Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
15. Rethinking the Mesolithic of the Sado Paleoestuary, Portugal: Semi-sedentary Hunter-gatherers
Marine Ventures - Archaeological Perspectives on Human-Sea Relations - Hein B. Bjerck
Joaquina Soares
University of Lisbon
Description
The Mesolithic economy of the Sado paleoestuary developed parallel to the early stage of food production economy (5700-5300 cal. BC) of the Southwest Portuguese Coast. The Sado Mesolithic communities adopted pottery probably from them, as it was useful for storage but they could resist to agricultural economy for more than a millennium, maintaining a demographic-ecological balance until ´4500/4000 BC´. The author presents a synthesis about the Mesolithic of the Sado paleoestuary, building a theoretical model of socio-economic dynamics in a long-term perspective.