Bronze Age funerary spaces in Outeiro Alto 2 (Brinches, Serpa, Portugal): the hipogea cemetery

Abstract

The Outeiro Alto 2 (Brinches, Serpa, Portugal) is part of a wider range of archaeological sites recently excavated on the left bank of the Guadiana River, Baixo Alentejo, in the context of the Empreendimento de Fins Múltiplos de Alqueva - EDIA (Alqueva Dam). The chronology of its occupation extends from the Final Neolithic to the Bronze Age, also through Chalcolithic, and it is located on a gentle hill with a wide view of the landscape. In this study we present the data concerning to the occupation of the site during the Bronze Age, more specifically the hypogea necropolis. It is a cultural reality badly known and scarcely characterized and documented until recently, proper to the region, but where it becomes evi- dent the influence of Argaric Culture, especially in the funerary rituals.

Keywords

• rituales funerarios
• bronce del sudoeste
• cultura argárica
• estructuras funerarias subterráneas
• osarios