摘要：T The archaeological site Horta do Albardão 3 (S. Manços, Évora) was discovered
and object of an archaeological excavation following the mitigation strategy concerning
the threatened archaeological heritage due to the implementation of the Alqueva Project.
Due to this mitigation strategy some negative archaeological structures were identified and
recorded. Archaeological excavations were carried out by archaeologists from ArqueoHoje,
an archaeological company. The field works revealed a ditch and two pits that were affected
by machinery when a water pipeline was in way to be inserted crossing the area. Analysis of
the recovered set of artefacts and the radiocarbon dating of several samples allowed verifying
that the human occupation of Horta do Albardão 3 (Halb3) is largely diachronic. The ditch
and the two pits were filled up with soil containing probable kitchen refuse, fragments of
pottery, some lithic artefacts, and, in one of the pits, a human burial. The ditch and a small
combustion structure, perhaps connected with metallurgical activities, can be ascribed to
Chalcolithic. Archaeometallurgical remains, namely a crucible or reduction pot fragment
and a copper mineral, were recovered in Chalcolithic contexts. Besides, some lithic artefacts
found at superficial layers, i.e. without a solid archaeological context, point out to an early
occupation of the site during the Neolithic. On the other hand, radiocarbon dating of the
human inhumation, a male individual buried in a foetal position without any associated
funerary gifts, allowed to establish a Middle Bronze Age chronology for that inhumation.
Several largely diachronic archaeological sites, with pits and human inhumations like in
Halb3, are known in the region close to this site.
