Beaker people without beaker pots: the Chalcolithic funerary context from the Galeria da Cisterna (Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal)

Even though no characteristic ceramics were found, a small set of V-perforated buttons indicates that the Galeria da Cisterna cave was used for funerary purposes by people of the Beaker culture. Direct dating of human bone corroborates that the bodies of at least four adult individuals were laid dow...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zilhão, João
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Servicio de Investigación Prehistórica 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10451/31013
Description
Summary:Even though no characteristic ceramics were found, a small set of V-perforated buttons indicates that the Galeria da Cisterna cave was used for funerary purposes by people of the Beaker culture. Direct dating of human bone corroborates that the bodies of at least four adult individuals were laid down here during the second half of the third millennium cal BC. The buttons belong to well-known types and their textural properties suggest that, as with all the other Portuguese specimens analyzed so far, sperm whale ivory is the raw-material used. A small fragment of a gold spiral completes the site’s Beaker context. A pesar de que no se han recuperado cerámicas del Campaniforme en Galeria da Cisterna, un pequeño conjunto de botones con perforación en “V” indica que la cueva fue utilizada como lugar de inhumación por gentes de esa cultura. La datación directa de restos humanos confirma que al menos cuatro individuos fueron enterrados allí durante la segunda mitad del tercer milenio cal BC. Los botones pertenecen a tipos bien conocidos y las características de la materia prima utilizada indican que, como ocurre con todos los ejemplares de yacimientos portugueses hasta ahora analizados, están fabricados en marfil de cachalote. Un pequeño fragmento de espiral en oro completa este contexto. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion