Nossa Senhora do Freixo, Portugal: A Late Antiquity Roman Basilica and the Continued Reuse of Sacred Space

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Excavations at the Late Antiquity Roman Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Freixo, Portugal, provide insight into the surprising significance of this hinterland community within the southern Iberian Peninsula. Recent excavations have revealed architectural components and compositional trappings associated with a center of regional affluence. Imported utilitarian items and associated wealth goods suggest critical involvement within the overarching sociopolitical and ideological landscape of the Roman Empire. Germane to our interest in the organization and maintenance of Christianity throughout the Iberian Peninsula is the symbolic and ideological reuse of sacred space. Detailed investigation of the Freixo Basilica and especially the eastern transept has provided uncommon insight into the continued practice of Christianity following the collapse of the Roman Empire. Carbon-14 analyses firmly associate Christian inhumations with periods of Germanic and Visigoth occupation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39320.0