FENÍCIOS E INDÍGENAS EM CONTACTO NO ESTUÁRIO DO TEJO

Abstract

In the estuary of the Tagus river a strong final Bronze Age is identified, with habitats, necropolis and votive deposits. The typology of the settlements shows an apparently hierarchized structure, even in domestic contexts, with small sites in the plains and larger ones in the top of hills. The occupation is dense in the territory, with an occupation in both rivers’ borders, but also in the hinterland. The beginning of Iron Age (in the late VIII century b.c.e.) brought a new situation. Many sites were abandoned in the inland, and the occupation favors the occupation of the land banks of the river. Here, the large sites, like Santarém, Almaraz and Lisbon, absorbed eastern population, and became the centers of power. Probably they planed the foundation of new sites in the left river’s banks, like Cabeço da Bruxa and Porto do Sabugueiro, and in the right (Quinta da Marqueza).