Paper short abstract:

Fluvial and archaeological potentials of Middle Tejo River terraces of Portugal are explored. It is concluded that the T4 with the earliest human occupations in Portugal of Lower/Middle Palaeolithic were deposited in temperate climate; the T6 artifacts likely belong to the later Upper Pleistocene.

Paper long abstract:

Alto Ribatejo is a region of central Portugal that extends along the Middle Portuguese Tejo River. Six river terraces have been recognised for the Tejo River in the Portuguese sector. The aim of the present research is to record the fluvial potential of the river at the lower terraces (T6/alluvial plain) and the middle terrace (T4), as well as to discover the archaeological potential in these sites. The present study brings very interesting results. Five main stratigraphical units were identified in the lower terraces; the second unit, which comprises boulders, cobbles, pebbles and some lithic artifacts, is identified as terrace T6. This terrace may belong to a late phase of the Upper Pleistocene. Three main stratigraphical units have been identified in T4. T4 is extremely significant, because it contains the earliest records of human occupation, which are dated to OIS 7 - 9. The sedimentological analysis evidenced that T4 was deposited during temperate climatic conditions. On the basis of spatial analysis and geological context of the archaeological artifacts, they are divided into three categories. The first category groups the Lower Palaeolithic artifacts from the T4 terrace. The second category of artifacts recorded from the T6 at Outeiro du Pedro, thought to belong to the Upper Pleistocene. The third category is constituted of artifacts which were recorded as surface finds at various localities. Typologically and morphologically, they are very similar to artifacts from the Middle/Lower Palaeolithic and the Bronze Age.

DEV, S.:Department of Archaeology, Aarhus University, Denmark.