in contrast to that of Bitarados, in Esposende, where a se-
ttlement was built in a granite cavity of the plateau of Vila Chã, without outcrops or
rock shelters nearby, in the first half of the 3
rdmillennium BC (Bettencourt et al. 2003b;
Bettencourt et al. 2007). It also contrasts with the occupations in the hills of the valley,
such as: the one in Monte da Ínsua, in Guimarães, near river Ave; in Quinta do Paço,
in Arcos de Valdevez, overlooking river Vez (Bettencourt 2007, 2009a); or in Quinta S.
Martinho/Gandra, in Esposende (Sousa 1981/1982), near river Cávado. There were also
occupations in platforms of middle and lower slopes, as in the case of Covelinhos at
the foot of Monte da Franqueira, in Braga (Barbosa & Azevedo 2004/2005; Bettencourt
63
et al. 2007), and near the present coastline as, for example, in the beach of Angeiras,
in Matosinhos (Bettencourt 2010b).
In Bitarados, in the various levels of occupation/abandonment, pavements and postho-
les belonging to huts made of oak wood and branches of shrubs, probably broom, could
be found, as suggested in the results provided by anthracology (Figueiral & Bettencourt
2007). Pits and hearths were also detected. Along these structures many and various arte-
facts have been found, for example: arrowheads, in flint and slate, retouched blades and
flakes in flint and quartz, beads in clay and variscite, millstones and ceramics of Penha
type profusely decorated (Bettencourt et al. 2003); seeds of cereals, legumes and fruits,
and bones of domestic animals. These findings, analysed together, allow the classification
of this place as a possible settlement of medium/long duration, occupied by people with
agricultural and pastoral vocation, although turning to gathering and hunting activities
as well. In the immediate vicinity they must have grown naked wheat grain, barley and
broad beans. The presence of weeds associated with the winter and summer crops seem
to support the hypothesis that agricultural activities were held throughout the year.
The gathering may have consisted of fruits, such as acorns and berries, although
the presence of the hazelnut tree, arbutus tree and possibly chestnut tree, near Bita-
rados, witness the possibility of gathering a wide range of fruits. Vegetables as wild
radish, whose roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds are edible, were also gathered
(Bettencourt et al. 2007).
The exhumed remains of fauna indicate herding of sheep and goats, and perhaps
cattle. In the woods, where the oak dominates, would have lived deer, which were
consumed, as well as sheep and goats (Cardoso & Bettencourt 2008).
Also in Covelinhos, the stratigraphy indicates a continued occupation of populations
between the second quarter and the mid-3
rdmillennium BC, which would have been
dedicated either to agriculture, bearing in mind the location of the archaeological site
and dimensions of millstones found there, or to the gathering of fruits, such as wild
roses and acorns (Bettencourt et al. 2007).
In the North-West, other type of places provided with monumental structures, si-
milar to other regions of the Peninsula, can be found. This is the case of Sola/Bouça
do Ouro, in Braga, where the Chalcolithic populations occupied a hill in the Cávado
valley (2885-2305 BC), and built there stony base structures of large-scale (walls?),
of more than 2.5 m wide and eventually “strongholds”. The poor conservation of the
stone structures and its re-use during the Middle Bronze Age raise more questions than
answers (Bettencourt 2000b). However, in light of the findings of Crasto de Palheiros,
Castelo Velho de Freixo de Numão and Castanheiro de Vento in the North-East and
Alto Douro, maybe we can interpret this place as a great monumentalised enclosure,
functioning as an identity cluster and organiser of new landscapes under the Chalcolithic
settlement of the middle section of Cávado valley (Bettencourt 2007, 2009a). Similar
role may have had the grounds of Forca, in Maia, located in a plateau in the middle
section of river Leça already used since the Neolithic, as evidenced by some existing
64
megalithic monuments (Bettencourt 2010b). In Forca, with several acres of extension,
ditches and palisades were built, containing pit-house structures and hearths, amongst
others (Fig. 6), in use at least between 2610-2340 BC and 2414-2228 BC (Valera &
Rebuge 2008; Bettencourt 2007, 2010b).
A collective role of great importance in structuring the world of the 3
rdmillennium
BC communities seems to have had Monte da Penha, in Guimarães, a place of deposition
of ceramic vessels (some of them exceptional) of lithic and metal artefacts in granite
rock shelters and joints (Sampaio et al. 2009).
New ideological concepts can be interpreted also through the circulation and use
of various artefacts and new types of burials. In the first case, we highlight the metal
artefacts in copper, and sherds with oculated decoration; the latter found in Monte da
Penha, in Guimarães, and in Chã do Castro/Joubreia, in Amares. The vases with this
decorative motif are rare in the Iberia. However, the same motif can also be found in
stone idols, on slate and clay plates, in the phalanges of deer, and in the paintings of rock
shelters, which enhances its exceptional character and high symbolic value. Regarding
the sepulchral world, it seems that the great megalithic constructions have ceased. The
possibility of the construction of small tombs of Neolithic burial tradition with small
and low chambers barely visible, such as the megalithic cist of Chã do Carvalhal 1, in
Baião (Cruz 1992), together with the reuse of megalithic monuments materialised by
the deposit of ceramics of Penha type, lithic artefacts and bell beaker vessels have been
suggested; actions which may be interpreted as a way of appropriation and integration of
the past or of the ancestors by the Chalcolithic communities (Bettencourt 2007, 2009a).
Nevertheless, the amount of Chalcolithic deposits in each of these tombs is always
scarce, allowing us to hypothesise that the individuals buried there were not common
individuals but were indeed who carried importance and social prestige given by the
community even after death. We highlight the case of Vila Chã, in the plateau of Es-
posende, in the vicinity of Bitarados settlement, where megalithic tombs exist and are
integrated in cosmologic universes of the Chalcolithic populations (Bettencourt et al.
2003b). We refer to the dolmens of Antela da Portelagem, where a bell beaker vessel
was deposited, and Bouça do Rapido 3, where a flint halberd and a bell beaker vessel
were found. Other Neolithic tombs where this type of vessels arise are the one from Alto
da Portela do Pau 2, in Castro Laboreiro (V.O. Jorge et al. 1997), the ones from Ereira/
Afife, Pedreira de S. Romão do Neiva 1 and Lordelo/Chafé, all in Viana do Castelo
(Silva 2003), and the ones from Outeiro de Ante and Chã de Parada 1, in Aboboreira
(V.O. Jorge 2000). We emphasise that the bell beaker phenomenon is known in the North
of Portugal since the first half of the 3
rdmillennium BC, therefore embracing great part
of Chalcolithic and not only in its final moment (Bettencourt 2011).
Funerary contexts in pits seem to have equally existed in this period, as it seems
to be the case of Vargo, in Fafe, where a bell beaker vessel was deposited (Bettencourt
1991/1992b, 2009a; 2011), or in the vicinity of the tumulus 5 of Leandro, in Maia,
where a pit was associated to ceramics of Penha type (Bettencourt 2010b).
65
It is possible that burials in joints and granite rock shelters were also used, as is the
case of Monte da Penha (Cardoso 1960; Sampaio et al. 2009), or Monte Córdova, in
Santo Tirso, where stone axes of different dimensions and morphologies were deposited
under an outcrop. According to Abbot Pedrosa, one of them had “on one side a cut and
on the other a borer or sharp point” (Lima 1940: 201-202), a description that reminds
us of North Galician axes found in megalithic cists connected with the Late Neolithic
and Chalcolithic (Caamaño Gesto 2007).
It is possible that during the Chalcolithic places with Atlantic Rock Art were still in
use and others were materialised through the addition of a repertoire of motifs. These
were engraved in different types of outcrops, sometimes flat and not very visible in the
landscape, and others well visible and impressive amongst others in chaotic masses.
These places are concentrated in coastal areas and more represented between the rivers
Minho and Lima, not exceeding to east, through western Trás-os-Montes, and Vouga
basin to the south, a similar frontier that we find with ceramic vessels of Penha type.
At Minho basin, from the river mouth to the interior, we highlight the importance
of certain hills of great visual impressiveness in structuring the physical and mental
landscape of the populations. We refer to: Monte de Santa Tegra in A Guardia, at
the mouth of river Minho (Spanish side); Monte de Santo Antão in Caminha, also at
the mouth of river Minho (Portuguese side); Monte de Góis, also in Caminha, where
significant engraved loci were studied (Viana 1929, 1960; Novoa & Costas Goberna
2004; Valdez 2010; Alves, in this vol.); Serra da Gávea in Vila Nova de Cerveira,
where we highlight the engravings of Senhora da Encarnação (Correia & Recarey
1988) amongst many other unpublished engravings; Monte Faro and Montes dos
Fortes in Valença, where we highlight the engravings designated as Monte da Lage
in Valença (Cunha & Silva 1980; Silva & Cunha 1986), Tapada do Ozão and Monte
dos Fortes (Cunha & Silva 1980; Silva & Cunha 1986; Alves 2009). In this basin,
we also highlight Monte de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, in Monção, with about two
dozen engraved outcrops.
At Âncora basin, we emphasise the engravings: from the south end of Monte de
Santo Antão, such as the ones from Bulhente and Cais, in Freixieiro de Soutelo, Viana
do Castelo
4; from the north end of Serra de Santa Luzia, the ones from Chão do Cano
5and from Santo Adrião, in Âncora, Caminha; and, to the interior, from Serra de Amonde,
such as the ones from Lajedo 1 and 2.
On the coastal fringe, between rivers Âncora and Lima, we specify the places of
Matança/Cividade, Sinadora, Calvo
6(Fig. 7) (Bettencourt 2009b), Laje da Churra (Alves
1980, 1981; Bettencourt 2009b, Santos 2013), and Escampadinhos, all in Afife, Carreço
4 Mentioned briefly by Rego 2003.
5 Mentioned briefly by Rego 2003 and by Bettencourt 2009b with the designations of Bouça and Bouça da Trindade.
66
or Areosa, Viana do Castelo, at different levels on Serra de Santa Luzia as a way of
celebrating the different thresholds.
At Lima basin, the engravings of Breia/Cardielos, in Viana do Castelo (Bettencourt
2005d; Almeida 2008; Bettencourt in this vol.), are distinguished, as well as Penedo da
Moura, in Nogueira, Viana do Castelo (Loureiro 2006), Pratinhos de Nossa Senhora, in
Ponte de Lima (Neves 1981), and Bouça do Colado, in Ponte da Barca, where Penedo
do Encanto (Baptista 1981b, 1995) is inserted. At Cávado basin, we refer to the complex
of engravings of Obsedo, Terras do Bouro (Redentor et al. 2013), and, at Ave basin,
of Laje dos Sinais/Monte do Olheiro, in Barcelos (Cardoso 1951; Bettencourt 1999;
Coimbra 2001, 2004), and Monte de S. Romão, in Guimarães, where we can find Penedo
dos Sinais (Valdez & Oliveira 2005/2006) and Quinta do Paço (Cardoso in this vol.).
To summarise, what seems to be configurative as North-Western Chalcolithic is
a posture towards “life and the world” different from the previous period, where the
burial architecture starts losing importance as a referential and identifying element of
the populations, being substituted by other scenarios; certainly more appropriate to the
new processes of interaction between man and its surroundings. We refer to the places
which are monumental and of great collective investment, such as the enclosures of Sola
and Forca, to the places of great geomorphological drama, such as Monte da Penha,
or to numerous hills and streams materialised by petroglyphs of stylistic grammar and
predominantly circular.
In document
Oficina Económica y Comercial de la Embajada de España en Pekín
(página 93-99)