Campos, pastos e bosques. Comunidades agro-pastoris do Bronze Final no Outeiro do Circo (Mombeja, Beja, Portugal)

Abstract

In the region surrounding the Late Bronze Age settlement of Outeiro do Circo, agriculture and livestock have always shaped the rhythms of human activity. Currently, the landscape of the vast plain that surrounds this archaeological site is experiencing a major transformation, with the installation of intensive monocultures and the decline of the traditional cereal fields, the cork oak groves, the mediterranean forests and the riparian woods. 3,000 years ago, this territory enabled the installation of an agricultural system that allowed the consolidation of a community capable of building the complex walls that characterize Outeiro do Circo, one of the largest settlements known in Southwest Iberia during the Late Bronze Age. This paper presents the archaeological evidence collected in Outeiro do Circo related to the agricultural and hunting practices of its inhabitants during the Late Bronze Age.