Torrinha, uma Villa no Barrocal Algarvio: Estudo das suas Materialidades.

Abstract

A presente dissertação “Torrinha, uma villa no Barrocal Algarvio: estudo das materialidades” resulta de um trabalho de investigação, inserido no Mestrado de Arqueologia e Território, acerca deste sítio arqueológico situado na freguesia de Salir, Concelho de Loulé. O sítio da Torrinha nunca foi alvo de escavação arqueológica sendo que os únicos vestígios de presença humana são materiais recolhidos à superfície por meio de prospecções arqueológicas realizadas, nas décadas de 80 e 90 do século passado, pela orientadora deste estudo. O objectivo principal do trabalho aqui apresentado foi o inventário e análise dos parâmetros descritivos do espólio cerâmico então recolhidos nas prospeções, visando os seus princípios morfológicos, formais e funcionais, comparando-os com outros conjuntos artefactuais provenientes de sítios arqueológicos romanos semelhantes, para assim se poderem obter alguns paralelos cronológicos e poder fazer-se uma proposta sobre a diacronia de ocupação do sítio da Torrinha.Tratando-se de uma villa romana, procurou-se também, a partir de informações compiladas por outros investigadores e sítios arqueológicos já estudados, fazer- uma aproximação às dinâmicas de povoamento rural romano no Sul da Lusitânia e, em particular, no território algarvio e actual do Concelho de Loulé. Por fim, o trabalho aqui apresentado tem expectativas de poder abrir um novo horizonte na percepção da paisagem romana situada entre a Serra e o Litoral - na região do Barrocal algarvio -, permitindo, a partir do estudo dos materiais arqueológicos, dar a conhecer a vivência das populações louletanas nos primeiros cinco séculos da nossa Era.

The present thesis for master’s degree in Archaeology and Territory in Coimbra University is the result of an investigation about the archaeological site of Torrinha in the village of Salir, near Loulé in the Portuguese region of Algarve. The only archaeological data present are artifacts, mainly roman pottery, colected on the Torrinha’s field surface in campaigns between 80’s and 90’s of the last century in archaeological prospections by the thesis mentor. This investigation focused on making a descriptive analysis of these materials, by morphological, functional, and formal approach and organizing all data in a catalogue. For a wider diachronical and territorial comprehension of the place, the investigation made parallels with materials from other similar roman archaeological sites in the region to attain the chronological occupation of Torrinha. As a roman villa, it was also aimed, from information compiled by other researchers and archaeological sites already studied, to make an approach of the dynamics of rural roman settlement in southern Lusitania and in the Algarve territory, namely in Loulé’s county.The point of this study is to create a perception of how roman landscape was in the region between the Algarve mountains and the coast and to have a glimpse of how life could be in the first five centuries in Loulé.The present thesis for master’s degree in Archaeology and Territory in Coimbra University is the result of an investigation about the archaeological site of Torrinha in the village of Salir, near Loulé in the Portuguese region of Algarve. The only archaeological data present are artifacts, mainly roman pottery, colected on the Torrinha’s field surface in campaigns between 80’s and 90’s of the last century in archaeological prospections by the thesis mentor. This investigation focused on making a descriptive analysis of these materials, by morphological, functional, and formal approach and organizing all data in a catalogue. For a wider diachronical and territorial comprehension of the place, the investigation made parallels with materials from other similar roman archaeological sites in the region to attain the chronological occupation of Torrinha. As a roman villa, it was also aimed, from information compiled by other researchers and archaeological sites already studied, to make an approach of the dynamics of rural roman settlement in southern Lusitania and in the Algarve territory, namely in Loulé’s county.The point of this study is to create a perception of how roman landscape was in the region between the Algarve mountains and the coast and to have a glimpse of how life could be in the first five centuries in Loulé.