Cult artifacts from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement of Leceia, Oeiras, Portugal

Cardoso, João Luís

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/2367

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Authors

Cardoso, João Luís

Abstract(s)

This study concerns 53 ideotechnic artifacts collected in the prehistoric settlement of Leceia, during a period of 20 years of excavations (1983-2002). They correspond to the most important group of artifacts found until now in Portugal due to their certified stratigraphic location in a vast fortified complex. The statuettes and other artifacts of cult character document the existence of religious practices from the second half of the 4th millennium BC through the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Following the Late Neolithic zoomorphic representations, the Chalcolithic feminine images were related to fecundity, life and regeneration, corresponding to the omnipresent idol common to all agrarian societies of the Mediterranean basin. Images of this idol, represented in various shapes and materials, are found in domestic settlements and necropolises.

Keywords

Late Neolithic Chalcolithic Idol Terracotta Limestone Statuettes Leceia Fortification Portugal

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/2367

Citation

Cardoso, João Luís - Cult artifacts from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement of Leceia, Oeiras, Portugal [Em linha]. In Gheorghiu, Dragos; Cyphers, Ann, eds. - "Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic miniature figures in Eurasia, Africa and Meso-America: morphology, materiality, technology, function and context". Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4073-0679-7. p. 37-41