From Hinterlands to the Sea

From Hinterlands to the Sea:
Using isotopic data from Vila Nova de São Pedro to understand mobility and economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal

Entidade Financiadora: Archaeological Institute of America – The Archaeology of Portugal Fellowship
Referência: 2023.13251.PEX
Instituição Proponente: Mount Mercy University
Unidade de Investigação: Department of Natural and Applied Sciences
Investigador Responsável: Anna Waterman
Instituições de Colaboração: University of Iwoa; University of Illinois (UIUC); UNIARQ; Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses
Duração: 1 ano (2020)
Estado: Finalizado

Resumo:
The Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age (c.3500-1500 BCE) of the Portuguese Estremadura demonstrates the emergence and later collapse of socially-complex non-state societies. The archaeological record suggests large fortified coastal and interior settlements were economically and socially integrated, but direct evidence of this integration is lacking. Over the last decade, the principal investigator have gathered isotopic data from the coastal sites of Zambujal and Leceia and used the data to differentiate individual and group dietary variation, and to identify migrant humans and animals. Based upon the local geology, I hypothesize that some of the migrants are from Vila Nova de São Pedro site (VNSP) (Azambuja, Portugal) in the Portuguese interior.
For our AIA-funded project we propose testing this hypothesis by obtaining environmental and faunal samples from new excavations at VNSP and completing laboratory analysis for 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, and δ15N values. These data will allow to identify VNSP natives and discern regional differences in diet. The proposed methodology is one of the few ways to quantify migration by distinguishing individual migrants and possible places of origin and will allow me to investigate the possibility that animals and humans were moving from the interior to large coastal settlements in the West.

Estudos publicados no âmbito deste projecto

Investigating the economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal: New Isotopic Data from Vila Nova de São Pedro
WATERMAN, Anna; DETRY, Cleia; DINIZ, Mariana; NEVES, César; MARTINS, Andrea; ARNAUD, José M. & PEATE, David (2024) – Investigating the economic integration of coastal and interior settlements in Late Prehistoric Portugal: New Isotopic Data from Vila Nova de São Pedro. DINIZ, Mariana; MARTINS, Andrea; NEVES, César & ARNAUD, José M. (Eds.) Vila Nova de São Pedro e o Calcolítico no Ocidente Peninsular 2. estudos & memórias 23. Lisboa: UNIARQ/FL-UL, p.171-183.