The Tagus Valley Rock Complex, Portugal: A chronological proposal

Abstract

The Tagus Valley Rock Art Complex in central Portugal constitutes one of the most extensive concentrations of open-air engravings in Europe, comprising nearly 7,000 figures distributed across 12 sites along 40 km of the Tagus River basin. First documented in 1971, the complex preserves a long and continuous artistic sequence ranging from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Early documentation efforts, especially the large-scale latex mould programme of the 1970s, enabled the preservation and study of a vast corpus of motifs despite the submersion of many panels following the construction of the Fratel dam. Through systematic typological, stylistic and spatial analysis, the engravings were classified into major categories — anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, open and closed linear structures . , geometric motifs, tools, weapons, footprints, and indeterminate figures — revealing a highly diverse symbolic repertoire. The proposed chronological framework distinguishes five major phases: (1) an Upper Palaeolithic horizon, recently expanded with new discoveries in the Ocreza valley; (2) an extensive pre-schematic phase associated with late hunter-gatherer communities, dominated by trapezoidal and anatomically stylised animal figures; (3) a long schematic cycle spanning between the Early Neolithic until the Bronze Age and characterised by highly abstract human and geometric motifs; (4) isolated Roman and modern inscriptions; and (5) limited Christian symbols. Spatial analysis highlights the strategic placement of major engraving nuclei near river crossings and rapids, suggesting persistent use of the landscape over millennia. Overall, the Tagus Valley complex provides an exceptional record of symbolic, social and economic transformations in prehistoric and protohistoric western Iberia.