ALGUMAS REFLEXÕES SOBRE A FASE TARDIA DA IDADE DO FERRO NO OCIDENTE ATLÂNTICO

Abstract

The debate among the scientific community concerning the cultural identity of the Iron Age habitants from the Iberian Peninsula´ s Western Atlantic coast generated different interpretations, often based on partial selections of the archaeological reality. On the other hand, the associated material culture, which is frequently quite fragmented, was never the subject of thorough studies. This situation has, subsequently, produced a variety of hypotheses, all of which easily integrated in different theoretical models. Fortunately, during the last few years, it was possible to carry out a detailed analysis of the archaeological evidence from these western territories, which allowed a more specific characterization and evolution of the area during the second half of the 1st millennium BCE. Based on this new data, we discuss, in this paper, the different interpretations for cultural characterization of these communities and, ultimately, aim to emphasize the features that allow to confirm the existence of an autonomous identity, with specific regional features, in this Center Atlantic area.