| Abstrakt: |
This dissertation presents the results of the elaboration of an Archaeological Predictive Model based on the analysis of a set of geographic and environmental variables that caractherize the location of the Mesolithic shellmiddens in the Tagus and Sado valley. The main goals of the study were, on one hand to establish establish criteria for differentiating the locational patterns of sites in both watersheds, and on the other to provide a set of numerical and cartographic predictive data that would allow to complement the current knowledge on the Mesolithic settlement system in central Portugal and could, simultaneously, serve as a starting point for future field survey. Thus, through a methodology that essentially followed a descriptive and univariate statistical approach that resulted in four predictive models built through the so-called binary addition method, the main contributions of this study are: (1) the existence of an effective differentiation between location patterns and choice of environs and landscape for the settlement of shellmiddens in the Tagus and Sado valleys. When confronted with the currently available archaeological data, that demonstrates distinct morphostructural patterns in the composition of the sites that comprise each shellmidden complex, these patterns seem to confirm the existence of cultural differences between the two sets; (2) and, from a methodological standpoint, the corroboration of the viability of implementing this specific predictive approach to Mesolithic hunter-gatherer societies, taking into account the success indexes, either statistical or through preliminary field survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
