Authors:Mário Varela Gomes, Orlando Sousa Abstract: We bring to light the discovery of a new tall menhir, currently laid on the ground, away from its primitive erection site, in Vale de Naçarães, southwest Fontelo village (Armamar, Viseu) allowing some considerations. It is a monolith sculpted with local granitic rock, subcylindrically shaped, but presenting pointed extremities, measuring 5.32 m long and 1.18 m in maximum width. The exposed surface shows three engraved cup-marks, one near the top and two paired on the mesial volume, as well as at the central area four large pecked concentric circles, containing on its inside a fifth circle, smaller and not centred with the larger ones. Other cup-marks were detected, but all the engravings are much eroded and were possibly made when the menhir was already down. This kind of monuments was probably built in the 5th millennium B.C., when the first passage graves appear in the region. The large dimensions of this monolith, when erected allowed his viewing from a far distance thus ordaining the surrounding space. The authors propose that this menhir to be reerected and signalised through explanatory board on his historical and archaeological importance. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Sergio Ríos González Abstract: The statues of warriors are one of the most prominent examples of the Castro culture in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Notable in this category is a series of sculptures depicting the same iconographic motif: standing male, looking straight ahead, carrying a shield on the front. This paper, which is the first part of an integral research about this sculptures, studies their distribution and location as well as the inscriptions that are carved in some of them. Our analysis shows that these sculptural pieces are not found everywhere but in some specific sites within the old conventus bracarensis territory. Most of those locations are associated to heterogeneous settlements, but some others cannot be associated to inhabited areas. In this latter case, the sculptures could have been linked to key points in the territory (crossroads, hills, relevant piks, etc). Finally, engraved inscriptions seem concurrent with their corresponding sculptures, so this is a significant clue for the chronology of this unique statues of warriors. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Mónica Salgado, Francisco M.V. Reimão Queiroga Abstract: The statue of wild boar from Ramilo, now presented, was recently discovered in the course of agricultural work within the boundaries of the Duas Igrejas parish, Miranda do Douro Council, in a property named Ramilo. This is an important find amongst the existing statues of the kind, as it represents a male wild boar depicted with a number of sculpted details that altogether add to the definition of the typologies of representation of the boar statues so far found in this region. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Francisco M.V. Reimão Queiroga, Francisco Sá Reimão Queiroga Abstract: An archaeological survey carried out in an agricultural field located at Quintela de Lampaças, Bragança, led to the discovery of a Late Antiquity grave. The structure in which the burial is settled is made out of loose stones and clay building materials, and bears a rather unclear configuration that diverges from the known funerary models from this epoch. The dating proposed for the set is the second half of the Vth century AD, as suggested by the materials that are most suitable for dating, such as the pieces of Late Terra Sigillata. Amongst the pile of clay materials that made the covering of the grave was deposited one hammer during the funerary ritual. This hammer is of a known roman type, and is a unique find in the region, in addition to being found in a rather unusual context. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Teresa Soeiro, Armando Redentor Abstract: This paper presents the study of an inscribed Roman funerary altar, found in 2020 in the old monastery of Bustelo (Penafiel). The circumstances of the finding were recorded as well as the possible post-Roman era route of the piece and its reuse. The study of the typological characteristics of the support is carried out and the text is analysed from the epigraphic and historical points of view, seeking to contextualize the monument in the regional epigraphy. Taking into account the current knowledge about Roman sites in the vicinity of the finding place, the potential connexion with contemporary settlements of the altar making and primary use is discussed. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:María Dolores Dopico Caínzos Abstract: The History of Galicia by Manuel Murguía laid the foundations of a Galician nationalism based on a differential fact, Celtism, which had remained unchanged from its origins to his own time. To support his theory, Murguía tried to show that no conquest, not even the Roman one, had suppressed the Celtic customs. The epigraphic sources, with the votive inscriptions that mentioned “Celtic” divinities, became a useful resource to show that survival, as well as the independence and spirit of rebellion of the Galician people. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Manuel Luís Real, Paulo Almeida Fernandes Abstract: D. Sesnando’s rule over a vast territory, between the rivers Mondego and Douro (1064-1091), entailed a rupture with the previous framework of territorial management, in which a considerable part of this land was nominally bound to Muslim authorities. After the definitive conquest of Coimbra, there was a period of intense change in the landscape and of enhancement of humanized geography, in which the alvazil Sesnando moved more intensely. This article seeks to address the reality of construction and the arts during D. Sesnando’s time. Based on documental sources that mention various types of heritage, the first part of the paper offered an analysis of the territory. It also included an introduction to the city of Coimbra, between the Muslim invasion of 711 and the eve of the 1064 conquest. In addition we present an overview of the performance of the dux Sesnando. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Jorge de Alarcão Abstract: In 1064, Ferdinand the Great conquered Coimbra from the Musulmans. The authority over the town was trusted to Sesnandus. Born in a Christian family of Coimbra or its area, the count had been educated in the Musulman court of Seville. In the time of Sesnandus, the Christian rule was not extended farther than the line of Penela and Soure, where castles were built. The relations seem to have been peaceful between Sesnandus and the emir of Badajoz, who controlled Lisbon and Santarém. An essay is made here to imagine the urban space of Coimbra and to map the villages that existed around the town. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)
Authors:Teresa Soeiro Abstract: The Municipal Museum of Penafiel recently implemented an experience to stimulate the traditional crafts. It revealed that the tinsmith craft-deeply rooted in the city and district since the end of the 18th century-is at risk of vanishing, since only one professional craftsman remains, already retired. Such urgency led us to seek to document the activity, namely in the municipality, in order to construct a reading of this historical path, focusing on working dynamics and transmission of traditional skills, from the 18th century guilds to the Estado Novo (1933-1974). The last tinker and the memories of other craftsmen who learnt the trade in their youth and practiced it for many years, allowed access to working practices, technical means, models and needs and preferences of the clientele. These were considered under the relevant social and chronological context. PubDate: 2021-10-20 Issue No:Vol. 42 (2021)