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Practice, Process, and Social Change in Third Millennium BC Europe: A View from the Sizandro Valley, Portugal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Katina T. Lillios
Katina T. Lillios*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Iowa, USA
*
[email: [email protected]]
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Abstract

This paper considers the shift from the practice of collective burials to individual (or double) burials in western Europe at the end of the Neolithic/Copper Age, around 2500–2000 BC, through the lens of a particular mortuary site—the artificial cave of Bolores (Torres Vedras, Portugal). It suggests that the practices involved in making and using collective burials played an important role in this transformation towards increasing social differentiation. It explores how a focus on materiality at different scales, both temporal and spatial, might contribute new insights into geographically widespread and relatively co-synchronous social change.

Cet article examine le passage de la pratique des sépultures collectives à des sépultures individuelles (ou doubles) en Europe occidentale à la fin du Néolithique/Âge du Cuivre, autour de 2500–2000 BC, par le biais d'un site mortuaire particulier: la caverne artificielle de Bolores (Torres Vedras, Portugal). On suggère que les pratiques menant à la préparation et l'utilisation des sépultures collectives ont joué un rôle important dans cette transformation vers une différenciation sociale croissante. L'article explore comment une focalisation sur la matérialité à des échelles différentes, à la fois temporelle et spatiale, pourrait contribuer à mieux comprendre le changement social largement répandu géographiquement et relativement cosynchrone. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Dieser Beitrag behandelt den Wechsel von der Praxis der Kollektivbestattung zu Einzel- (oder Doppel-) Bestattungen in Westeuropa um 2500–2000 v. Chr., am Ende des Neolithikums/der Kupferzeit, aus dem Blickwinkel eines bestimmten Bestattungsplatzes: der künstlichen Höhle von Bolores (Torres Vedras, Portugal). Es wird gezeigt, dass die Praktiken, die die Anlage und Nutzung von Kollektivbestattungen mit sich brachten, eine bedeutende Rolle in der Entwicklung hin zu einer zunehmenden sozialen Differenzierung spielten. Weiterhin wird untersucht, wie ein Fokus auf der Materialität in verschiedenen Maßstäben—gleichermaßen zeitlich wie auch räumlich—neue Erkenntnisse zu geographisch weit verbreitetem und relativ gleichzeitigen sozialen Wandel beisteuern kann. Traslation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

A partir da visão proporcionada por um sítio em particular—a gruta artificial de Bolores (Torres Vedras, Portugal)—este artigo trata da mudança de costumes funerários—de sepulcros colectivos para tumulações individuais (ou duplas)—ocorrida na Europa ocidental no final do Neolítico/Calcolítico, por volta de 2500–2000 AC. Argumenta-se que as práticas subjacentes à produção e utilização de sepulturas colectivas desempenharam um papel importante em processos de transformação que deram origem a graus mais elevados de diferenciação social. Discute-se como, pondo ênfase na materialidade (a diferentes escalas, tanto no tempo como no espaço), é possível obter novas perspectivas sobre fenómenos de mudança social que afectam vastas áreas geográficas de forma penecontemporânea.

Keywords

mortuary archaeologymultiscalar archaeologysocial changePortugalSpaincollective burialsNeolithicCopper AgeBronze Agearchéologie mortuairearchéologie multiscalairechangement socialPortugalEspagnesépultures collectivesNéolithiqueÂge du CuivreÂge du BronzeBestattungsarchäologiemultiskalare Archäologiesozialer WandelPortugalSpanienKollektivbestattungenNeolithikumKupferzeitKupferzeitBronzezeitarqueologia funerariaarqueologia de multi-escalamudança socialPortugalEspanhaenterramentos colectivosNeolíticoIdade do CobreIdade do Bronze
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , 2015 , pp. 245 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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