Archives of our past: The human bones of Megalitho da Cabecinha Grande (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)

Abstract

The Megalitho da Cabecinha Grande (Figueira da Foz, Coimbra, Portugal) is one of the many dolmens of the Atlantic megalithic necropolis explored by António Santos Rocha at the end of the nineteenth century. A very fragmentated, disarticulated, and poorly preserved assemblage of human skeletal remains was recovered from a disturbed chamber. These correspond to a minimum of 18 individuals: 10 adults (both sexes) and 8 non-adults. Elevated biomechanical stress is suggested based on several skeletal markers that include non-metric traits and the thickness of femoral cortical bone, elevated robustness of several other long bone diaphysis, and a Schmorl's node on a lumbar vertebra. Osteological analysis was supplemented with examination of written sources from the excavation to gain inferences about funerary practices. The dolmen architecture, artefacts and radiocarbon dating of a human bone sample, confirm the Chalcolithic chronology. The importance of these skeletal remains derives not only from their being recovered from an expansive megalithic necropolis, but also because they come from a region represented by poorly preserved human skeletal remains.