Dating the early Christian baptisteries from Idanha-a-Velha—the Suebi-Visigothic Egitania: stratigraphy, radiocarbon and OSL

Abstract

The results of the excavations carried out by one of the authors in the early Christian baptisteries of Idanha-a-Velha, in Suebi- Visigothic Egitania, are presented. Chronostratigraphic data (stratigraphic sequence, typological analysis) are compared with radiocarbon and luminescence dates in order to establish a hypothesis concerning the construction date of both north and south baptisteries. The results have shown that the baptisteries are dated earlier than what had been proposed based on their constructive typology. The dates proposed in this article will generate a change in the paradigm established for this type of constructions in the Iberian Peninsula.