Carved in stone : exploring the petrification phenomenon of late 3$^{rd}$ millennium BC in southern Portugal

Basílio, Ana Catarina (author)

The late 3rd millennium BC petrification phenomenon in southern Portugal challenges traditional interpretations, and invites us to explore the complex interplay between prehistoric memory and identity. Found at key mnemonic sites, like the ditched enclosures of Perdigões, Santa Vitória, and Bela Vista 5, these non-funerary stone agglomerations – comprising recutting infillings and a cairn – extended beyond mere functionality. They likely embodied powerful symbols, either by preserving cultural traditions amidst societal transformations or by deliberately and socially erasing past identities. Ultimately, this study examines these agglomerations as ideological tools that reshaped collective memory during the transition between the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, shedding light on the more intangible behaviours of past communities.

• Language: English
• Keywords: petrification phenomenon, late 3$^{rd}$ millennium BC, southern Portugal, mnemonic sites, cultural preservation, social forgetting
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 356-377
• Numbering: Vol. 52
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180581
• ISSN on article: 1854-2492
• DOI: 10.4312/dp.52.1

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC BY-SA 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 11. 3. 2026)

• Publication date in RUL: 11.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Documenta Praehistorica
• Shortened title: Doc. Praehistor.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1854-2492
• COBISS.SI-ID: 220673792

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Vklesano v kamen : raziskovanje fenomena petrifikacije v poznem 3. tisočletju pr. n. št. na jugu Portugalske

Abstract

Pojav petrifikacije v poznem 3. tisočletju pr. n. št. na jugu Portugalske predstavlja izziv za tradicionalne interpretacije in vabi k raziskovanju zapletenih medsebojnih vplivov med prazgodovinskim spominom in identiteto. Najdeni so bili na ključnih mnemoničnih najdiščih, kot so ograde Perdigões, Santa Vitória in Bela Vista 5. Ti negrobni kamniti skupki, ki vključujejo ponovno vkopana polnila in megalitske strukture, so presegli zgolj funkcionalnost in so verjetno predstavljali močne simbole, bodisi z ohranjanjem kulturnih tradicij sredi družbenih premen bodisi z namernim in skupnim brisanjem preteklih identitet. Nenazadnje, študija preučuje skupke kot ideološka orodja, ki so preoblikovala kolektivni spomin na prehodu med bakreno in bronasto dobo in poudarja nematerialna vedenja preteklih skupnosti.

• Keywords: fenomen petrifikacije, pozno 3. tisočletje pr. n. št., južna Portugalska, mnemonična najdišča, ohranjanje kulture, družbeno pozabljanje

Projects

• Funder: FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.
• Project number: SFRH/BD/136086/2018
• Name: Detecção remota na prospecção arqueológica: os sítios fortificados do 3º milénio a.C. na região Oeste Estremadura, Portugal

• Funder: FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.
• Project number: COVID/BD/153527/2023
• Name: O final do 3º milénio a.C. no Sul de Portugal: Razões para o colapso da trajectória social vigente