THETHIRDSEASONOFEXCAVATIONS

ATALCARIA
LONGA
JAMESL. BOONE

Ru~ l\nt6h!o /~•-•"' ,.,,.,,j,fa, l-)

17JD • H.l MA, ,,,1~ . l'O/\ TUGI\I.

111
1. INTRODUCTION

Thisarticlepresents the preliminary resultsof thethird seasonof excavations at

AlcariaLonga,carriedout in MaythroughAugustof 1990.AlcariaLongais a rural
villagesitedatingto the laterCaliphal andTaifalperiods(late10ththroughthe 11th
centuries AD)located24 kmwestof Mertolain the LowerAlentejoof Portugal. An
introduction to thesiteandthe research aimsof theAlcariaLongaProject,alongwith
the resultsof the first two seasons of excavations in 1988-89,arepresented in the
previous volumeofthisjournal(Boone 1992).
The1990excavations at AlcariaLongafocusedontwoareas:I) theTrench1 Area,
wherea singlehousecompound hadbeenpartiallyexcavated in the previous
season
(Boone1992);and2) thetop of theSouthHill,whereremainsof a possible fortifica-
tion or watchtower hadbeenuncovered in the 1988season. A totalof 384 m' were
excavated in the Trench1 Areain 1990,bringingthe total areaexcavated thereto
532m'.A totalof 168m'wereexcavated ontheSouthHill,including 8 m'excavated in
1988.

2. TRENCH
1 AREA
STRUCTURES
Figure1 - Architecturaldrawingof the threehouse-
Threehouseholdcompounds, eachconsistingof two roofedstructuresbuilt holdcompounds uncovered in the the Trench1 Area,
perpendicularly
aroundanopenpatio,werenearlycompletely excavated
in theTrench showingthelocation ofthevarious structures
(ciSTR)i
1 Areaof thesite(referto Figures
1 and2; Structures
1 and2 werepartiallydescribed numbers) discussed
in thetext.
 in Boone1992).Theexcavations revealed that
thehousehold structureshadbeenfor themost
partbuiltdirectlyon the bedrock surfaceof the
hillside.
Stoneusedin construction wasquarried
directlyoffthehorizontal bedsof graywacke and
relatedmarinesedimentary rockonthe hill, so-
metimes withinonlya few metersof the cons-
tructionsite.Thegraywacke onthehillis natura-
llybedded intosheets andcanberelatively easily
brokenoff intoregularsizedblocksfor building.
Figure 4bis a photograph of anareajustnorthof
the entrance to Compound 2 wherestonehas
beenquarriedin blocksfroma rockbedabout
40 cmin thickness. Theareabelowthequarried
shalewaslaterfilledwithrefuse, andwasthelar-
gestmiddendepositexcavated onthesite(Mid-
den1). Noevidence of occupation earlierthan
approximately thelate10thor early11thcentury
ADhasbeenfoundinthesettlement area.Thesi-
te wasapparently a newsettlement efforton a
previously unoccupied site.
: 112
,!""-
Compound 1 - Structure1 wasonlypar-
tiallyexcavated dueto the presence of a large Figure2- Schematic diagramof thethreehousehold compounds uncovered in theTrench1 Area,
olivetreegrowing insidetheextreme westendof showinglocationof hearths(HI,H2,efc.)andvariousfindsmentioned in thetext.
the buriedstructure.However, by exposing the
wall-topsof the structurein the unexcavated
portion,wewereableto ascertain thattheentire
structurewas11.2m longand2.8 m wide(all
structuralmeasurements referto interiordimen-
sions).
Thestructurewasdividedintothreerooms
byinteriorwallswithdoorways. Thelargemiddle
roomis 5.8 m longand2.8 m wide,andhada
doorway leadingto thepatioareaoutside. A se-
condroomat theeastendof thestructure was
smaller(2.5m longby 2.8m wide)andhadno
directexterioraccess.Thedoor between this
roomandthelargerroomhadanupended slate
flagstonefor athreshold. Thisroomhadtwotile-
-and-clay-lined hearthssituatednextto each
otheralongthenorthwall. Figure3 - Planof the structureexcavated on the summitof the SouthHill (Trench3 Area).Hat-
Twofingerringsanda perforated silverAra- chedareaswereonlyexcavated to wall-toplevel.
 I
biccoin(describedandillustrated
in Boone1992)wererecovereddirectlyonthefloor Structure 2 is a smaller,singleroomstruc-
of the northwest
cornerof this room,withinthe burnedarea.Thethirdroomof this ture(5.9m by 2.4 m). It hada singledooron
longstructurewasrevealed onlyby walltrenches;it measures
approximately1.8 m thewestsideleading to thepatioarea,thethres-
longand2.8mwide. holdof whichwasbuiltof two millstones. Five
distinctlire containment featuresare located
inside.Hearth3 is linedwithtiredbricks.Hearth
4 is another tile-and-clay linedhearth,similarto
thetwo excavated in Structure1. Nextto it are
two circularhearths(H5andH6)sideby side,
linedwith hand-sizedquartzstonesset in a
roughlycircularpattern. Thesehearths areoutli-
nedwithbrokentiles.Hearth7 is a smallquartz-
-stonelinedhearthsetintothe bedrock floorof
the structure.Theonlyartilactrecovered with
anyof thesefeatureswasa smallbronzering
foundin the ashesof H7.At this pointit is un-
clearwhatkindof activitywasassociated with
thesehearths,but it is reasonable to suggest
thatthis buildingwasthesiteof somelightma-
nufacturingactivity, while the other longer
structure wasusedtor a livingarea.
Thefloorsof bothstructures weresurfaced 113
with a combination of packedclay,occasional
flagstones, andthenaturalbedrock surface. The
two largerstructures areconnected by a small
rectangular structure(2.8by 1.5m),whichalso
was apparentlyrooted,and hada flagstone
floor.It mayhavebeena storageroom,butan
alternateexplanation is that it is an entrance
roomto thecompound similarthe oneuncove-
redin Compound 2.
Structure 3, locatedalongthe southsideof
the patioarea,wasapparently a smallrooted
structure(indicatedby a highdensityof fallen
rooltilefoundinsideits walls).Thisstructure
may,too, haveopenedintothe patio.The1990
excavations tailedto claritythe structure's rela-
tionshipwithotherhouses, dueto thetactthatit
Figure4a(lop)-A viewof !heCompound 2 lookingeast,showing partof thebent-axis
entryway, pa- wasverypoorlypreserved andits closeproxi-
vedwithschistflagstones,intothecompound. 4b(bollom):Viewof north-west cornerof Structure
4,
lookingsouth,showing wherebedsof thegraywacke bedrock rightnextto thestructurewerequar-
mityto a livingolivetree.
riedforbuildingstone.Oneof !helargermiddenaccumulations al thesitewasdeposited in theinte-
rsticesof thisquarried
rockarea.Thestructureswerebuiltdirectlyonthebedrock surfaceofthehill. Compound 2 - Compound 2 is organized
Muchofthesoilaccumulation todayobservable onthehill appears to bepost-occupational. similarlyto Compound
1, witha fewinternalva-
fw

riations.Structure 4 is thelongeast-west struc- -axisentryleading to theopenpatioarea.Anotherbronzespindlewasrecovered just

ture,measuring 9.5m by2.4m. Its largemiddle outsidethisentry-way in themiddendeposit(Midden I) thatappearsto beassociated
room,4.7 m by 2.4 m, containstwo tile-and- withthis compound. Theper1orated leadcoin(Figure11;discussed furtherbelow)
-clay-lined hearthsanda box-shaped fireplace wasrecovered onthefloorof theentry-way itself.
builtintothewallon theeastend.A decorated
bronzeandirondaggerhilt (Figure12b)wasre-
covered fromthefloorat thedooropeninginto
the smalleastroom.Thestructurehasa door
on thesouthwallleading to thepatioarea.The
eastroom(.9 m by 2.7 m) mayhaveserved
somefunctionconnected withthefireplace (see
discussionunderfire containmentfeatures
below).
Thesmallwestroom(1.6m by2.3m) con-
taineda singlestonelined firepit in thecenterof
the room(Figure6b).Several smallfragments
of a finesilverchain(Figure12a)wererecove-
redin theashesof the pit. A fragmentary top-
piecefor a distaff(Port.torrederoca),usedin
spinning thread,carved froma capridlongbone
wasfoundonthefloornextto thehearth.Seve-
a 114 ral partiallyreconstructable vesselswerefound
"tr,~.-
in the northhalfof the room,includinga buff
TypeV jar andsomesmallcookingpot frag-
ments.A smallcloset-like room(.9m by1.2m)
is connectedto the west room by way of a
narrowraiseddoorway.
Structure 5 consistsof a singleroom5.6m
longand2.6 m wide.A dooron the eastwall
opened intothepatio.Threedistincthearths are
locatedinthesouthendof theroom:2 tile-and-
-clay-lined hearthsanda rocklinedhearth.The
hearthareais surrounded byseverallargeslate
flagstones thatseemto separate this areaspa-
tiallyfromtherestof theroom.A bronze spindle
(Figure9b)wasrecovered ontheflagstone sur-
face,anda completemarinescallopshellwas
recovered on theflooralongthesouthwall.On
the northwall of the structurearetwo more
hearths:a tile-and-clay-lined anda rock-lined
Figure5a (top)- Hearths12 (tile-and-clay-lined)
and13 (rock-lined)locatednextto eachother
hearth(Figure 5a).
alongthenorthwall of Structure
5. 5b(bottom):Hearths4 (tile-and-clay-lined),
5 and6 (linedwith
Thecompound wasentered fromtheoutside , quartzstones)locatedin thenorthwestcornerof Structure2. Holein Hearth4, justlo therightof
onthewestsidethrougha narrow,paved,bent- thescaleslick,wasdugbya treasurehunterin between seasons.

L
 Thepatioareawasapproximately 5.2 m by 7.2 m andwaspavedwith dressed wasprobablyneverroofed.Verylittleartifactual
slateflagestones.
Thesouthperimeterof thepatiois delimited
bya steepnaturalrock material
wasrecoveredin eitherthepatioor the
ledge.Ontheeastsideof the patioa smallportalleadsto whatmayhavebeenan animalpen.
animalpen(5.6m by2.2m);thisstructurecontained virtuallyno fallenrooltile,and
Compound 3 - Compound 3 is organized
spatially
in thesamegeneral wayastheprevious
two compounds. It consistsof Structure7, the
longeastweststructure11 m longand2.6 m
wide.Themiddleroomis 5.7 m by 2.6 m and
hastheonlydoorto the patio.A smallstorage
room(.9 m by2.4m) is locatedontheeastend
of the structure.Theiron hammer(Figure9a;
possiblyassociatedwith blacksmithing) was
recovered on the floor just outsidethe narrow
entrance to thestorageroom.Fourtile-and-and-
·clayhearths arelocatedon thewestendof the
middleroom.A greatdealof ashwasassociated
with the hearths,and the largestsampleof
animalbonesrecovered in excavationcamefrom
this area.Althoughcomplete faunalanalysisis
still pending (seeTable2 anddiscussion below),
the bonesincludedcapridlongboneswith cut 115
marksanda few bonesof smallishgamebirds
suchas quailor partridge, whicharestill com-
monlyhuntedinthearea.
Thedoorleadingto thewestroomappears
to havebeenblockedup with loosedry stone
masonryin the lateroccupation of the house.
Thiswouldexplain theposition-ingof a hearthin
the middleroom(H19)rightin whatappears to
bethe doorway. Thewestroom(3.5by 2.5 m)
contained a greatdealof brokenpotteryandmay
havebeenusedasa trashdumpafterthe room
wasblockedoff. Thewestroomcontainedno
recognizable permanent featuressuchashearths.
Structure 6 (6.2m by2.6m) is a north-south
single-roomstructureassociatedwith Com-
pound3. Muchof thewestwallof thisstructure,
includingwhatmusthavebeenthe onlydoor,
was missingdueto wall slumpingdownthe
sleepinclineto thewestof thestructure. Struc-
Figure6A(top)- Hearth21, a circularclay-and-tile-lined
hearthalongthewestwallot Structure6.
68 (bottom):Hearth23, a firepitlinedwithstonesandrivercobbles,locatedin the centerot the ture 6 containsfive fire-containment features.
westroomof Structure
4. H16is a smallstone-lined hearthin thecenterof
 thenorthendoftheroom.H14andH15areboth householdcompounds. Allwerefoundinsideoneor anotherof thesix roofedstruc-
small pits dug into naturalcrevassesin the tures;noexteriorhearths
or ovenswereuncovered.
The25fire-containment features
bedrock in thecenterof theroom.Bothfeatures canbedividedintofivegeneralcategories
basedonformandmaterial; thesearedes-
arefilledwith consolidated, porousmassesof cribedbelow.
oxidizediron slagor coke,ash,andcharcoal
whichweinterpret asthe remains of blacksmith Tile-and-clay-lined Hearths
forges.H21(Figure 6a)is a circulartile-and-clay- Themostcommonformof fire containment featurewasthe tile-and-clay-lined
-linedhearthlocatedalongthe destroyed west hearth(Figure 5a).Eachof thesix roofedstructures uncovered containedat leasttwo
wallof thestructure. H22is another verypoorly of thesehearths: Structure 7 containedfourin thesameroom.Fourteen suchhearths
preserved lile-and-clay-Uned hearthin the sou- wererecovered in all (H1,H2,H4,H8,H9,H10,H11,H13,H17;H18,H19,H2o,H21,
thwestcorner.Theroof-falllayerinthisstructure H22).Thehearths werebuiltlevelwiththeclayor bedrock floorandwereinvariably
contained a greatdealof pottery,includingthe locatedagainst aninteriorwall.Therockwallsurface abovethehearthusuallyshowed
largenearlycomplete jar in Figure
8a.Ourtenta- signsof fire-reddening. Thehearthsthemselves consisted of a roughlycircularor
tiveinterpretation
is thatthestructure wasaban- rounded lectangular arealinedwithbrokenrooflile.In H9andH19largeflatsherdsof
donedandusedaS''adumpby otherstill occu- TypeI Basins werealsoincorporated intothelining.Thetileareawascovered bya flat
piedhouseholds astherooffellin. layerof burnedclay3 to 7 cmin thickness. Theburnedclayappears to havebeena
functionalpartof thehearth.Occasionally sherdsof TypeI cookingpotsor casuelas
werefoundimbedded in thesurface of theclay.Manyof thehearths haddeposits of
3. FIRECONTAINMENT
FEATURES ashandcharcoal fragments lyingonthe claysurfaces. Thesealkalineashdeposits
werevirtuallythe onlyareasof thesitewhereanimalboneswerepreserved. H21is
Twenty-five
distinctfire-containmentfeatu- distinctive
in thatit is perfectly circular,andtheflat claysurfaceseemsthickerand
,- 116
, --
reswereuncoveredintheexcavation of thethree morecarefullyprepared thanin othercases(Figure6a).Abouthalfthefeaturewas

Figure7b - The small east room of Structure4,

showingthe backof the wall fireplace,with large,flat
stoneformingthe moveablebackof the fireplace.A
smallbaulkconsistingof the compact,gravellyroom Figure7a- Viewof thesoutheastcornerof Structure
4, showingthewallfireplace(H25)andtwo
fill thoughtto bemeltedpise,wasleftnextto thecover- clay-and-tile-lined
hearths(H8andH9).Noteflat stoneslyingin floor nextto H8andinsidethe
ingstone,justto theleftof thescalestick. fireplace,probably
usedto supportcooking
vessels.
 destroyed dueto a postdepositional
wallslump.Liketheothertile-linedhearths,
the fragments (discussed below).Nopacked or bur-
claylayeris packedontopof a bedof brokenrooftile. nedclaywasfoundassociated withthis kindof
hearth.Rock-lined hearthswerefoundonlyin
Rock-lined Hearths thesmallernorth-south oriented structures.The
Sixhearthslinedwithhand-tocobble-sized rockswereexcavated (H5,H6,H7, longer,east-west orientedstructures contained
H12,H16,H24).H7andH16weresmall,roughlycirculararrangements of irregular onlythetile-and-clay-linedhearths(withtheex-
sizedrockssetintothebedrock floorawayfromthewalltowardsthe interiorof the ceptionof the stone-lined pit, H23,whichwas
room.Ashesandcharcoal fragmentswerefoundamongtherocks.H12andH24were uniqueto thesite).
similarin form,butwerebuiltdirectlyadjacentto tile-and-clay-lined
hearths,one H5andH6aredistinctfromthefour rock-
(H12)nextto a wall,theother(H24)in the roominterior.H12,H16,andH24were -linedhearthdiscussed abovein that theyare
builtof shalebedrockfragments;H5,H6,andH7werebuiltof massive veinquartz muchlarger,arearranged in a roughlycircular
pattern,and areset into a matrixof packed,
. .
•• _,, ,· "\ . ··\,__ . burnedclay(Figure 5b).Botharesituated in the
- ':: •'
northwest cornerof Structure2 in a groupwitha
-.'·- -~:'-.,i •. ~---.2~-.- tile-and-clay-lined
hearthanda brick-lined hearth
•7,' (discussed below).Therocksusedin thesetwo
hearthsare hand-sized fragmentsof massive
veinquartz.Littleashandno animalbonewas
foundassociated withthesetwo hearths. A rea-
sonableinterpretation wouldbethattheywere
usedinsomekindof manufacturing activity.
117
---=-
A Brick-linedHearth
H3 wasa flat hearthlinedwith 13 or 14
small,flat,firedbricks.Thebricksshowsignsof
intenseburning,butrelatively littleash,charcoal
andno animalboneswerefoundin the hearth.
Thereis nothingto indicatecontainment walls
aroundthehearth; it wasbuiltlevelwiththefloor
andopento therestof theroom.Thesewerethe
only bricksrecovered in excavation, although
surfaceremainsin theformof brickfragments,
whichare probablysignsof a similarfeature
destroyed byplowing, arefoundabout10meters
to thenortheast of Trench 3 in thecentralpartof
C thesite.

B
FigureB- A) a largeOrangePlainware
middenareaabovethecollapsed
---
jar with whitematte-painted
roof-fallof Structure
6. B)an Orange
designs,recovered
Plainware
froma
jarritaor «tank-
Rock-lined FirePit
H23wasa smallbasin-shaped pit locatedin
thecenterof thewestroomof Structure 4 (Figu-
ard»withwhitematte-painteddesigns,recovered fromthefloorof thethewestroomof Structure re6b).Thepit wasabout50cmin diameter and
7. C)a smalldrinkingcupmadeof verydark,coarsebrownplainware,recovered fromMidden1 35cmdeep,linedwithbedrock fragments anda
justnorthof entry-way
intoCompound2. fewsmoothstreamcobbles, andfilledwithash
 andcharcoalfragments.In siftingthe ashfor
recovery of charredplantremains,several
small
fragments of a finesilverchainwererecovered
(Figure12a).A fragmentaryend-piecefor a
distaff(torreda roca;discussed in moredetail
under"OtherArtifacts"below)wasfoundonthe
floornextto thehearth. Thiswastheonlyhearth
thatwasbuiltintheformof a pit.

WallFireplace
H25,a smallrectangular openfireplace was
builtintotheeastinteriordividingwallof Struc-
ture4 (Figure7). Thebackwallof thefireplace s
consisted of a singlerectangular slateflagstone
A
piecethatappears to havebeendesigned to be >.
moveable, allowingaccessto thefire fromthe
smalleastroomof thestructure (seeFigure 7b). B
Thissmalleastroommayhavebeensomekind
of heating,dryingor smokingroom.It is too
@
smallfor livingspace,andthe packed clayfloor ij
was coveredwith blackcharcoalor grease
fj

~
~ 118 stains,although noashor charcoal wasfoundin
recoverable quantities in theroom.Thisroomis
alsodistinctive in that it containslittletile roof ~
fall, and was filled insteadwith a compact
yellowish, clayey,gravellymaterial thatstrongly
8
resembles meltedtaipa(atypeof rammed
or pise usedtraditionallyfor construction).
seemsat leastpossible
earth,

thatsomekindof chim-
ney-likestructurewasbuiltof taipaabovethis
room.
It
\ D

Forges
Twofeatures(H14andH15)thatappearto
havebeenblacksmith forgeswerefoundbuilt
into the floor of Structure6. Thesefeatures
consisted of small(about30cmin diameter and
ul
10 cm deep),simple pits dug into natural
E F
crevasses in the bedrockfloorwhichwerefilled Figure9 - a) Ironhammer-head foundon the floor of the middleroomof Structure7, in Com-
pound3, thoughtto be associatedwith blacksmithactivities.b) Bronzespindlefoundon floor of
withsolidifiedmasses of rusted,porousmixture
Structure5 in Compound 2. c) Horseshoerecovered fromfloor depositsof thewestroomof the
of oxidized ironslagor coke,charcoal andash. structureexcavatedon the summitof the SouthHill. d) Fragment of a metalstraphandlefound
Thismaterialresembles closelythe materialleft in Midden1, just northof Compound 2. e) Stonebeadrecovered fromthe patioof Compound
intraditional blacksmiths'
openforges. 2. 1)Castleadringrecoveredfromthepatioof Compound 2.

L
4. CONCLUSIONS
REGARDING
THEHOUSE
COMPOUNDS led unroofedpatioor courtyard. Thelongeast-
westoriented housesarethemostvariablein si-
Thethreebuildingcompounds appearto constitutethreeseparate,
identically
or- ze, rangingfrom 20.9to 27.9m'. Theshorter
ganizedhousecompounds. Eachconsistsof a long,roughlyeast-west
orientedstruc- one-roamed north-south orientedtructuresare
turethatis dividedintothreesections
anda shorter,one-room structureoriented
no- bothsmallerandmoreuniformin area,ranging
rth-south.
Thetwohouses arearranged
perpendicularlyto eachotherarounda delimi- from 14.6to 15.6m'. If, as I arguebelow,the
longereast-west structures wereusedfor slee-
pingrooms,theirhighervariabilityin sizemight
reflectvariabilityin family size,whereasthe
smaller,north-south structureswereusedfor a
limited,uniformsetof activities suchascooking
or manufacturing, carriedout by a limitedand
specificnumberof familymembers, regardless
I of familysize.
Thelonghousescontainonlytile-and-clay-
-linedhearths,whichhaveanimalbonesasso-
ciatedwith cookingactivities. Thetile-and-clay-

Imrr1111
-linedhearthstendedto havelargeflat stones,

I11.11
f1111 minnwm oftenfragements of millstonesassociated
them,whichmayhavebeenusedto support
cookingpots.Thereis usuallymorethanone
with

119
hearthin anyroomin whichtheyoccur;in Struc-
2\ 3 4 5 ture7, therearefoursuchhearthsplacednextto
eachotherin onecorner.It seemslikelythatthey
werenotall in useat once,but ratherwereused
in sequence. Asnotedabove,whenthe4 hearths
in Structure 7 werein use,thewestroomof the
structurewasprobablyblockedoff. Hence,at
thattime,onlyoneroom(notcountingthe tiny
"storageroom"on the eastside)in that parti-
cularstructure wasin use.
In contrastto the long east-westoriented
structures, thesmaller,one-roamed north-south
orientedhousescontained bothtile-and-clayand
rock-linedhearths.Therock-linedhearthshave
littleor noanimalboneandmuchlessashasso-

1/~0JIJl]'II\TI ciatedwith themthan the tile-and-clay-lined

hearths.
81 . r• Thereis evidence for occupational speciali-
zationamongat leasttwoof thethreeexcavated
5 compounds. Compound 3 (Structures 6 and7)
Figure10A (top)- Leadperforated
coinFoundon Floorof entrywayinto Compound
2 (obverse). contained two fire-pitscontainingcokeandslag
108(bottom):leadperforated
coinfoundonthefloorof theentryway
intoCompound2 (reverse). indicative of useby a blacksmith. An iron ham-
 r
mer,perhapsusedin shapinghot metal,was thesummitof thesouthhilloverlookingthevalleyof theRibeira deCarreiras.
During
recovered fromtheflooroftheassociated Struc- thethirdseason,
partof theeffortwasdirected towards furtherexcavating
thisstruc-
ture7. Compound 2 (comprising Structures 4, 5 ture.Theseexcavations
revealed a structurewitha complex buildingandoccupational
andthe unroofed Structure 8, whichmayhave history.
beenan animalpen)contained all of thespin- Thestructure
consists threerelatively
largeroomsconnected bywidedoors,with
ningandweavingartifacts:2 bronzespindles twowideentrydoorsalongthesouthwall(Figure 3). Thewesternmost roomis 7.33
andthe distaffend-piece(torrede roca).No
suchartifacts werefoundin theothertwocom-
pounds.Compound 2 alsowasthe onlycom-
poundin whichmarineshellswererecovered
(therewere2 found,oneeachin Structures 4
and5), although thesocialor technological sig-
nificance of theseitemsis unknown. Compound
1 (Structures 1 and2) contained no artifacts
distinctiveof manufacturing per se,although
Structure 2 hastherathercomplex heartharran-
gement thatmayreflectsomekindof manufac-
turingactivityassociated withthe specialized
application of heat.

r-:..
.1,'
,-
120
In summary,
pearto represent
aredividedbetween
the excavated
households
compounds ap-
in whichactivities
twoseparate structures and
lffilHTifITffTljll111fll~llllllll'
llllj
an associated courtyard.Eachhousehold com- 3 4 5 6 7
poundis strongly delimitedby walls, and
appears to represent a separatesocialunitinthe
sensethat thereare no specialarchitectural
features(otherthanproximity)that woulden-
courage integrationor interactionbetween com-
pounds.Thesecompounds stronglyresemble
thosebuiltby someBerbergroupsin northern
Morocco, andin a moregeneral sense,mayre-
present a variation onthetypicalIslamichouse,
whichconsists oftwoto threerectangular rooms
arranged aroundan interiorcourtyard. Theydo
notparticularly resemble thetypicalruralhouse
of themonte todayintheLowerAlentejo.

5. TRENCH
2 (SOUTH
HILL)STRUCTURE

Theexcavation
of Trench2 duringthe1988
Figure11A(top)- Fragment of yellow-green
glassbottle,recovered
froma smallmidden-like
de-
fieldseason
hadpartlyrevealed
a structure
with positin the floor of the patioof Compound 1 (described in Boone1992).Figure11B(bottom):
drystonemasonrywallsnearlya meterthickat Bronze ringrecovered fromHearth7 in Structure
2.
 longby3.89meters wide.Theexterior entrancealongthesouthwallis 1.08mwide.A illustratedin Figure9c wasrecovered fromthis
seconddoorleadsintothemiddleroom.Thisdooris funnel-shaped (asis theoppo- deposit.
sitedoorto themiddleroom)ranging from1.56m wideto 1.11m wideasit enters Themiddleroomis slightlytrapezoidal: it is
themiddleroom.Thetwodoorsin andoutof themiddleroomareconstricted in the 4.72m long,witha widthranging from2.05m
samedirection.Onemightspeculate thatthis facilitated
the onewaymovement of on thenorthendto about2.78 m on thesouth
people or livestock.
Wallstubsvisiblejustinsidetheinteriorof thewestern partof the end.Thereis someevidence thatthis wasthe
roomindicate anearlierbuilding phase. originalstructureandthatthe two siderooms
Thefloorof thewestroomwascovered withcharcoal fragments. A carbondate wereadded, or at leastaltered,later.Thewallsof
takenona portionof thismaterial gavea dateof AD1473+/-70years.Thehorseshoe thispartof thestructure arequitethick.It should
be notedthat rubblecoveringthis partof the
structurewasoriginallypiledquitehigh,well
overa meterthickat its highestpoint.Hence, it
is reasonable to suggestthat the.wallsof this
partof thestructurewereoriginallyquitehigh.
Sincethe structureis alreadyplacedat the
highestpointof the site,it is possiblethe the
structure originallyserved asa lookouttower,or
ata/aia.
Theeasternmost roomis 5.67m longand
3.38m wide.Onlya smallcornerof the room
wasexcavated to bedrock.A few smallfrag-
mentsof green-glazed basin,or a/guidar,charac- 121
teristicof a 15thor 16thcenturyoccupation,
werefoundonthefoundonthefloor,corrobora-
ting the 15thcenturyradiocarbon datetaken
fromthewestroom.
Artifactualevidencerecoveredfrom the
variousexcavated levelsof thisstructureindicate
a longhistoryof useandre-use,unlikethehou-
seholdremains intheTrench1 Area.Outside the
eastsideof thestructureitselfwasfounda sin-
gle terra sigilatasherd(describedin Boone
1992),datingto the 1 centuryAD. No other
Romanperiodremainswerefound,however.
Sherdsof theIslamicperiodconsistent withthe
villageoccupation arecommonthroughout the
structure,but tendedto be veryfragmentary.
Largersherdsof jarsandbasinsthatwerestylis-
ticallyquitedistinctfromthoserecovered in the
villageareawerecommonas well. Someof
Figure12a(top)- Piecesof a silverchainrecoveredfromtheashesof Hearth23 in theeastroom
thesevesselsareconsistent witha muchlater
of Structure
4, Compound3. 12B(bottom)-Bronze andirondagger-hill
recovered fromthefloorof time period,probably the 15th or 16thcentury. A
themiddleroomof Structure5, Compound 2. fiverealcopperPortuguese coindated1736was
recovered
in thewallfall just northof the buil- waresalsocontained coarse-grained metamorphic rockfragments. Therockfragments
ding.Earlierexcavations
(in 1987-88; described (predominantly strainedquartzandorthoclase feldspar) aresimilarto thosefoundin
in Boone1992)yieldedmoderndecolorized theorange waresalthough thebuffplainwares containlesselastics (<10%or lessver-
glassandpotterycharacteristicof the18thand sus20%)andhada slightlylowerrangeof grainsize.Threesherdscontained coarse
19thcenturiesfromthesurfaceof the wallfall grainedmetamorphic rockin theformof mylonite. Mylonite wasfoundonlyin these
layer. threeTypeV warea, andmayrepresent a distinctclaysource. Vessel formsaremainly
smalljarsandjarritas(tankards). Petrographicallyandchemically (Boone, etal.,n. d. a
andb)thesewaresseemcloselyrelated to themelados.
6. CERAMICS Coarse-grained Red-Brown Common Wares (TypeI andII) makeup17.2%of the
wares.Thesewaresarequitedistinctpetrographically in thatthefabricconsistsof
5196ceramicsherdshavebeenrecovered around35%relatively largegrainrockfragments (modalmaximum grainsize1.6to
to date.Table1 presents frequency countsof 1.8 mm)consisting of 92%to 98%angularstrainedquartz,1%to 4% hornblende
sherdsby wareandform.Thefour mainware grains,and1%to 5%plagioclase feldspar. Manyexamples alsocontainmagnetite, he-
categories arediscussed indetailbelow. matite,or eiheropaque mineral grains.Themineralcomposition pointsto claysderi-
Orange Plainwares (termed TypeVI Plainwa- vingfrom dioriteor metamorphosed volcanicrockof similarnature.Suchclaysare
resin previous reports)makeup75.2%of the foundonlyin a limitedareain thevicinityof Beja,Beringel andFerreira do Alentejo,
sherdsrecovered intheTrench1 Area.Theprin- aboutfifty kilometers to the northof aite.A traditional potteryindustrystill existsin
cipalvesselformsin this warearelargewater Beringel. Twoof the petrographic slidesstudiedwereof sherdsfroma modernbi/ha
andstorage jarsandtankards. Pasteis characte-(waterjug) manufactured thereandprovedto bequitesimilarto theexcavated TypeI
risticallybrightorangeand relativelycoarse wares.Hence, this category is theonlyonefor whichwearerelatively certainof the
grained(maximalgrainsizeabout1.0 to 1.5 claysource,andpresumably, themanufacture location. In theIslamicperiod,thepre-
mm).Theceramics inthisgroupweremanufac- dominant vesselformsmanufactured fromthis warewerelargebasins(a/guidares),
turedfromclaysthatappear to derivefromlow- casuelas, cooking pots,andafewlargejars.
-grademetamorphic rocksuchas low-grade Melados makeup 3.2%of the sherds.Vesselformsarealmostexclusively food
schists.Nonplastic inclusions (elastics)usuallyservingforms,includingsmallbowls,largecarinated plates(ataifor),andnarrow-
madeuparound20%of thefabric.Mostof the -neckedbottles(redoma). Thinsectionsmostcommonly showed angularto sub-an-
elasticswerelow-grade metamorphic rockfrag- gularcomposite polycrystalline quartzgrainsshowing evidence of metamorphism (i. e
mentsconsisting of morethan95%metamor- strainedextinction undera rotatingpolarized light).Fourcasesalsocontained sub-
phosed quartz(i.e.quartzexhibiting strainedex- -angularto angulargrainsof twinnedor untwinned feldpar.Threecasescontained
tinctionundera rotat-ingpolarized light)grains grainsof muscovite andtwohadtracesof biotite.Threecasescontained onlymonocr-
and2-3%untwinnedfeldspargrains(ortho- ystallinequartzwithnoevidence of metamorphism (i. e.,straightextinction underpo-
clase).Othermineralspresentin lessthan1O larizedlight).Chemical analysis (fullydescribed in Boone, etal.,n. d.)showed thatthe
grainsperslideincluded plagioclase,muscovite, melados contained between 5%and10%elemental calcium, pointing to a substantial
biotite,chert,magnetite, hematite,chlorite.The calcareous component to themelado clays.Generally, themelados havea lowerper-
rockfragments aregenerally angular,andpro- centage of elastics
anda smallermaximal grainsizethantheOrange Plainwares wares.
bablyresultfromthemillingof claythatalready
contained considerable rockyparentmaterial, or
the additionof milledrockas temper.Some 7. CONCLUSIONS
examples alsocontained straightquartzof sedi-
mentary origin(ie.,fromshale's, sandstones, or All ceramicsrecovered
from the occupationareasof AlcariaLongaarewheel-
recentsandfromsedimentary rock). -thrownandapparently mass-produced,
andareconsistentwitha specialized
pottery
BuffPlainwares (TypeV) makeup4.4%of industryof thekindcapable
of producing
thousandsof vessels
peryear,anddistribu-
the wares.Buff/cream/light rosecoloredplain tingthemthroughmarketsovera relativelybroadregion.Thereis no evidence
of a
household-level potteryindustrytypical,for example, of Berbercommunities in nor- 8. OTHER ARTIFACTS
thernMorocco.
Theclaysusedto manufacture theceramics recovered fromAlcariaLongaseemto Dagger hilt
derivefrom3 broadclasses of parentmaterial. Themostcommon waretypeseems to Partof a bronze andirondaggerhiltwasre-
derivefrommetamorphosed shales,graywackes, andturbidites(i. e. slatesandlow- covered from thefloor of theeastendof Structu-
gradeschists)thatoccurwithin30to 40 km of thesite.Thesecondmostabundant re 4 (Figure12b).Thepiececonsistsof a frag-
waretypewasmanufactured fromclaysderiving fromdioritesandmetavulcanites that mentaryiron rodcovered withthickhammered
occurin thevicinityof Bejasome50 kmdistant.Theleastabundant waretypes,the bronze sheet.Thebronzecovering hasengraved
melados andsomeof thebuffplainwares, appear to derivefromcalcarious clays,and floraldesigns on it.
areconsistent withwaresmanufactured intheGuadalquivir Valley(vicinityof Seville),
Spindles
at least160kmdistant, although thelocation of manufacture hasyetto beverified.
A bronzespindlewasrecovered from the
Mostof the rockin the immediate vicinityof AlcariaLongaia comprised of un-
floorof Structure 5 (Compound 2; Figure9b).A
-metamorphosed or verylightlymetamorphosed turbidites (graywackes, siltites,pelli-
similarspindlewasfoundin the middenright
tes) derivedfrom deepmarinesediments of the Carboniferous l)iriod (termedthe
outsidethe entry-wayof Compound 2 (Boone
MertolaFormation; CartaGeol6gica dePortuqal, Folha8). Orange Plainwarea contai-
1992).
nedalmostexclusively coarsegrainmetamorphic rockfragments, pointingto a sla-
te/schistparentrocksource. Suchmetamorphic lorma-tions arefoundinbeltabegin- Perforated base-metal coin
ninga fewkilometers northof Mertola,inthevicinityof CortedeGaloandCortePinto, A perforated coinwasrecovered onthefloor
andcontinue to the northnearlyto Beja.Theyincludethe Phyllite-Quartzitic Forma- of thecornerof theentrance-way intoCompound
tion,theGaloFormation andthePulodoLoboFormation andconsistof redandblack 2 (Figure 10).TheArabicinscriptions onthecoin
schists,phyllites mixedwithlowergradeturbidites. Theseformations derivefromthe areunfortunately illegible,
butstylistically,thecoin
samedeepmarinesediments astheMertola Formation; thedifference is thattheyare 123
resembles silverdirhame of theCaliphal period.A
somwhat older(Devonian) andweresubjected to a higherdegree of heatandpressu- smallfragment of thecoinwasanalyzed withX-
re, resultingin highergrademetamorphism. Theseschistsproduce generally better rayFlourescence at LosAlamos Laboratories, Los
claysthantherocksof theMertola Formation, although theclaysarestillnotplentiful, Alamos, NewMexico andwasfoundto bepredo-
andnotofthequalitythatwouldnormally stimulate a specialized potteryindustry. minantly lead(because welacked a suitable stan-
Samples of claysderived fromboththeMertola Formation andtheGaloFormation d_ard to useintheanalysis, wewereunable to arri-
werecollected in June1991andexperimentally firedbriquettes madefromtheclays. veatexactelemental concentrations).
Onebriquette madefromclaytakenfroma depositjusteastof CortedeGalodeAlto A similarlyperforated coinwasrecovered in
(derivingfromthe GaloFormation) wasincludedin the neutronactivation analysis Structure 2 duringthesecond season of excava-
Boone,et al., n. d. c.). It matched verycloselywithtwo of the OrangePlainware tions(described in Boone1992).It wasanAra-
sherdsthatwereanalyzed, indicatingthatat leastoneof the claysourcesusedto bic silvercoin,alsoillegibledueto the perfora-
produceOrange Plainwares wasin thatgeneral area.Hence, at this pointit seems tions,butwhichcertainly pre-datedtheAlmohad
doubtfulthatOrange Plainwares weremanufactured at AlcariaLongaitself.Instead, period.It is worthnotingthattheonlycoinreco-
theywereprobably produced byspecialized workshops withinat least30-40kmofthe veredintheexcavation of Vascos(Izquierdo Be-
settlement andtradedin. It shouldbepointedout,however, thatsmallpockets of red nito 1979:364),a Hispano-Muslim settlement
claysresembling thoseof theareaaroundCortedeGalocanbefoundinthevicinityof locatednearToledo,wassimilarlyperforated.
AlcariaLonga; whether thesewereutilized asclaysources inat present unknown. TheVascoscoin wasa copperdirhamdating
Evidence indicates,however, thatrooftiles almostcertainly weremanufactured on frombetween 1067and1094).
thesite.A largeovertired, meltedmassof tilewasters wasfoundonthesurface of the
site,andourpetrographic comparisons of tilesmanufactured in modern AlcariaLonga Leadring
withinthelast80yearsandtilesrecovered fromthesitealsopointto localmanufac- A small,conical,castleadringwasrecove-
ture. redinthepatioareaof Compound 2. It mayhave
 Table1 Table2
Ceramic
talliesbywareandtormrecovered
fromTrench1 Areastructures Fauna!
Remaines:
NumberofIdentified
Species
(NISP)

Species NISP

FABRIC Large Jarritas Small Potes

& other Basins FABRIC Lg Mammal
Undetermined 121
Jars BowlsCasuelas
Jars Total % SmallMammal Undetermined 22
Mammal SizeUndetermined 177
Red-Br
Plain 13 784 18 79 894 17,2 Caprids(Sheep/Goat) 31
BuffPlain 4 222 226 4,4 Oryctolagossp.(rabbit)
Lepussp.(hare)
Orange
Plain 2607 1247 54 3909 75,2
Rodent
Melado 92 74 167 3,2
Galliformesprob.
FormTotal 2607 1261 150 785 314 79 5196 Coturnix orAfectoris
Form% 50,2 24,3 2,9 15,1 6,0 I 0,2 (quailor partridge) 15

beenusedasa spaceror grommet

in somekind 9. FAUNAL
REMAINS
of compound
tool(Figure91).
Asnotedabove, preserved fauna\remains werelimitedto hearthareaswherealka·
Bronzering lineashdeposits served asa bufferagainstthehighlyacidiclithoso\s. Bones thatwere
A bronzeharness or beltringwasrecovered recovered fromhearths werealmostwithoutexception highlyfragmentary anddifficult
fromHearth7 in Structure
2 (Figure
lib) to identify.Identifications
werecarriedout by Katherine Fuller,of the Universityof
NewMexico.Species identification,
skeletalpart,andevidence for humanalteration
Spinninq component
(burning,cutmarks)or rodentor carnivore gnawing wererecorded for eachfragment.
Thetop-piecefor a distaffwasrecovered Thesummarized Number of Identified
Species (NISP:i.e.,thenumber of elementsthat
nextto Hearth 25in thewestendof Structure 5. canbeassigned to eachspecies category)
is presented inTable4.
A distaff,sometimes calleda «rock»(asit is in
Portuguese: roca),is a stallabout1 meterlong
usedto holdloosely wrapped woolor flaxskeins
that areto bespuninto thread.Thetop-piece
(Port.torrederoca)is carved outof capridlong· REFERENCES
-boneandis oftenhighlydecorated.Similar
pieceshavebeenrecovered in excavations
at the BOONE, JamesL. -1992 <>The first TwoSeasons of Excavationsat AlcariaLonga:A Caliphal·
Alcacova deMertola (Torres 1984).Thepiecere- -TaifalPeriodSettlementin the LowerAlentejoof Portugal». Arqueo/oqia Medievalvol.1, n'.1, pp.
covered at AlcariaLongawasverypoorlypreser- 51-6A
veddueto acidicsoilconditions. BOONE, JamesL., J. EmlenMyers,andMichaelGlasecock - n. d. a. Compositional Analysis
of MeladoandClear-Glazed Redwares fromThreeIslamicPeriodSitesin theLowerAlentejo of Por-
tugal.ms.
Stonebead BOONE, JamesL.,J. EmlenMyers,andMichael Glasecock - n. d. b. Compositional
Analysis of
A smallperforated
stonebeadmadeof a pin· Orange andBuffPlainwares Recovered fromAlcariaeLonga.ms.
kishopaquestonewasrecovered in the patio BOONE, JamesL. andElizabeth Garret- n.d.c.ClaySources for IslamicPeriodCeramics Reco-
veredatAlcariaLongaandtheAlcacova deMertola:thePetrographicEvidence. ms.
areaof Compound 2 (Figure
9e).A nearlyidenti·
IZOUIERDO BENITO, R.- 1979Excavaciones en la CiudadHispano-Musulmana de Vascos.
ea\beadmadeof whitestonewasrecovered in (Navalmoralejo-Toledo)
Campanas 1975-78. Noticiario
Arqueologico Hispanico 7:248-392.
excavationof theAlca,ovaof Mertola(Torres,et RETUERCE VELASCO, M. -19B6 Ceramica islamicadela «Cidade dasRosas», Serpa,(Portu-
al.,1989). gal).Segundo ColoquioCeramica Medieval delMediterraneoOccidental,Toledo,1981.Pp.85-92.
 TORRES, Claudio
-1984 UmaVelhaCultura Serrenha.
In Mantas
Tradicionais
doBaixoAlentejo.
Pp.45-62,Caderno
N'.1. Beja:Campo Arqueologico
deMertola.
TORRES, Claudio
et al.-1987 Ceramica lslamicaPortuguesa:
Catalogo.
Campo Arqueologico
de
Mertola.
TORRES, Claudioet al. - 1988MertolaAlmoravide et Almohade:
Catalogue.
Organisation
de
CampoArqueologico
deMertola et dela Municipalite
deMertola.
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etal.-1989 Mertola, VilaMuseu. Campo Arqueologico
deMertola.

125
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