A idade do ferro do Sul de Portugal. Estado da investigação

Abstract

Archaeological work carried out in the Algarve during the last decade has yielded important new data concerning the Iron Age of this region. In this paper the new information is discussed and analysed in the context of the south western region of the Iberian Peninsular. The Iron Age occupation of southern Portugal is closely linked with developments in the Mediterranean world and, in a first phase (eighth to sixth century B.C.), with the installation of a population of oriental origin in the region of the Strait of Gibraltar. This first phase is found only in sites of the Eastern Algarve, however (Castro Marim and Tavira), an area which constitutes the western border of this orientalization. In a second phase (middle of fifth century B.C.), Iron Age levels with a Mediterranean matrix have also been documented in the western Agarve (Faro, Cerro da Rocha Branca, Monte Molião). At Castro Marim significant changes can be observed in this phase in the urban structure and in the origin of imported products.