Charcoal analyses unraveling Cabeço da Amoreira Muge shell midden (Portugal)

Summary

Cabeço da Amoreira is a Mesolithic shell midden located near the Tagus river, 60 km from Lisbon, central Portugal. Charcoal analyses are an important tool to identify the wood used for fuel and therefore, understand the relationships between human societies and their landscape. Charcoal is abundant in the Cabeço da Amoreira shell midden. It is present in every context of

the site, being part of its occupation horizons and formation processes. Here we present the results from charcoal analyses carried out in several contexts of the shell midden as well as preliminary results on charcoal distribution. The results show that although the main pattern of use of Pinus and Quercus seems to occur during the occupation of the site, minor taxa vary in

some contexts. The variation in charcoal distribution also indicated some concentrations in well preserved areas of the shell midden.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Shell Midden Microarchaeology Unraveled

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