328
Documenta Praehistorica XLVIII (2021)
Insights into the funerary practices in the dolmen
of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)
Ana Maria Silva
Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Centre for Functional Ecology, and Laboratory of Prehistory,
Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PT
UNIARQ Centre for Archaeology, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PT
amgsilva@antrop.uc.pt
ABSTRACT – The dolmen of Cabecinha in the region of Figueira da Foz (Coimbra, Portugal) was ex-
cavated at the end of the 19th century by António dos Santos Rocha. This tomb belongs to a Mega-
lithic necropolis of c. 21 dolmens in Western-Central Portugal and was explored and published be-
tween 1880 and 1909. The aim of this contribution is to present the human bone collection of the
Megalitho da Cabecinha, cross-referencing this data with the original available documentation from
the excavation and the chronology obtained from direct radiocarbon dating of a human bone frag-
ment. This approach is adopted to get insights into the funerary practices, and the biological and
pathological profiles of the individuals deposited in the dolmen. The most relevant information
obtained pertains to the mortuary behaviour, where a unique funerary practice for this Megalithic
necropolis was identified. In each corner of the irregular polygonal chamber, an adult individual
was deposited in crouching or squatting position in sandy sediment and surrounded by small flat
limestone slabs. All but one individual was associated with votive items.
IZVLE∞EK – Raziskovalec António dos Santos Rocha je konec 19. stoletja izkopal dólmen Cabecinha
na obmo≠ju Figueira da Foz (Coimbra, Portugalska). Grobnica sodi v okvir megalitske nekropole, ki
vklju≠uje ok. 21 dólmenov v zahodno osrednjem delu Portugalske in je bila raziskana ter objavljena
med leti 1880 in 1909. V ≠lanku predstavljamo zbir ≠love∏kih kosti iz najdi∏≠a Megalitho da Cabe-
cinha, primerjamo podatke z originalno dokumentacijo o izkopavanjih in kronologijo, ki smo jo
vzpostavili z neposrednim radiokarbonskim datiranjem odlomka ≠love∏ke kosti. S tem pristopom
smo ∫eleli pridobiti vpogled v pogrebne obi≠aje ter v biolo∏ke in patolo∏ke profile posameznikov, ki
so bili pokopani v dólmen. Najpomembnej∏e informacije, ki smo jih pridobili, se nana∏ajo na pogreb-
ne prakse, saj smo prepoznali edinstven obi≠aj, vezan na to megalitsko nekropolo. V vsakem kotu te
nepravilne poligonalne komore je bil polo∫en en odrasel posameznik v ≠epe≠em polo∫aju, in sicer v
pe∏≠en sediment in obkro∫en z majhnimi plo∏≠atimi apnen≠astimi plo∏≠ami. Vsi razen enega posa-
meznika so imeli ob sebi votivne predmete. 
KEY WORDS – Megalithic tombs; burial practices; human bones; dolmen; Chalcolithic; central-west
of Portugal
KLJU∞NE BESEDE – megalitske grobnice; pogrebni obi≠aji; ≠love∏ke kosti; dólmen; halkolitik; osred-
nji del zahodne Portugalske
Vpogled v pogrebne prakse v dólmenu Cabecinha
(regija Figueira da Foz, Portugalska)
DOI> 10.4312\dp.48.9
Insights into the funerary practices in the dolmen of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)
329
these dolmens. These human bone assemblages,
nowadays curated at the Museu Municipal Santos
Rocha (MMSR) were forgotten and never exhausti-
vely studied. Additionally, and as usually happens
to many old museum collections, part of the mate-
rial was lost due to, among other reasons, reorgani-
zation, movements, and the lending of samples (Sil-
va, Ferreira 2016–2017).
In recent years, research on the collection from this
necropolis started to be conducted, including work on
anthropological and archaeological findings. Among
the former are the study of a possible trepanation in
an adult male skull recovered from the Megalitho da
Capella (Silva 2003b), and the analysis of the hu-
man bone assemblages from Megalitho do Facho
(Silva 2020) and from Megalitho do Cabeço dos Mo-
inhos (Bettencourt et al. 2020).
The aim of this contribution is to provide a complete
anthropological analysis of the human remains of
the Megalitho da Cabecinha currently curated in the
Municipal Museum of Santos Rocha (MMSR), cross-
referencing this data with the original available do-
cumentation of the excavation, and the chronology
obtained from direct radiocarbon dates of the hu-
man bones. This approach intends to obtain insights
into the burial practices, biological profiles, and
health status of the individuals who lived at the end
Introduction
In the last decade, research in Portugal has demon-
strated that funerary practices from the Middle Neo-
lithic to the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic were less ho-
mogeneous than previously thought. This diversity
is visible in terms of funerary practices and struc-
tures (Boaventura et al. 2014; Silva 2003a; 2002;
2012; Silva et al. 2017; 2019; Valera et al. 2014),
with the regions of Estremadura and Alentejo the
best documented. Mortuary activities have been de-
scribed for Megalithic tombs (Boaventura et al.
2013; Evangelista 2019; Silva 2020), pit graves (Sil-
va 2002; 2012), natural (Carvalho et al. 2012) and
artificial caves (hypogea) (Silva 1993; 1996; 2019;
Silva, Ferreira 2007), and more recently, for ditched
enclosures (Valera et al. 2014) throughout that pe-
riod. These tombs are frequently characterized by
collective or multiple burials, with individual ones
occurring less commonly. Primary and/or secondary
unburnt and burnt depositions are also documented
(Bettencourt et al. 2020; Silva 2003a; Silva et al.
2015; 2017; 2020; Valera et al. 2014).
Between the end of the 19th and beginning of the
20th centuries a set of 21 megalithic tombs were ex-
cavated by the archaeologist António dos Santos
Rocha, in the region of Figueira da Foz (Coimbra,
Portugal; Fig. 1). The majority of these tombs, located
in the central-west region of
Portugal, were disturbed prior
to their archaeological excava-
tion. The interventions were
published in four volumes of
Antiguidades Prehistoricas
do Concelho da Figueira
(Santos Rocha 1888; 1895;
1897; 1900), republished in
1949 (Santos Rocha 1949)
and by Luiz W. Carrisso and
António dos Santos Rocha
(1909). A number of these
tombs revealed human bones,
including the Megalitho da
Cabecinha1 (Alhadas, Figuei-
ra da Foz), representing a
unique opportunity to get in-
formation about the funerary
behaviour and biological and
paleopathological profile of
the individuals deposited in
Fig. 1. Megalithic necropolis in the region of Figueira da Foz (Portugal)
excavated by António dos Santos Rocha between the end of the 19th and
beginning of the 20th centuries. Megalitho da Cabecinha is indicated by
a red circle (adapted by Carlos Baptista – MMSR).
1 The original designation of Santos Rocha, Megalitho, is used. However, Megalitho, dolmen and the Portuguese expression ‘Anta’
all represent tombs without major architectural differences.
Ana Maria Silva
330
of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Chalcoli-
thic periods in the central-west region of today’s
Portugal. As these populations are poorly known,
the study will contribute substantial new informa-
tion for this period.
The documentary sources of Megalitho da Ca-
becinha
The dolmen is composed of a chamber and a gallery
oriented E-W. The gallery, formed by six orthostats
(Fig. 2), presented a well-adapted door, with the en-
trance on the eastern side. The major axis is 3.5m
long, 1.85m of the gallery (including the door) and
1.65m of the chamber. The gallery is 0.64m wide,
and the chamber width varies between 1.75m and
2m – both measured at the level of the floor. The
gallery was found intact with preserved coverage of
small horizontal slabs. The larger roof slabs were
made of sandstone and the small ones of limestone
(Tab. 1). The door was made of two small slabs,
placed against the end of the supports and held by
two stones stuck in the ground as a buttress. Out-
side, a large accumulation of small stones surrounds
the whole monument. The majority of the roof slabs
of the chamber were missing, and one of the ortho-
stats to the west was taken by the landowner to
make millstones. This perturbation affected the
chamber only superficially, except where the slabs
were ripped out. Here the perturbation reached the
base of the tomb, including the mortuary deposit lo-
cated between the angle of the missing orthostat
and orthostat 3. The interstices of the supports were
sealed with small stones. The floor of the chamber
and part of the gallery were made of small and thin
limestone slabs, laid over a layer of sand (Santos
Rocha 1900.196).
All the contents of the chamber were mixed at the
bottom of the monument due to old disturbances. At
0.4m, the superficial layers started to display signs
of fire up to 0.65m deep, as evidenced by the pres-
ence of ashes, charcoal mixed with splinters of
quartz and quartzite, small fragments of sandstone,
and other materials. At that level (0.65m), signs of
fire disappear, but the content continues to display
signs of intense mixing.
The upper layer of the chamber was composed of
reddish clayey soil, like the one in the tumulus. At
around 0.5 to 0.7m, in the areas marked (with cros-
ses) in the plan of the monument, evidence of four
fire loci was found (Fig. 2). Each included ashes and
charcoal, not exceeding 0.5m in diameter, with clods
of undercooked clays, all strongly stuck in sandy
soil. This level displays a thickness between 0.1 to
0.25m. Outside these areas, rubble in clayed soil
continued to appear until the floor. The signs of fire
then disappear completely around 0.15 to 0.25m
beneath this, with only some splinters of quartz and
flints being recovered. Below this level, the soil
changes to limestone and groups of human bones
started to appear. The burials were clustered next to
the orthostats, crushed by the rubble, jammed over
the pavement slabs, and very poorly preserved.
These were surrounded by small flat stones of white
limestone, except on the side of the supports. San-
tos Rocha (1900.197–198) made it very clear that
no human bone displayed any signs of fire, and that
such signs disappear entirely between 0.15 to 0.25m
above the level of bones.
Santos Rocha (1900.198) provides a description of
the burials of this tomb. The intact bones of the di-
sturbed burial in the western part of the chamber
(due to the ripping out of one orthostat) include
long bones, vertebrae, ribs, some hand and foot
bones, and several stone instruments (including an
arrowhead, two blades, a hammerstone and a lithic
nucleus).
In the corner formed by orthostats 3 and 4, sever-
al bones that probably belong to an adult skeleton
were recovered. The femurs and tibias are stretched
along orthostat 4, with tibias under the femurs. The
Fig. 2. Santos Rocha’s drawing of the dolmen – Me-
galitho da Cabecinha (adapted from Santos Rocha
1900.Fig. 303). An X indicates where human bones
were recovered.
Insights into the funerary practices in the dolmen of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)
331
cranium was deposited in the corner, and next to it
were arms and trunk bones (all poorly preserved).
Santos Rocha considered that the body was placed
squatted in the corner with the face turned to the
centre of the chamber (Santos Rocha 1900.198).
Another skeleton was found next to orthostat 5. The
best preserved bones were femurs and tibias. Field
observations allowed Santos Rocha to conclude that
the skeleton was leaning against the support, fac-
ing the middle of the chamber. A small black pot was
found on the left side of this skeleton between the
body and the nearest orthostat. The soil inside the
pot was the same as that covering the bones, and it
contained a small, apparently human bone. Post-de-
positional perturbations of the tomb were most like-
ly responsible for the introduction of this bone into
the pot. Some artefacts were also recovered from
this deposit, including a stone axe, some retouched
blades and one arrowhead (Santos Rocha 1900.
198).
Another group of human bones, that according to
Santos Rocha (1900.199) were “completely decayed”
(translation by the author), were excavated among
orthostats 2, 7 and 8, closer to the gallery. They ap-
parently belonged to the same skeleton and were as-
sociated with prestige artefacts. Two notable pieces,
one flint bade and a flint dagger blade, were recover-
ed in a kind of niche “next to the remaining bones”.
However, Santos Rocha is not clear with regard to
the location of this niche.
According to Santos Rocha (1900.203–204), the hu-
man bones were so poorly preserved that only a
muddy block containing part of a crushed cranium,
some teeth, fragments of femurs and tibias
were taken to be curated in the MMSR. Among
them, two fragments of femurs have a well de-
velop pilastrum and a fragment of tibia, mark-
ed platycnemia. It seems that this set of bones
belong to the same skeleton, although it is not
possible to associate it with one of the burials
described above.
Fragments of two small black pots (including
the one next to the skeleton placed against or-
thostat 5) and a considerable number of arte-
facts were recovered from this dolmen (Santos
Rocha 1900.199–203). Nowadays, the majority
of these are on display in the permanent expo-
sition of the MMSR, and include one flint blade,
one flint dagger blade, 15 flint arrowheads, one po-
lished stone axe-head, one flint and hyaline quartz
nuclei and eleven flint blades. Some drawings were
originally published by Santos Rocha (1900), but
the complete set can be found in the work by the
Leisner couple, in their compilation of Megalithic
graves of the Iberian Peninsula (Leisner 1965.126–
128, Tabs. 90–91). At present, this set of artefacts are
currently being studied by collaborators of the MMSR.
This monument was dismounted and restored, with
the help of Francisco Ferreira Loureiro, responsible
for the drawings and plans of the tomb, in an exhibi-
tion space designed specifically for its display in one
of the buildings belonging to the city hall of Figuei-
ra da Foz, where the local museum was created in
1899 (Santos Rocha 1900.197). Strictly, the avail-
able documents only attest to its presence in the gar-
dens of city hall until the year of 1897. So, unfortu-
nately, the whereabouts of its parts are now un-
known2.
Material and methods
All bone fragments currently curated at MMSR were
dry-brushed with small brushes, labelled and mark-
ed. This process was followed by an inventory of the
materials using an MS Excel sheet. An attempt was
made to refit broken fragments of individual bones.
The minimum number of individuals (MNI) was esti-
mated according to Ana Maria Silva (1993, adapted
from Herrmann et al. 1990). Age at death of adult
individuals was confirmed by the degree of comple-
tion of epiphyseal unions (Ferembach et al. 1980).
Identification of the sex of the adult remains was at-
tempted using morphological traits following Denise
N Side Nature of the slab Height Length Width
6 N Sandstone 0.75 0.68 0.28
5 N Sandstone 0.8 0.57 0.16
4 N Sandstone 1.3 1 0.25
3 W Sandstone 1.16 0.8 0.2
2 S Sandstone 1.2 1.1 0.3
7 S Sandstone 1.35 0.45 0.27
1 Door 2 slabs Between
0.05 and 0.08
Note> All measurements, in meters, were taken from the level of
the natural soil< N North< W West< S South (adapted of Santos Ro-
cha 1900.196–197).
Tab. 1. Summary of the data of the orthostats of the Me-
galitho do Cabecinha (according to Santos Rocha 1900.
196–198).
2 Personal communication of Ana Margarida Ferreira, Director of MMSR.
Ana Maria Silva
332
Ferembach’s et al. (1980) recommendations. Non-
metric dental traits were scored following the ASU-
DAS protocol (Scott, Irish 2017; Turner et al. 1991),
and the mandibular molar pit-tubercle (MMPT) ac-
cording to Luís Miguel Marado and Ana Maria Silva
(2016). Postcranial discrete traits were recorded fol-
lowing Shelley Rae Saunders (1978) and Michael Fin-
negan (1978) approaches. Dental wear was scored
according to Bennett Holly Smith (1984) as adapted
by Silva (1996). The osteological remains were ma-
croscopically examined for evidence of pathologies,
lesions and stress indicators.
Results
The collection curated at the MMSR includes one
tooth and 31 bone fragments. Among the latter, six
are small fragments with signs of exposure to fire,
showing a black colour. Due to poor preservation
we cannot rule out the possibility that these charred
fragments are non-human faunal remains. More-
over, according to the notes by Santos Rocha, no
signs of fire were observed in the recovered human
bones. As such, these are probably fragments from
the upper levels which percolated into the tomb and
not related to the burial context, and thus not con-
sidered in the following anthropological analysis.
One small long bone fragment (Cabecinha 201) con-
firmed the Chalcolithic chronology of these human
remains, placing them in the first half of the 3rd mil-
lennium BCE (Tab. 2).
The bones are very fragmented and mostly reduced
to small pieces (Fig. 3). At present, the collections in-
clude cranial (n=7) and long bones fragments (n=18)
and one tooth. Among the long bones, humerus, fe-
murs and tibias were identified.
The bone fragments exhibit several changes related
to various taphonomic agents, such as the presence
of roots marks, small black spots and reddish spots
on the only tooth recovered (Fig. 4). While the black
spots can be attributed to the presence of manganese
in the soil, the red spots are compatible with the use
of pigment. Santos Rocha (1900.203) mentions the
recovery of a piece of iron oxide from the site, that
if sprayed produced a very intense red paint.
The preserved bone remains correspond to a mini-
mum number of three adults based on the femoral
fragments. No anatomical bone section was available
for a more specific age at death or sex estimation.
However, taking into account the femur sample, two
individuals were clearly more robust than the third.
The results of the nonmetric dental analysis can be
seen in Table 3. Only the femur sample allows the
scoring of postcranial nonmetric traits. In two fe-
murs hypotrocanteric fossa were observed (2/3),
and one of those also displays a third trochanter
(1/3). The most gracile femur presented both traits.
The only preserved tooth is a lower left first molar,
which displays dental wear of grade 5 (medium/
high), without cariogenic lesions or deposits of cal-
culus (Fig. 4). No pathological lesions were observ-
ed in the preserved bone fragments.
Discussion
Over the last few decades, a renewed interest in the
study of skeletal remains of Prehistoric burials has
emerged when their informative potential was recog-
nized (Evangelista 2019; Fernández-Crespo 2015;
Silva 2002; 2017; 2020; Silva, Ferreira 2016–2017).
Thus, the comprehensive analysis of these assembla-
ges from the Iberian Peninsula in the last two decades
has revealed valuable details with regard to burial
practices (Boaventura et al. 2014; Carvalho et al.
2012; Evangelista 2019; Fernández-Crespo 2015;
Silva et al. 2015; 2017), demographic profile (Cunha
et al. 2015; Fernández-Crespo 2015; Fernández-Cre-
spo, De-la-Rúa 2015; Silva, Ferreira 2007), popula-
tion affinities (Irish et al. 2017; Martiniano et al.
2017; Olalde et al. 2018; 2019; Szecsenyi-Nagy et al.
2017), mobility (Carvalho et al. 2016; Waterman et
al. 2014; Valera et al. 2020), diet and daily behavi-
ours (Bonilla et al. 2019; Carvalho et al. 2019; Cu-
bas et al. 2020; Fontanals-Coll et al. 2016; González-
Rabanal et al. 2020; Guiry et al. 2016; Silva et al.
2012; Waterman et al. 2016), and the types of disea-
ses and injuries these prehistoric individuals under-
went (Silva 2003b; 2011; 2017; Silva, Ferreira 2008a;
2008b; Silva, Marques 2011; Silva, Wasterlain 2010;
Tomé et al. 2017), as well as their medical skills (Sil-
va 2003b; Silva et al. 2017), information that could
not have been obtained otherwise.
Tab. 2. Results of radiocarbon dating of a fragment of the diaphysis of a human long bone from Mega-
litho da Cabecinha.
Reference Conventional cal BC cal BP Isotopes (C\N = 3.2)
Beta
4160±30 BP
2821–2632 cal BC (76.2%) 4770–4581 cal BP (76.2%) d13C= –19.8
557667 2880–2831 cal BC (19.2%) 4829–4780 cal BP (19.2%) d15N = 9.5
Insights into the funerary practices in the dolmen of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)
333
Unfortunately, the human bones re-
covered from this dolmen are scarce
and there is no information as to
which burial (or burials) they be-
longed to. However, careful reading
of Santos Rocha’s work allows us to
recognize unique data on the funer-
ary practices carried out in this dol-
men, which differ from those docu-
mented in the other dolmens of this
necropolis. The analysis of the hu-
man bone sample from Cabecinha
confirms that all the bones belonged
to adult individuals, at least three,
an estimation close to the existing
excavation notes that described four.
However, the skeleton found next to orthostats 2/
7/8 was, according to Santos Rocha (1900.199) field
notes, completely decayed, so probably no bone frag-
ments were recovered, and thus nowadays this indi-
vidual is not represented in the assemblage curated
in the MMSR.
There is no evidence supporting more detailed age
at death estimates other than marked tooth wear in
the only preserved tooth, suggesting that it probably
belong to a mature adulthood, based on the life stage
model approach proposed by Mirjana Roksandi≤ and
Stephanie D. Armstrong (2011).
Although according to Santos Rocha the chamber of
this monument was almost intact at its discovery,
the bones within it were poorly preserved, and ad-
hered to the stone slabs of the floor. However, data
on the deposition of the cadavers and their funer-
ary package could be obtained. The careful reading
of Santos Rocha’s field notes reveal some funerary
peculiarities of this tomb. One individual was depo-
sited in each corner of its irregular polygonal cham-
ber, adding to a total of four inhumations. All indivi-
duals seemed to be adult ones. They were placed in
a crouching or squatting position on the stony floor
against the orthostats. The bodies were buried in
sandy sediment and surrounded by small flat lime-
stone slabs. These were probably used to support
the burials as well as to separate them. The indivi-
duals placed against orthostats 3–4 and 5 were fac-
ing the centre of the chamber (no information is
available for the remaining burials). Varied funerary
packages were found next to the skeletons. All but
one individual, the one next to orthostats 3–4 (San-
tos Rocha 1900.256), were associated with votive
items, as described in the previous section. Accord-
ing to him, the most impressive funerary package
was recovered with the individual buried next to
orthostats 2, 7 and 8. It included a bifacial flint blade
and a bifacial flint blade for a knife, which are now
part of the permanent exhibition at MMSR (see foot-
note 2). There is no spatial information on the ob-
Fig. 3. Set of bone fragments preserved from  Megalitho da Cabe-
cinha, illustrating the substantial fragmentation and poor preser-
vation of the assemblage.
Fig. 4. Lower left first molar from Megalitho da Ca-
becinha exhibiting tenuous reddish spots on its oc-
clusal surface.
Traits Observation\Grade
Number of Cusps 5
Groove pattern Y
Presence of C6 N
Presence of C7 N
Deflecting wrinkle NO
Protostylid N
Mandibular molar pit-tubercle N
Tab. 3. Non-metric dental traits observed in the
only preserved tooth from Megalitho do Cabecinha,
a lower first left molar. Legend: NO not observable;
N not present.
Ana Maria Silva
334
jects other than the fact that they come from the
chamber, except for a few pieces such as the two
flint blades and the pot mentioned above.
Although data is scarce, it does support the infer-
ence that there was some kind of selection of indi-
viduals who were buried in this tomb. The low num-
ber of burials (three according to the preserved hu-
man bone samples, and four, according to field no-
tes of Santos Rocha), is also noteworthy, as well as
the fact that at least three of them were associated
with varied and abundant funerary packages, be-
sides the set of funerary items recovered from the
tomb that were not found linked with a specific bu-
rial. The archaeological assemblages are currently
under study, but preliminary data suggests there is
a large number of artefacts compared to the number
of individuals buried in the tomb.
Human bones from nine of the 21 tombs in this ne-
cropolis are nowadays curated in the MMSR. Besides
Cabecinha, AMS radiocarbon dates (Tab. 4) and an-
thropological data are also available for Facho and
Cabeço dos Moinhos and will be here used for com-
parative purposes.
The analysis of the findings from these three dol-
mens suggests different burial practices. Facho and
Cabeço dos Moinhos include unburnt and burnt sam-
ples, although the later produced older AMS radiocar-
bon dates (see Tab. 4). These two collections share
a similar age profile as they include remains of both
adult and non-adult individuals (Tab. 5). Cabecinha’s
sample on the other hand is made up of only un-
burnt bones of adult individuals. This tomb has the
lowest number of individuals and also the smallest
chamber. AMS radiocarbon dating confirmed that all
human remains in these collections are dated from
the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE, correspond-
ing to the Chalcolithic period, with the exception of
the unburnt sample of Cabeço dos Moinhos, which
revealed a Neolithic chronology (5500–2900 BP).
Some major differences in the architecture (Fig. 5)
and grave goods are noted. Cabeço dos Moinhos is,
according to Santos Rocha (1895.93), the biggest
and richest monument of this necropolis with ortho-
stats of different lithological types. Facho and Cabe-
cinha are smaller tombs with polygonal chambers,
and short galleries. The former includes limestone
and sandstone orthostats, the latter only sandstone
ones. Therefore, besides the diversity in burial prac-
tices, architectural differences are also noted. Con-
cerning the grave goods, differences are apparent
in Santos Rocha’s descriptions, and a detailed study
of all these collections curated in the MMSR is un-
derway. The assemblage of Cabecinha also stands
out in the presence of field notes describing the de-
position of the bodies, since the burial level of the
chamber was found almost intact: they were placed
in a crouching or squatting position on the stony
floor against the orthostats, buried in sandy sedi-
ment and surrounded by small flat limestone slabs.
For two of them, it was possible to confirm that they
were facing the centre of the chamber (individuals
placed against orthostats 3–4 and 5). The assemblage
of graves goods was also different between the bu-
rials: no votive items were found next to the burial
of ortosthats 3–4, and different votive packages were
found for the remaining three. The richness of the
burial next to ortosthats 2/7/8
stands out when compared to the
others (Santos Rocha 1900.198–
199).
Among the biological profiles of
the individuals from Cabecinha,
the presence of hypotrochanteric
fossa, a skeletal variant, is a com-
mon trait in all of them (Tab. 6).
This depressed area at the back
of the femur seems to be a var-
ied manifestation of the attach-
ment area of gluteus maximus,
a muscle responsible for the mo-
vement of the hip and thigh. Ac-
cording to several authors, the
development of this fossa may
be related to increased develop-
Dolmen Reference Bone sample Conventional
Cabecinha Beta 557667 Long bone diaphysis 4160±30 BP
Facho Beta 542625 Rib fragment (unburnt) 4180±30 BP
(Silva 2020) Beta 549966 Cranial fragment (burnt) 4170±30 BP
Cabeço dos Moinhos Beta 383084 Bone  (unburnt) 4960±30 BP
(Bettencourt et al. 2020) Beta 383085 (burnt) 4360±30 BP
Sample Adults Non-adults Total Area chamber
Cabecinha 3 or 4* 0 3 or 4* ±3m2
Facho 7 (63.6%) 4 (36.4%) 11 ±4.5m2
Cabeço dos Moinhos**
(unburnt)
8 (80%) 2 (20%) 10 ±10.5m2
Tab. 5. Proportion of adults versus non-adults in the considered sam-
ples. Legend: * laboratory analysis now suggests NMI of three indivi-
duals, but field data suggests four adults (see text); ** the burnt sam-
ples are presently being re-analysed for a separate estimation of NMI.
Tab. 4. Results of available radiocarbon dating from dolmens from
the Megalithic necropolis of the regions of Figueira da Foz.
Insights into the funerary practices in the dolmen of Cabecinha (Figueira da Foz, Portugal)
335
ment of this muscle to reduce the mechanical stress
on the femoral diaphysis (Marioti, Belcastro 2011).
This suggests a mobile lifestyle for these individuals
in an irregular mountain region, such as the Serra
da Boa Viagem.
The scattered nature of the human remains from Ca-
becinha hindered the observation of pathological
changes in the bones, and thus obtaining insights on
the general health status and living conditions of
these individuals was not possible. This data would
have been relevant not only in trying to understand
why they were selected to be buried in this tomb,
but also in order to compare them with data obtain-
ed from the individuals buried in Facho and Cabeço
dos Moinhos. The paleopathological analyses of these
last two assemblages revealed signs of infections,
trauma, articular and non-articular degenerative di-
sease and physiological stress indicators. The pres-
ence of largely remodelled and non-active lesions
suggests that these individuals were resilient and
survived various health problems (Silva 2020).
Final remarks
The major contribution of the present work is in the
domain of funerary practices, by integrating the data
from the documentary sources with the findings of
the bioarchaeological analysis, and the chronology
obtained from direct radiocarbon dating of a human
bone sample. The carefully analysis of all the sour-
ces, documents and human bone assemblages made
it possible to identify a unique funerary behaviour
in one dolmen of this necropolis, where apparently
only three adult individuals (four according to field
notes) were deposited, accompanied by a significant
set of artefacts. The femur sample suggests that two
individuals were clearly more robust than the third
one.
It has to be highlighted that the three dolmens of
this Megalithic necropolis, where the human bones
were studied using modern osteological methods
(Cabecinha, Facho and Cabeço dos Moinhos), reveal
different burial practices, confirming the growing
heterogeneity of funerary practices of the human
communities of the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic
period of today’s Portugal. The study of the remain-
ing human bone collections of this Megalithic necro-
polis is now underway, and the results will allow us
to obtain valuable data about the human popula-
tions that lived in Prehistoric times in the more cen-
tral-west region of the Iberian Peninsula.
Fig. 5. Original drawings by Santos Rocha of the
Megalitho da Cabecinha, Megalitho do Facho and
Megalitho do Cabeço dos Moinhos.
Tab. 6. Morphological non-metric traits observed
in the samples discussed in the present study.
Sample Septal Hypotrochanteric Third
Aperture fossa trochanter
Cabecinha – 2\3 1\3
Facho 1\1 2\3 –
Cabeço dos – 3\4 1\4
Moinhos
The author expresses their gratitude to the Museu
Municipal Santos Rocha (Figueira da Foz) for grant-
ing access to the collection, and all the collaborators
from the MMSR, in particular Ana Margarida Fer-
reira, Rodrigo Pinto and Carlos Batista. Thanks are
also due to Claudia Cunha, for the English revision
and useful suggestions, and to the reviewers for their
helpful comments which improved the manuscript.
CIAS (PEst-OE/SADG/UI028 3/2020) provided finan-
cial support for the radiocarbon dating.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ana Maria Silva
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