The results from the study of the faunal assemblage from ditch 7 of the Perdigões enclosure (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) are presented. Dated to the Chalcolithic and the transition to the early Bronze Age it comprises a total of 3380 remains. Results show the rele- vance of swine, caprines, cervids, bovines and equids and their diachronic oscillation. Indicators of butchering and consumption were recorded, comprising cutmarks, anthropogenic breakage, thermo-alterations and tooth marks, the latter mainly of a carnivore origin. The spectra obtained were compared within the scope of the Perdigões chronology, from the late Middle Neolithic to the transition to the early Bronze Age (3400-2000 BC), thus representing a first approach to the diachronic behaviour of vertebrate consumption at the site. Domesticated species are prevalent but changes in the domesticated/wild ratio are evident with a wild input, mainly from red deer, of significance in the late Middle Neolithic and in the transition to the early Bronze Age, whereas the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods have a growth in the domesticated component.

This paper presents the sequence of depositions inside Pit 50 of Perdigões ditched enclosure, dating from the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, and discusses the patterning that emerges from the detailed analysis of the distribution and levels of integrity of pottery and faunal remains along the infilling sequence. It is argued that these patterns are intentional and incorporate metaphorical meanings. Some interpretative hypothesis are put forward, taking in consideration the global scenario provided by Perdigões enclosure, from which this particular context recursively retrieves and provides significance. keywords: Structured depositions, Pottery depositions, Faunal depositions, Chalcolithic, Perdigões. Resumo: O Fragmento, A Metade e O Todo: aproximação às deposições de cerâmica e fauna da Fossa 50 do recinto dos Perdigões (primeira metade do 3º milénio AC). Este artigo apresenta a sequência de deposições no interior da Fossa 50 do recinto de fossos dos Perdigões, datada da primeira metade do 3º milénio AC, e discute o padrão que emerge de uma análise detalhada da distribuição e níveis de integralidade da cerâmica e restos faunísticos ao longo da sequência. Algumas hipóteses interpretativas são avançadas, tendo em consideração o cenário global proporcionado pelos Perdigões, do qual este contexto específico recursivamente retira e providencia sentido. Palavras-chave: deposições estruturadas, deposições cerâmicas, deposições faunísticas, Calcolítico, Perdigões

The potential impact of climatic deterioration on societal breakdowns in prehistory is often based on the mere coincidence of archaeological and palaeoclimatological proxies. For a more profound discussion, climate-sensitive archaeological parameters need to be identified. As agriculture and livestock are significantly affected by the recent climate crisis, the analysis of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains can deepen our understanding of this topic. Here, we analyze regional trajectories in subsistence and seasonal precipitation variability across southern Iberia focusing on well-known prehistoric breakdowns around 2200 and 1600 BCE. Results suggest that the ratios of the importance of sheep/goat versus swine and sheep/goat versus cattle, respectively, may serve as a proxy for prehistoric mobility. The importance of hunting deer represents a proxy for societal turnover. While no direct link is evident between climate deterioration and the archaeozoological data, archaeobotanical data reveals a potential relation to precipitation variability. In particular, a close connection to reductions in cold-season precipitation in south-east Iberia appears likely for the ratio between barley and naked wheat. The increased importance of drought-tolerant barley correlates with a trend to reduced cold-season precipitation levels after ca. 2700 BCE. We hypothesize that prehistoric people in south-east Iberia cultivated more barley in order to adapt to periods of drier cold-season climate.

This paper presents the results of the excavations carried out in the Chalcolithic contexts from the walled enclosure of Ota (Alenquer, Portugal). Six new absolute dates allow the discussion of the stratigraphical evidence and chronologically frame the zooarchaeological and taphonomical analysis of the faunal assemblage. Domesticated swine, caprine and bovine are prevalent, while wild species, most notably leporids, but also red deer, auroch and wild boar, among others, are less common. Exploitation and management of animals for the acquisition of primary and secondary products are inferred. Existing data suggests that the economic intensification that started during the previous phases was ongoing.

Human–animal relations have been a fruitful research topic worldwide. The importance of deer in hunter–gatherer societies is undeniable, with cervids being commonly found in archaeological and past artistic records, with a notable amount of information recovered in the Iberian Peninsula. This relevance continues during Late Prehistory, but the attempt to discuss cervids under broader perspectives and based on different types of data is not as common. We intend to approach human–deer relations in Central and Southern Portuguese Late Prehistory by considering the zooarchaeological records, both deer abundance in faunal spectra and their presence in “meaningful” assemblages and structured depositions, as well as the use of deer and deer body parts in other socio–cultural and ideological practices. The synthesis of available data shows that human–deer relations changed through time and space, with different abundances related to hunting depending on chronology and geography. The use of deer or their body parts as a resource of symbolic nature also varied, being included in food-sharing events, offerings, structured depositions, and graphic representations. Changeability is part of the different relationships, ontologies, and cosmogonies that humans and deer developed in the Late Prehistoric relational world.