Canada da Senhora / Calvário 2: A new Iron Age engraving from the Sabor Valley, Northeast Portugal, in the regional context

Abstract

This work aims to publicise a new rock art site found in the Sabor Valley, a tributary of the Douro River, by one of the authors of this work (PV) in 2021, as part of the work to implement the Heritage Charter of the Municipality of Alfândega da Fé, in the district of Bragança.

It is a panel with several engravings, the oldest of which features an equine, a canine and a throwing weapon, engraved using a filiform incision. Subsequently, grooves appear that overlap the figurative motifs. In a final engraving phase, there are punctures that seem to have been made with the intention of destroying or vandalising the older motifs.

The figurative scene, due to its graphic and technical characteristics and parallels with the motifs engraved on the Castelinho plates and the Sidereal art of Côa, can be included in the Iron Age of north-eastern Portugal.

In an attempt to interrelate this recorded locus with the settlement, it was found that, within the theoretical territory of circulation of 60 to 90 minutes, there are at least two generally contemporary settlements that show possible circulation networks in a territory with different sites and meanings in the context of the regional Iron Age.