Trading Horizons: Quinta do Marcelo (Almada, Portugal) and the transition to the 1st millennium B.C.E. on the Tagus Estuary

Abstract

The site of Quinta do Marcelo has been an unavoidable mark in the bibliography addressing the later phases of the Bronze Age along the Portuguese Atlantic coast, particularly with regard to the large-scale trade networks and the impact caused by the arrival of foreign elements to the area. For the very first time, we present the entire artefact assemblage, which, as anticipated, proves to be remarkably rich and diversified. Additionally, we conducted a detailed analysis of the contexts identified during the excavation carried out in 1986. This new approach allowed us to reassess some questions perpetuated in specialised bibliography and reevaluate the chronological framework of the occupation, which lasted until the Iron Age. In addition to two combustion structures and what has been described as a negative structure, small pit-like structures, possibly associated with vineyard planting, were also identified, corresponding to the earliest trace of this activity in Portuguese territory.