Vila Nova De Sao Pedro

Important Chalcolithic site near Santarém, Portugal with an unenclosed settlement c 3800 BC, succeeded by one surrounded by at least two bastioned stone walls, c 3200 BC. The first belonged to the Palmella culture and the final phase belonged to Beaker culture, c 2500 BC. Artifacts include copper axes, chisels, and daggers; pottery included Beaker material and local wares of the 3rd millennium BC. Strongly fortified settlements, such as this, accompanied by cemeteries containing rich collections of prestige goods suggest the appearance of a hierarchically organized society.

Strongly fortified Copper Age settlement near Santarem in Portugal. A citadel enclosed by a bastioned stone wall was surrounded by two outer walls, also both with bastions, enclosing a number of huts. The main phase of settlement belongs to the mid-3rd millennium be (late 4th millennium bc), but there is also a pre-defence phase of settlement, which must be earlier, and a later phase of settlement, associated with Beaker pottery, which should belong to the later 3rd millennium bc. This site was formerly identified as a colony from the Aegean, but is now recognized as part of a local development in the Iberian Copper Age. See also Los Millares, Zambujal.