The Zambujal’s arrowheads (Torres Vedras, Portugal): functionality and raw material provenance

Functionality and Raw Material Provenance

Résumé

Zambujal is considered one of the most important reference sites in Portuguese Extremadura for the understanding of the Chalcolithic of southwestern Iberia. This study presents a contribution of combined raw material provenance studies, functionality and typology to reveal de complexity of the war theme in Chalcolithic. This paper is a synthesis of the techno-typological and petrographic studies of the arrowheads found in Zambujal during the excavations by H. Shubart and E. Sangmeister (1964-1979) and M. Kunst (1994-2012). The evaluation of their effectiveness is based on ballistic analysis (penetration index) and indicates a trend that the majority of projectiles with all the parameters necessary for this study would be suitable to cause physical damage only to small animals. However, further experimental studies need to be carried out in the future. The results of the petrographic studies show the dominance of flint from the Lisbon region (30-40 km), according to the remaining flakes knapped in Zambujal. However, it should be emphasised that there is a decrease in the proportion of raw material from local sources (up to 10 km) and, on the contrary, an increase in the proportion of Rio Maior flint in finished armatures, suggesting its regional origin (up to 30-35 km).