LATE BRONZE AGE IN SERRA DO SOCORRO (MAFRA, TORRES VEDRAS): THE GUSTAVO MARQUES’S COLLECTION

Abstract

The results of the excavations carried out by Gustavo Marques at Serra do Socorro have remained, until recently, unpublished. Only with the incorporation of his collection at the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, that included his notebook, it was possible to understand the nature of his work. At Serra do Socorro, Gustavo Marques excavated in four distinct areas where he collected a considerable set of artifacts from various chronologies. The named Sondage III stands out, for which the ceramic data and the drawings from his notebook seem to indicate an area with preserved levels of the Late Bronze Age, unprecedented situation for this site. The analysis of the artifacts allowed to confirm what has been admitted to this important archaeological site, the fact that it has assumed a central role in the regional settlement network during the transition from the 2nd to the 1st millennium BC.