<< News >> Scientific analysis sheds new light on neolithic slate plaques from SW Portugal
Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 01 April 2014 Page Views: 7625
Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: Portugal Type: Burial Chamber or DolmenInternal Links:
Symbolism in prehistoric culture has been the subject of much theoretical archaeology, yet methodological tools are rarely used to test these interpretations. This lack of testing is often justified by suggesting that the 'slippery' nature of past human symbolism cannot easily be tackled using the scientific method.
One such case, from the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, involves engraved stone plaques from megalithic tombs dated from 3500 to 2750 BC (calibrated age). One widely accepted theory is that the plaques are ancient mnemonic devices to record family genealogies. The new analysis from Daniel GarcÃa Rivero and Michael J. O'Brien uses a tree-building computer program to perform a Phylogenetic reconstruction, looking for common ancestries in the data set. The results demonstrates that this popular genealogies hypothesis is not the case, even when the most supportive data and techniques are applied.
Rather, the authors of the paper suspect there was a common ideological background to the use of plaques that overlaid the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, with little or no geographic patterning. This would suggest a cultural system where plaque design was based on a fundamental core idea, with a number of variable elements surrounding it.
Read the paper at Plos One
Also explore the fascinating Esprit (Engraved Stone Plaque Registry and Inquiry Tool) database created by KT Lillios and collaborators - who are not connected with this research other than as the source of the data. The database contains information and images of over 1400 engraved stone plaques.
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