The Use of Gold at the Rock-cut Tomb Necropolis of Casal do Pardo (Quinta do Anjo, Palmela, 3200–2000 BCE)

Abstract

The rock-cut cave necropolis at Casal do Pardo (Quinta do Anjo, Palmela, Setúbal) is a type site for the prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula, and it was recognised as early as the 19th century as an archetypal locale for metal points and bowls belonging to the Beaker culture. More than 100 years after the first excavations by Carlos Ribeiro and António Mendes
(1876) and António Inácio Marques da Costa (1906/1907), new fieldwork and the study of the archaeological materials still have important questions to investigate. The results of an excavation campaign carried out in 2017 in the corridor of the rock-cut Cave 1 are summarily presented, discussing the specific issue of gold metallurgy. The new data and seven analyses conducted at Casal do Pardo are discussed in the context of central and southern Portugal and of the so-called Beaker phenomenon.