Faunal Remains Associated with Human Cremations: The Chalcolithic Pits 16 and 40 from the Perdigões Ditched Enclosures (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal)

Abstract

Different funerary behaviors are recorded in the Iberian Peninsula during Late Prehistory. Cremation is not the most common practice and the association between human cremains and fauna is even scarcer. We present two Chalcolithic pits (pits 16 and 40) from the Perdigões ditched enclosures, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. Humans were accompanied by animals and other votive materials such as arrowheads, ivory anthropomorphic figurines, and marble idols. Differences between the two contexts are discussed regarding the selection of faunal anatomical parts, the abundance of species, and the manipulation of remains. The results obtained were compared to previously published data from anthropological analysis. Burning damage intensity is different among pits and between humans and fauna. Hence, this suggests that the latter also resulted from diverse practices, including the possible selection of animal body portions for cremation and/or the deposition of selected burned bones or even related to patterns existing in the contexts of the provenance of the cremated materials before the cremation events.

Keywords

• zooarchaeology
• taphonomy
• copper age
• burned remains
• cremation