Lisbon in the Early Neolithic: results of the escavations at the Ludovice Palace

Abstract

The open-area archaeological excavations at the 18th century Ludovice Palace, in the Bairro Alto quarter (Lisbon, Portugal) revealed four phases of human occupation. The oldest phase belongs to the Early Neolithic and comprise several dwelling features and one burial, alongside numerous pottery and lithic objects. Field-based geoarchaeological observations suggests that these remains are spread over na occupation surface which, once abandoned, seems to have underwent puddling, slaking and pedogenesis. A thick deposit covered these layers with abundant reworked prehistoric objects. These data significantly increase the contextual knowledge regarding previous findings of the Neolithic settlement of Bairro Alto both culturally and chronologically and widens the debate on the neolithization process of the portuguese Estremadura.