Fusayolas de la necrópolis de olival do senhor dos mártires (alcácer do sal, Portugal): Tipología, función y simbolismo

Abstract

The presence of a significant number of spindle-whorls among the votive offerings of the Iron Age necropolis of Olival do Senhor dos Mártires (Alcácer do Sal, Portugal) poses interesting questions regarding the boundary between the functional role of these elements and their symbolic and scatological significance. In this contribution those questions are addressed, on the one hand, through an analysis of their physical, technological and morphological characteristics; on the other, by assessing the possible symbolic and religious context which makes them an integral part of the funerary offerings in different communities of the southern Iberian Peninsula.